Morohaku (brewing with polished rice for both koji and kake rice)

Morohaku is a sake-brewing method in which polished rice is used for both the koji rice (rice used to make koji) and the kake rice (the steamed rice added to the fermentation mash). The method is said to have originated in the mid-16th century at Shoryakuji Temple on Mount Bodai (菩提山正暦寺) in Nara Prefecture. It first gained renown as Nanbu (Nara) Morohaku, which was prized as a premium sake for its exceptional aroma and flavor. This technique became the foundation for brewing sake in which all of the rice is polished, and it is often described as the prototype of refined sake (seishu). Previously, katahaku, in which only the kake rice was polished, had been the mainstream approach. During the Genroku era (1688-1704), however, morohaku brewing spread across many regions and became the standard for sake production today. As the technique developed, sake evolved from a cloudy product made with brown rice into clear, refined sake made with polished rice. The name morohaku first appears in a 1576 entry in the Tamonin Nikki (多聞院日記), and it holds an important place in the history of sake.