Matching & Cooking for the New Chilled Sakes (1/4)

Here is a menu, in order of its service, that I once devised to introduce non-sake drinkers all over the U.S. to the fascinating variations of new, chilled sakes: For dry ginjo style sake: “Town & Country” Island style ‘ahi tuna poke & lomi lomi salmon For lightly sweet ginjo sake: Chiso grilled salmon salad with crispy salmon skin and baby greens in a sake soy vinaigrette For very dry daiginjo sake: Lobster chawan mushi with caviar and truffled essences For medium sweet nigori genshu (“rough filtered” and “uncut” sake): Fresh tropical fruit haupia (coconut) puddings The goal was to stimulate an interest in sake as the “wine of the East” by putting it in the context of familiar Pacific Rim foods, for all their pan-Asian, Polynesian and European influences. The strategy was achieved through interplay with sake’s stony, fluid, mildly sweet/acidic subtleties by utilizing earthy ingredients (garlic, sweet onions, chopped seaweed, whiffs of truffle in the poke, nestled alongside the “chop-chop” rock salt cured salmon), soft textures (the unsweetened, caviar and truffle laced custard of the chawan mushi, and the creaminess of the Hawaiian pudding), and suggestions of ocean/air/earth harmonies (creamy basil-like taste of whole leaf chiso and baby greens with crisped skinned salmon, bound by a faintly acidic/salty vinaigrette). Sake is versatile enough to be taken out of strictly Asian or Japanese culinary traditions, but it does require a little bit of mindfulness of the unique nature of sake. Some basic concepts: 1. Since they are delicate and always served well chilled, all the new style sakes should be thought of like dry to off-dry white wines. Therefore, like white wines, they go very well with white meats (fish, shellfish, pork, chicken, etc.) and sauces appropriate for white meats. 2. Since they are made from rice, not grapes, the chilled sakes have only about the third of the acidity of white wine. Therefore, the use of vinegars and vinaigrettes should be moderated so as not to make the sakes taste flat or dull. However, you should not be afraid to use soft rice wine vinegars, or round, winy balsamic and Sherry vinegars, or vinaigrettes rounded out by palm sugar, seasonings, stocks, mirin, and fruit or herb/vegetable infusions to balance the mildly acidic qualities (relative to the whole or specific gravity) of typical styles of chilled sake. 3. Since the finest ginjo and daiginjo are made purely from rice, water, yeasts and the koji enzymes, they contain no bitter tannins or phenolics like, say, red wines or oaky Chardonnays. Therefore, you cannot expect them to shine with fatty or chunky cuts of red meats. 4. Typical chilled sakes are fairly full in alcohol (15% to 17%), and so they have good body and presence on the palate. Therefore, thinly sliced, lower fat meats balanced by vegetables, seasonings, and varying textures and sauces are very appropriate. 5. Since fine sake is primarily associated with Japanese traditions, it makes perfect sense to incorporate Japanese ingredients, sauces, and cooking techniques into fusion style cooking meant for sake. The reason for this is that much of Japanese cooking – the use of dashi, sea vegetables, root vegetables, miso, shiitake, wasabi, sesame, etc. – is quite earthy, making it very compatible with the distinctively earthy, minerally or stony qualities of natural sakes.