Behold! 6 cups of rice being washed in my sink. After spending about 45 minutes I decided that tonight might be a good time to practice my kung-fu. I noticed after about 15 minutes of washing that my hand was being held in a rather unique way. I was forming a sort of eagle-claw grip with each finger hooked a bit while pointing slightly forward. This was my sole source of entertianment for the next 30 minutes while washing this stuff until the water ran clear.I was back in China, shirtless, wearing beige pants and being beaten by sticks. During this time I was forced to focus on my eagle claw technique. If I did not strike the rice precisely, then I was beaten by bamboo sticks. If my strike was true, then I managed to avoid their painful strikes until my next attempt.
45 minutes later I realized that my kung-fu was strong when the water ran clear and I was ready to walk away.
The interesting thing is that 6 cups of dry rice becomes 8.5 cups of rice after washing. I think I need a bigger rice cooker. This batch after soaking for the next 18 hours will result in 3 45-minute long cooking sessions.
And for those keeping up with my first batch... this is what it looks like tonight, 2 hours after stirring it again. I had initially hoped to start bottling it this weekend. It looks like I have at least a few more days remaining.
That sake looks done to me, fellow toji. The best way to tell would be to take a specific gravity reading and see if it's at 1.000 or below, but with that small of a volume you really don't have 5 oz of sake to waste on a sample. Judging by the good separation you're getting in that picture, however, it looks like it's time to press the sake from its kasu and move on.
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