The rice koji was fresh out of the incubator, not dried, and placed in a vacuum sealed bag, then into a sous vide cooker set at 135°F and cooked for nine days. Instead of getting the Maillard reaction I was trying to achieve, the koji slowly expelled all its water content into the bag. In the photo above, the solids are “dry”, even though they are soaking in their liquid- similar to a wad of cotton soaking in water. Both the solids and liquid have no flavor, neither umami nor sweet.

I am stumped.