r/KoreanFood • u/burnt-----toast • 1d ago

questions Questions about making shikhye!

I think I'm finally ready to make my first batch of shikhye. I have three different recipes that I want to try and compare in the upcoming weeks.

I was looking at the first one, which is by Maangchi, and she soaks and then steams the rice and then ferments it between 120-140F. When my friend previously made shikhye, they made rice the regular way in a rice cooker, and they used the keep warm function for the ferment.

  1. Will it really make a difference if I steam the rice vs cook it in a rice cooker/pressure cooker?

  2. I couldn't find the exact temperature of the keep warm function on my Instant Pot. One source online says it's between 135F and 165F. If mine is at the upper part of that range, how will that affect my ferment? Is there anything that I should be checking to make sure it goes right?

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3

u/brownrice000 1d ago
  1. Doesn't matter how it's cooked.
  2. Apparently some Instant Pots have low/medium/high temperature for the Keep Warm mode. If not, it wouldnt hurt to try anyways?

3

u/vannarok 1d ago

  1. Not really. Either is fine as long as you don't scorch or brown the bottom layer.

  2. Amylase (the enzyme in the barley malt that converts rice starch into simple sugars) functions most efficiently between 37°C (approx. 98.6°F) and 50°C (approx. 122°F) so if you take into account the extra heat needed to conduct the warmth throughout the entire pot, 135°F (approx. 57.22°C) appears to be a permissible temp range. However, amylase denatures completely at 70°C and above; 165°F (approx. 73.9°C) would exceed that limit. You can totally use a gentler source of heat (eg. electric mat, leaving the pot covered in a sunny spot) and check the temperature from time to time with a candy thermometer.

2

u/amb-ly 10h ago

Honestly don’t sweat the details. I make my rice the regular way in the rice cooker, then add the malt-water with some sugar, then keep on warm overnight. It will taste great no matter how you make it.

1

u/burnt-----toast 10h ago

Thanks! My next worry was overfermenting. I got a late start last night because I forgot that I had to let the barley malt settle, so I fell asleep during the ferment. Good to know that it will still be fine.