Saru-region rice and egg-millet tonoto
Tonoto is an Ainu ceremonial grain drink. This Saru River version ferments equal amounts of rice and egg millet with malted rice for about two to three days in summer or a week in winter.
Traditional method
Shizunai barnyard-millet tonoto
トノト (tonoto)
Tonoto from Shizunai in Hidaka is made of barnyard millet alone: a firm porridge kneaded with an equal amount of malted grain in a sake vessel, warmed by two embers, and left a week to ten days.
History
Tonoto is the Ainu drink offered to the kamuy at ceremonies such as the kamuy nomi and the icharpa, and barnyard millet, piyapa, is its proper grain, though other grains such as foxtail millet are sometimes used. The brewing described here is that of the Shizunai district of Hidaka, set down in a book of Ainu food recorded from elders (Hagiwara Mie and others, Kikigaki Ainu no shokuji, 1992). It is the all-millet method: the porridge is firm, an equal weight of malted grain goes in, two embers from the hearth are added with a prayer to Apefuchi, the fire goddess, and the vessel is wrapped in a mat for a week to ten days before the mash is strained the day before the ceremony. The Saru River region's version, from Biratori, uses rice and egg millet in equal parts and ferments in two to three days in summer and about a week in winter.
Ingredients
Scaling: source batch only
Barnyard milletCook in water to a porridge.
Amount not stated
Piyapa in Ainu; no amount is given.Water
Amount not stated
Enough to cook the millet to a porridge firm enough that only a little thin liquid floats on top.Malted grainLoosen it by hand.
Amount not stated
Kamutachi in Ainu, given in Japanese as koji; the same amount as the millet.Method
- Purify the sake-brewing vessel, the sintoko, before use.
- Cook the barnyard millet in water to a porridge stiff enough that only a little thin liquid floats on top, then spread it out and cool it to about skin temperature.
- Loosen an amount of malted grain equal to the millet, put it into the vessel with the porridge and knead the two together.
- Take two embers from the hearth and put them into the vessel while saying a prayer to Apefuchi, the goddess of fire, for the success of the brew.
- Wrap a mat around the vessel and tie it at the top, then leave it for a week to ten days, stirring it now and then.
- The day before the ceremony, unwrap the mat, take out the embers and return them to the hearth with another prayer to Apefuchi.
- Set a sieve over a second vessel, pour in the mash and strain it.
Conditions
Fermentation7–10 days
Places
Shizunai
Documented preparation · Locality evidenceThe method is set down for the Shizunai district of Hidaka; no claim of origin is made.
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Tonoto with millet malt
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Sources
Wikipedia (Japanese)Ingredients · Method · History
トノトTonoto is a traditional Ainu sake offered to the gods at ceremonies such as kamuy nomi and icharpa; barnyard millet (piyapa) is the proper grain, with foxtail millet (munchiro) sometimes used.
Shizunai method: purify the sake-brewing vessel, cook barnyard millet to a porridge with a little thin liquid on top, cool to skin temperature, loosen kamutachi (malted grain) equal to the millet, knead together in the vessel, add two embers with a prayer to Apefuchi, wrap the vessel in a mat, leave a week to ten days with occasional stirring, unwrap the day before the ceremony, return the embers with a prayer, strain through a sieve into a second vessel.
Cites Hagiwara Mie and others, Kikigaki Ainu no shokuji (Nihon no shokuseikatsu zenshu 48), Nosangyoson Bunka Kyokai, 1992, which was not read.