According to Wikipedia, minerality is “a sense of mineral-ness in the wine. It’s not an everyday word, but it’s one we use to describe wine. For sake brewing, the quality of water used is as important as the quality of sakamai, or sake rice. Each brewery opts for quality water sources, to reflect the water’s […]
Have you wondered why sake requires a certain type of rice, namely sake rice as opposed to rice which is used for consumption? Let’s take a close look at sake rice, or sakamai in Japanese. So, why do brewers use sake rice, a particularly expensive and difficult to strain of rice to grow? It’s because […]
How to enjoy hot sake was the topic I covered in the last episode/article, but did you know that in some parts of Europe “hot wine” is being consumed during the cold Winter season? It’s called “Vin Chaud” in France, and “Gluhwein” in Germany. Wine is heated with spices like cinnamon and clove and with […]
Years end in 2010 in Los Angeles was particularly odd as rain continued for days, along with record low temperatures. It was during those times that I’d crave warm foods and drinks. As the winter’s cold penetrated down to my bones, I too headed to an izakaya pub to seek comfort with a drink of […]
I attended the 14th Annual World of Flavors Conference at the renowned Culinary Institute of America, a program designed for the advancement of professional chefs in their trade and culinary art. This year featured “Japan: Flavors of Culture”, bringing culinary geniuses from Japan who presented their life work to America’s leading chefs. I’d like to […]
Continuing with my Sake and Wine comparison, let’s focus on 1.) types of acids, and 2.) alcohol levels. These components vary greatly, and understanding this will help to explain food pairing basics and to better select complimentary seasonings and sauces. Let’s first take a look at acids – the types of acids, and their concentration […]
Last time, I used my visit to Florida as an example to talk about the regional differences in terms of local cuisine and preference of alcoholic beverages. This time, I will talk about the food preferences associated with changes in living environment, using my stay in Europe as an example. Whilst in Europe, I ate many meat-based […]
I was recently in Miami. Other than being a bit more humid, my impression of Florida was that it was much like Southern California. And though I was aware of the unique food cultures there, the area’s preference for alcoholic beverages was beyond what I’d imagined. Miami is our nation’s third largest market for Japanese […]
In Japan, the practice of using wild grapes to ferment into grape wine existed even before the creation of sake some 2000 years ago. What’s historically more significant is that, as soon as sake becomes available, people switch to rice based liquor, thus wiping out grape wine production. How was grape liquor replaced by rice […]
Let’s take a look at sake from a brewing point of view. There are three major differences in sake brewing compared to wine. First, is the role of the koji mold. It’s the all-mighty koji that drives the conversion of rice starches into fermentable sugar. In wine brewing, fermentable sugars already present in the grape are converted directly into […]
