Sake - what do you know about it?

I love a lttle sake, warmed in the microwave, in small, handle-less Asian cup, on a cold night. Having some now.

But, other than the fact that I like the inexpensive brand that my package store carries (Gekkeikan), I know nothing about quality.

Does anybody know if I should be looking for something else?

I heard that some sakes are better served cold and some warm?

Lee

Ohhhhhh you must be feeling warm and cozy about right now . I don't know much about sake (a little strong for me), but I have had a little plum wine at the end of a good Chinese meal, sort of like dessert. I love the stuff, but it tends to make me a little crazy .

Sautee some shrimp and add a splash of sake.

High Cheese said:

Sautee some shrimp and add a splash of sake.

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Even better if you forget the shrimp !!!

QSis said:

I love a lttle sake, warmed in the microwave, in small, handle-less Asian cup, on a cold night. Having some now.

But, other than the fact that I like the inexpensive brand that my package store carries (Gekkeikan), I know nothing about quality.

Does anybody know if I should be looking for something else?

I heard that some sakes are better served cold and some warm?

Lee

Click to expand...

I have the same brand that I use only for cooking. Never been a fan of Sake for drinking though I have when in Asia a couple of times. I also know little about the difference between good and bad as it all tastes bad to me.

I'll have some...to drink...when I go to a Japanese Hibachi. Other than that, I get a half way decent one to cook with. Adds depth to whatever your cooking. I like mine warm.

I have been told, by a former boss* that the true "high end" sakes are served chilled.

The lesser ones are served warmed, traditionally in a cedar/pine box (Can't recall at the moment - brain needs more coffee). The aroma from the box apparently helps mask some of the imperfections.

That said, I've had and enjoyed both. I've ready about how to make it as well, but have no desire to try as it seems far more involved than I'd want to try. I do like it though, and we usually get the little sampler flights when we go to the sushi bar.


* - BTW, his name was Okuda and he's back in Japan now. So I figure he was a fairly reliable source

drnk it once with dd when we made chinese - not for us. we had tried it cold, maybe warm would have been better ....

Ronjohn said:

I have been told, by a former boss* that the true "high end" sakes are served chilled.

The lesser ones are served warmed, traditionally in a cedar/pine box (Can't recall at the moment - brain needs more coffee). The aroma from the box apparently helps mask some of the imperfections.

That said, I've had and enjoyed both. I've ready about how to make it as well, but have no desire to try as it seems far more involved than I'd want to try. I do like it though, and we usually get the little sampler flights when we go to the sushi bar.


* - BTW, his name was Okuda and he's back in Japan now. So I figure he was a fairly reliable source

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Your boss was right. The L.A. area is the largest Japanese "city" outside of Japan, and we have some truly awesome Japanese restaurants here, including several of the highest-rated restaurants in the entire Zagat survey, plus hundreds of small places that specialize in sushi, udon (noodles), and traditional fare.

My wife and I are not big fans of sushi, but my daughter is, so we go to fairly high-end Japanese restaurants with her for special occasions now and then, where we order "old fashioned" Japanese dishes, such as sukiyaki, tempura, etc., while they eat outrageously expensive concoctions of raw seafood and rice.

In the olden days I always got hot sake with my dinner because that's all that was offered, but now the good stuff is available in the U.S. The last time we went out together (Father's Day, a place called Kaya Sushi in El Segundo www.kayasushi.com), I ordered a tasting sampler of four small servings of the restaurant's better sake offerings, which I think was about $20 - $24 (individual full servings run from about $16 to $30 for the good stuff, $8 for the cheaper sake that's served hot).

All four of the sakes in the sampler were served cold, and the waiter suggested that I try them in a specific order, from the mildest to the strongest flavor. Hot sake is pretty boring stuff, always the same, but this stuff had an amazing range of flavors and textures, some dryer than others, one -- my favorite of the four -- was actually white and almost creamy.

All four were both interesting and enjoyable and went very well with the excellent food. I'll order it again, but probably the sampler as I don't know enough about it yet to make a reasoned choice.

Wow, I would love to try a sampler, Doug!

Good info, all! Thanks!

Lee

I know that it can make you really drunk. There was a little soup soba shop in Iwakuni, Japan (I was based there for a year) that had a hot sake machine. One glass of sake was 100 yen and we used to stop in there after the regular bars closed. In those days the yen was fixed at 360 to the dollar so we dropped a lot of 100 yen coins into that machine.

Yes and it is a bad hangover drunk too, I know been there a few times.

A waiter at a Japanese steakhouse once whispered to my husband, "Sake make lady horny."
It was served warm, in the little box, and went straight south. What a fun night that was! I think the secret is not to over-indulge.

OMG - I'll bet Kim got a huge laugh out of that, Constance!

Tequila has about the same effect and tastes better too.

ok, qsis, there's 2 types of sake (actually 6 sub-types. 3 types each of the two kinds). lol, no, not hot or cold.
sake can be made from all rice fermentation, or some rice fermentation along with additional alcohol.

the cheaper stuff has alcohol added to increase yield without affecting the flavour too much, and is usually served warm as it is a little rougher, so the heat helps to mask that.

the better sake, all rice fermentation, is served cool in order to enjoy the more delicate flavours introduced by more natural processes. it shouldn't actually be cold, or that would hide undesireable flavours as much as heating it does. it should be around room temp.

it's a lot like tasting wine. each sake is supposed to be served at a particular temperature in order to bring out it's best aspects. or if you've got the cheap stuff, heat it or freeze it and just enjoy it, no matter what.

Well, BT and Fry, it sounds as if I should stick to the cheap stuff then, since I LIKE to sip it while warm.

Good!

And, thanks!

Lee

You just need to get some of those cedar cups if you don't already have them.

Heyyyyyyyyyy, FRED!!! I've never heard of cedar sake cups before!

They say that the cups have low conductivity, therefore keeping cold sake cold and warm sake warm (my sake cooling off IS annoying!).

Great find! I saw $85 for two cups so, uh, I will keep looking!

Thanks!

Lee

I don't know much about sake either. I have been at the Japanese Steakhouse in Columbus, Oh and they will douse the sakura chicken sauce with it and cover. The sake helps create the steam to finish cooking the dish. It's a wonderful dish! I just wish I could master the sakura sauce like they do.

These aren't cedar - they are bamboo. But they are the right price and I think they would be perfect for sake, Qsis.
[ame]http://www.amazon.com/5-pc-bamboo-sake-set/dp/B0025L7UQE/ref=pd_sbs_k_5[/ame]

I'm ordering those, Terry! Perfect!

Thanks!

Lee

Interesting article in today's L.A. Times Food Section about Korean rice wine, called "makgeolli":

http://www.latimes.com/news/nation-and-world/la-fg-korea-wine2-2009dec02,0,1577567.story

Mmmm and it's GOOD for you, too!

I'll be on the lookout for this!

Lee

It's like the others said, originally Sake was very low quality, so they drank it warm as they found it actually tasted better when warm.

Theses days, they have high quality sake that is served at room temp or even chilled.

Personally, I like the brand you're drinking (Gekkeikan), and prefer it warm.

I have several sake sets, and love them all.

I have an insulated pitcher similar to the pic below. I bowl water in the microwave, and then pour that into the pitcher. I then float the sake serving bottle (the little one that comes with the set) in the water and close the lid to the pitcher.

Once in the pitcher and the lid is closed, the sake comes to temp in about 3-5 minutes, and stays warm/hot in the pitcher for 30 minutes or longer. Just open the lid of the pitcher, grab the little bottle and pour yourself some. It's awesome. Although, the little bottle gets hot, so it's good to have a small towel on hand so that you can handle the bottle easily.