Sake is the latest mixing sensation in
cocktails, proving to be the ideal base in low to
medium-level alcoholic beverages. Sake
is a gentle and delicate mixer that easily
and harmoniously blends an earthy, dry
yet delicate flavor to many cocktails. With
several premium varieties and styles of fresh
sake now readily available, the opportunities
to develop and grow this new taste sensation
are limitless. Sake cocktails display
exceptional taste, purity and smoothness.
With the sophisticated art of pairing food and
drink getting more subtle, foodies might ask
what they will pair next. Actually, the presence
of sake brings in a flood of ideas. Matching
food and sake is very similar to matching food
and wine. It's a fun, imprecise process that
depends, in the end, on your own personal
taste preferences. What is a match made in
heaven for one person may seem a mismatch
to another. The important thing is how the
pairing feels and tastes to you.
From this point of view, there is no
indisputable answer to the question 'what
food goes best with sake.' Nevertheless,
there are still some basic tips that can
help you make the most of your pairing
experience:
Some foods just don't work well with sake (i.e.
very spicy food and strong-flavored dishes).
Sake is complex. It presents slightly
different faces at slightly different
temperatures, and there is no one correct
temperature to drink it. Different taste aspects
of a sake will present themselves in different
situations.
Food is likewise complex. The same
dish will seem different depending on who
prepares it, and a slight difference in the
spices or methods of preparation used will
make all the difference in the world. It is not
possible to unequivocally say that a particular
dish goes well with a given sake.
There are basically two ways to pair sake
with food, and they are similar to how wine
and food are paired. Either match a sake
with a dish that has similar or complementary
flavors or characteristics, or pair the sake
and food for their contrast. The first step is to
determine which half of the equation you will
begin with: do you have a sake you need to
create a meal around, or do you need a sake
to match the meal you've chosen?
For example, a slightly sweet sake brewed
with soft water like sake from Hiroshima
might go well with a cream-based dish better
than a bone-dry and clean sake.
A sake with a good acidity to it, like a
classic junmai-shu, often goes well with
something like tempura, as it stands up to the
oily nature of the dish quite well.
Sake with a decent bitter tone or earthiness
to it will often side right up to vegetable
dishes, coaxing out the same aspects in
some of the more bitter leafy greens.
Premium sake that is complex and layered
(i.e. ginjo or daiginjo sake) generally don't
work well with a protein-rich meal.
Some sake has a grainy mouth-feel that
is often more distinctive and defining than
the flavors involved. Sake like this would
work better with a vegetable dish than with a
light, creamy dish. The textures become the
common denominator.
Cooking with sake opens up a whole new
realm of flavor sensations. Most recipes that
call for wine in the cooking process could
use sake instead. The quality of the sake
you use in cooking does matter. Use a ginjo
with flavor-sensitive, delicate foods like
fresh seafood. With heartier foods such as
pork, you can even use a slightly stale sake
without unpleasant results. |
