“Chicken meat, gizzard, chicken skin and chicken wing. This time, I added about 10 percent more water to the Takazasu I gave to you... ...and let it sit for about a week to blend the alcohol and flavor together. And I've warmed it just like the last one so that it will be 118 degrees when poured into the cup. If the temperature is any lower than that, the sweetness of the sake becomes too distinct and it loses its lightness." "Hmmm! This one tastes so light, even though it's the same temperature!" "After eating for a while, people tend to start getting a bit tired. If you warm this sake up to the right temperature, it helps you continue to eat." "That's right. And this sake is not only light, but it also has a strong, rich taste... ... so it can capture the fatty parts like the chicken skin and chicken wing and boost their flavor." "This way, you can continue to eat, and you'll never get tired of drinking.” SakeTemperatureFood And DrinkChickenJapanese FoodFood ScienceRice WineSkewersYakitori Book:Izakaya: Pub Food Source: Izakaya: Pub Food
“Kombu is a species of edible kelp (Laminaria japonica) that thrives in long streamers about a palm's-width wide that can reach up to thirty feet in length. Along with katsuobushi, it is the other main ingredient for making dashi. Kombu contains a high level of the amino acid glutamate, which is the source of the "fifth taste", umami, and a precursor to the flavor enhancer MSG. Japan consumes about 50,000tons of kombu a year--- about half wild, and half farmed--- most of it harvested off the coast of the northern island, Hokkaidō.” Japanese FoodUmamiFood ScienceKelp Book:Japanese Cuisine Source: Japanese Cuisine
“Sake is the best when it comes to pairing with seafood. It's often said that Chablis and raw oysters go well together, but I've got my doubts about that. I find a strong off taste lingers after I eat raw oysters and drink Chablis." "Why is that?" "Wine has a lot more sodium in it compared to sake. The sodium compounds are part of what gives wine its fine flavor. But at the same time, I think one of those compounds brings out the fishiness of the seafood.” WineSeafoodFood And DrinkFood SciencePairingRice Wine Book:Sake Source: Sake
“Main ingredients: rice, distilled alcohol, brewing saccharides...' what's that all mean?" "During the second World War, something called sanbaizōshu was created as a way to make sake from a small very small amount of rice." "'Sanbaizōshu'?" "Essentially, you take sake made the proper way but then dilute it until it's three times its original volume. Besides water, the main additive is distilled grain alcohol, followed by malt syrup, glucose, and MSG to fix the flavor." "What? You add a completely different alcohol that wasn't created during the brewing?!" "Monosodium glutamate? I can't believe they'd add such a thing to a drink!" "You're right. This isn't real sake. Although we now have an abundant supply of rice, the big beverage companies still make sanbaizōshu since it's an easy way for them to make a profit." "But I trusted them because they're popular brands..." "It's the other way around. Most of the large companies with huge advertising campaigns on TV and whatnot use this method." "Then what about this bottle with "Junmaishu" on it?" "It's from a small brewery in the countryside, a sake made from nothing but rice, kōji, and water. This is the kind of sake that should have an ingredient label so that people can see that it's truly pure. It's a tragedy that we have it the other way around here in Japan. Is there any other country in the world that's degraded their traditional drink like this?It's an important part of our culture and it's almost been destroyed.” AlcoholIngredientsBrandingJapaneseFood ScienceRice WineDistilled Book:Sake Source: Sake
“In France, caviar, truffles and foie gras are considered to be the three major delicacies. And when the French eat caviar, they don't drink wine with it. The French aren't stupid. They're more than aware that no wine goes well with caviar. That's why they drink vodka with it. But they don't know about sake." "You're right. Vodka's usually served with caviar." "But vodka really isn't a drink to have during a meal." "It's not just caviar--- I don't think wine goes well with any kind of seafood. It doesn't matter whether the fish is grilled, simmered, raw or in a bouillabaisse. And it's completely out of the question for things like raw oysters, karasumi and sea urchin. Wine contains far more sodium than sake. And some of those sodium compounds do not mix well with the fats in the fish, so that distinctive seafood flavor ends up being emphasized even more. On the other hand, sake has hardly any sodium, so it doesn't bring out the fishiness. And the sugars from the rice starch enhance the flavor of the food." "Hmm." "Come to think of it, shiokara tastes a lot better when you eat it with rice than when you eat it on its own. I guess this is the same thing. It's the power of rice.” RiceSeafoodSodiumFood ScienceRice Wine Book:Sake Source: Sake
“If you draw the full length of the blade through the fish in one gentle sweep, the resulting cross section is smooth and the cells are cleanly cut. But if you force the blade down on the fish to cut it, the cross section becomes ragged and the cells are squashed. If the surface of the slice is rough, more of the fish is exposed to air, and so it oxidizes faster and its flavor deteriorates. This becomes even more apparent with water-chilled sashimi. The ragged surface of the slices allows the water to penetrate the fish and leech out its flavor." "That's why the sashimi becomes watery and tasteless.” SurfaceFlavorFishKnifeFood ScienceSashimi Book:Japanese Cuisine Source: Japanese Cuisine