Sake is misunderstood. It’s so familiar, yet so foreign. Most of us know of it only from watching old WW II movies or from drinking it from tiny cups in a Japanese steakhouse. Which is to say that our perception of it is generally fairly one-dimensional. Fine Japanese dining has only recently become available in our area, and with the arrival of restaurants that offer a selection of more delicate Japanese cuisine has come a wider offering of quality sake.
Sake is a product of breaking down rice into glucose and then converting that sugar to alcohol. The grade of sake is determined by the quality of the rice, the degree to which it has been milled, the purity of the water and the care and special techniques of the brewer. These factors separate the good, the bad and the sublime.
Fine sake is like fine wine in that it expresses the quality of the ingredients and the pride of the maker. Unlike wine, though, sake is more about texture and mouth-feel than aroma and fine flavor nuances. It can convey aromas of squash, pumpkin, melon, pear, banana, anise, nuts and rice, but the best sakes have more subtle, vibrant flavors and are delicate on the palate.
Table sake, or futsu (normal), is generally served warm. This masks the lack of nuance, much like over-chilling a white wine covers poor quality. Futsu sake comprises about 80 percent of the product sold. Junmai-shu, one level up, has had around one-third of the outer shell of the rice milled away. The next, ginjo-shu, has had at least 40 percent of the rice polished off and daiginjo-shu is premium, with a minimum of 50 percent of the hull removed. If the term junmai appears before ginjo or daiginjo, the sake has been made in the traditional fashion; no distilled alcohol has been added, as is often done with lower-grade sake to increase the yield.
Confusing? It was for me, and I have to rediscover the terminology every time I try sake. Remember that what you are served in the little ceramic decanter at a restaurant is much like the house wine, probably table sake from a large bag in box at the bar. The junmai-shu, ginjo and daiginjo will come in a .375 ml or .750 ml bottle with a lyrical name like "Hawk In Heaven," "Southern Beauty" or "Dreamy Clouds" — brand names conjured up for Westerners who find it difficult to decipher the traditional Japanese appellations.
A good entry point for those unfamiliar with the snappy acidity and bracing alcohol of cold sake is nigori style. Nigori is unfiltered, so it still has a rice-coconut milk texture and a creaminess that comes off a little sweet. Other descriptors might be nutty or melony.
Pairing sake with food depends, like wine, on which sake. As a rule sake does not go well with highly spiced foods or darker meats. Lighter sake with higher acidity goes well with fish and oysters. Sweeter and more fragrant sakes are usually best as aperitifs. You have to experiment to determine your personal preferences. Fortunately, many of the brands have helpful labels that describe the levels of sweetness, acidity and fragrance — and sometimes suggest food pairings.
While exploring the web for interesting sake cocktail ideas, I ran across a wonderful site, www.sake-world.com. The sake guru John Gauntner calls himself "the world’s leading non-Japanese sake expert." John’s answer to my query about sake cocktails was highly enlightening, if not humbling: "Sorry folks, this is where I draw the line. Would you mix a fine wine with juice or vodka or anything?" Well, with apologies to John, I’ve gathered some cocktail recipes you might try (see sidebar).
Being a wine lover myself, I prefer to explore and enjoy the subtleties of good sake straight up, but the benefit of sake cocktails is that they are lower in alcohol than the vodka or gin they replace. Contrary to popular opinion, sake is not like white lightning. The average alcohol by volume is around 16 percent, about the maximum of wine. And like wine, sake is a fine, nuanced beverage to be explored and savored in moderation.
