As sake makes the leap to fine dining restaurants and non-Japanese venues, drinks expert and contributor June Lee find out from industry friends how they create the best pairing menu.
by June Lee
Don’t speak Japanese? No Japanese cuisine? These are no impediments at all to the ongoing sake wave which has continued to fascinate the modern, adventurous diner. In fact, more and more F&B operators are discovering that sake makes for excellent pairings with non-traditional foods, including some very surprising examples such as spaghetti bolognese and Asian curries.
That doesn’t mean that it is easy to build a great sake list that’s best suited to your venue. There are multiple considerations, from how many SKUs to carry, to understanding the best matches for your food.
We speak to some of our friends from the industry to share their best tips and practices.
Where the stars are
Aaron Jacobson, general manager of 3-Michelin star Zen, asserts that he can pair 90% of his restaurant’s fare with sake. It’s all in the umami that are present in both food and sake, and bringing in acid where appropriate.
As he explains in the Sake Matsuri Conversations: “All beverages have amino acids, but sake as a beverage is the only one with glutamate as amino acid. When you have an amazing dish that blows your cap off, that is most likely the concentration of glutamate or umami in it. Beyond the pairing of particular dishes and drinks for specific flavours, sake has the blanket ability to blend and meld with a lot of flavours, because of that umami that comes with glutamate.”
Aaron seeks out umami rich sakes such as koshu, kimoto and yamahai to put on his beverage pairing menu, alongside the usual expected Burgundies, buttery Chardonnays or fine Champagne. He says, “Most people don’t know much about sake and when they get a good pairing with sake, they are 10 times more likely to be impressed than with a good wine pairing. This is your chance to make an impression.”
Chef-owner Kevin Wong of 1-Michelin-star Seroja doesn’t consider his list very sake forward, but he does carry around 10 on his beverage list due to consumer demand. It’s all part of putting together a balanced list that also makes sure to include non-alcohol options in order to cater to all taste buds. “Since we use many forms of rice at Seroja, I strongly believe sake does work very well with Southeast Asian cuisine,” he tells Sake Matsuri.
These include a rice dish for the main course that uses native rice called Sia rice by the Lun Bawang tribe of Sarawak, as well as a dessert called tapai, in which they ferment glutinous rice. There is an exciting synergy between the rice dishes of Asia and rice-based beverages that is yet to be fully explored, and Kevin foresees that there are future pairings to be made in this area.
Over at 1-Michelin star Restaurant Nouri and Appetite SG, head sommelier & beverage manager Nicole Roche keeps things exciting by following sake trends, and using tools such as Google translate, Sakenomy and Hello Sake apps to deepen her foray into nihonshu.
She is particularly impressed to see more established breweries with female Toji (master brewers) at the helm. Those to look out for include Maiko Tsuji, the 7th generation brewer of Tsuji Honten from Okayama, and Rumiko Moriki from Moriki Shuzojo in Mie. It also creates talking points for her guests, to give them options of sakes that they can relate to.
With a crossroads cuisine that combines multiple flavours, Nicole is careful to look at how flavours can complete or compete with the beverages on her list. For instance, choosing a highly polished, opulent and floral Junmai Daiginjo to pair with slightly spicy Turkic dumplings, where the sake helps to soften the spices and highlight the floral aromatics of the dish.
Food first philosophy
If you have dishes with tomato sauce, consider sake, says Ronald Kamiyama, managing partner, The Cicheti Group. He tells Sake Matsuri: “I think umami flavours need to be present in order for the guests to be more open with sake pairings. Cheese, tomato and mushrooms all contain fantastic natural umami. For example, at Bar Cicheti, whenever there is a strong seafood element with a tomato-based sauce, I would consider sake.”
For beverage managers, he emphasises that they need to understand their chef’s technique in order to make better pairings. Till today, he selects sake that come from small breweries with more unconventional methods such as Bodaimoto and Yamahai.
“The acidity is higher, the flavour is more prevalent, with stronger umami. I believe this matches our chef’s bold ingredients at Cicheti Group,” he says.
Chi Pin Han who is chef-partner of Ishinomaki Grill, Ki Teppan and Rogama, and Table 33, chimes in with the last food for thought.
“There is no ‘best’ sake on your list. It depends on what you are eating as the taste of the food will affect the taste of the sake. At our restaurants, we find that our customers come for the food, so we will base the sake selection around the dishes.”
Some upcoming news. Certified Master Sake Sommelier Janice Chi has noted the lack of reference materials when it comes to pairing Asian dishes with sake, and she’s been working on a book on this topic. It will feature 150 dishes that cover Southeast Asian cuisines like Thai, Indian and local hawker food. The trickiest ingredients, according to her, are mala, sancho pepper, and garlic as these have very heavy flavours. She recommends chefs to moderate these in dishes in order to have a more balanced food and drink experience.
Here’s hoping sake pairing becomes more of a thing in Singapore’s vibrant dining scene.
*This article was brought to you in collaboration with Sake Matsuri Singapore. The next edition of Sake Matsuri Singapore will take place on 15 to 17 November 2024, with 15 November dedicated for pre-registered F&B professionals. Sign up at www.sakematsuri.sg.
[Main photo credit: Depositphotos.com]
June Lee drinks and eats for a living. For over 20 years, she couldn’t pick just one, so she specialises across food, wine, spirits and cocktail writing for editorial publications such as epicure magazine, Tatler Dining and Michelin Guide Asia.
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