"Pat Kennedy" > wrote in message
. 196...
>I made, on my 1st try a really nice traditional mead. It must have
>been
> beginners luck or the fact that it was only honey water and yeast!
> (plus
> some yeast nutrient) It is going on three years old now and the last
> bottle
> I opened and drank with friends was six months ago and it was
> wonderful. I
> am saving my last 750ml bottle for something "special".
>
> I would like to try some traditional type Sake sometime but I am not
> sure
> if I understand the recipe right. It calls for "polished" rice and
> from
> what I read, polished rice is just regular long grain rice. I don't
> want
> to go to the trouble and expense of making a batch only to find out
> I used
> the wrong ingredients.

First, you need to use "short grain rice", not "long grain rice".

Second, the degree of polish is how much of the outer part of the rice
grain has been removed. This about 10% for eating rice ("90%
polish"), and more like 30% to 50% for sake rice. The outer part of
the rice contains more protein than the inner part, protein is
undesirable for sake. Eating rice can be used to make sake tho', it
just won't be as good (or in any case the same) as commercial sake.

Try to get Fred Eckhardt's book "Sake USA" for a lot more information.

I've got a somewhat simplifed sake recipe at
http://www.exchangenet.net/thormodsen/sake.htm.

--arne