Hello Wine and Sake lovers. Tonight May 8th at 5pm until 8pm I will be serving Sushi and Sake for a fun Friday night. Sushi and traditional Sake at Ralphs is a great way to start your evening festivities. Sake is an alcohol product distilled from the rice grain. Originating Japan and slowly made its way around the world. Sake is consumed so often that one in three drinks consumed is a sake-based product. Many bars and sushi houses are serving Sake-tini drinks. A mild concoction of a dry to sweet sake and a mix or several mixes shaken and served in a Martini glass. My friend Debbie in Manhattan Beach spent many years as a bartender during her training with me she showed me the way around the sake- tini business. Using fresh ginger and puree of fruit nectars and a little simple sugar she created a few tasty drinks I am sure if you go to a fine sushi house the bartender will have some recipe with a sake based option.
When I was in culinary school I gained an appreciation for sushi chefs, we were given a quick study of technique on how to roll and cut sushi, it takes patience and a very steady hand and an insanely sharp knife. All the way from the preparation of the rice to the selection of fish each component plays an integral part of the presentation. Sake is graded by the degree of polish the grain of rice. The closer to the center of the grain of rice it is polished down to the finer the sake becomes. Brewed much like beer, sake contains a much higher alcohol content than beer or wine. My friends call it the sleeper drink. Sake packs a punch in a subtle sweet way. Before you know it your on the way to a fast buzz.
To drink warm sake or cold sake is up to the individual. Preference for me is always cold sake. On one night we had a sushi expert attend one of our events, he mentioned that many sushi houses warm the sake to hide the inferior taste of cheap sake. I was surprised to hear that seeing how my only exposure was warm sake. After tasting the great sake he offered, I was a changed man when it came to the drink. The addition of mixed sake cocktails brought a new dimension to the experience to sake . Tonight is traditional style sake, but we will revisit some night the sake cocktail. I am looking forward to seeing those fans of sake and sushi tonight for a fun Friday night and a great start to your weekend plans. Cheers!
Mike Berger The Wine Guy
