🍱 Miki

Miki" is a lactic acid fermented beverage made from rice, sweet potatoes and sugar, and is drunk in Okinawa Prefecture as well as in the Amami area. In Okinawa Prefecture, barley is used instead of sweet potatoes. The word "miki" is written "kamishu," and is said to have its origins in a mouthful of sake that was offered to the gods during festivals. Kuchibi-zake was made by mixing two or three bites of rice in the mouth of a young woman. There is a description of miki in a book titled "Minamishima Zogawa" written by Nagoya Sagenta, a samurai of the Satsuma clan at the end of the Edo period, which suggests that miki was already being made and drunk at that time. The book also mentions the method of making "miki" today, which involves boiling rice and grating sweet potatoes.