Rajeshree S. Pol
Assistant Professor
HOD- Food and Beverage Service Department
Amazing session attended on “Sake”. The knowledge on sake was shared with us by Tushar a certified sake sommelier who happens to be the only Indian sake sommelier with excellent experience of beverage industry.
In Japan Sake is brewed with locally grown sake rice, local mountain stream water and yeast, aiming for a true local sake.
WHEN SAKE IS GOOD?
The secret behind the taste of sake lies, in quality of water, quality sake rice and, above all, the diligence and devotion of sake brewers.
Sake brewing is simply impossible without a great investment in time and effort, and in japan sake is delicious because it is made with the utmost care by people who love sake from the bottoms of their hearts. The marriage of modern and traditional techniques combines with natural ingredients to produce the very finest flavors in Japan.
So SAKE is not distilled but fermented like wine. With percentage of alcohol is 12-18%.
Types:
- Junmai-shu translated as pure rice sake. Nothing is used in its production except rice, water, and koji, the magical mold that converts the starch in the rice into fermentable and non-fermentable sugars.
- Honjozo-shu is sake to which a very small amount of distilled ethyl alcohol (called brewers alcohol) has been added to the fermenting sake at the final stages of production.
- Ginjo-shu This is sake made with rice that has been polished (milled) so that no more than 60% of its original size remains.
- Daiginjo-shu Daiginjo-shu is ginjo-shu made with rice polished even more, so that no more than 50% of the original size of the grain remains.
- Namazake is sake that has not been pasteurized. It should be stored cold, or the flavor and clarity could suffer. Namazake has a fresh, lively touch to the flavor.
Regarding pairing of Japanese sake and cuisine, you can think it based on 5 elements: sweetness, umami flavor, sourness, bitterness, and salty taste.
SO KANPAI!!!!