Hi all! This post is part of the blog tour for the Nogiku Series by S.J. Pajonas, organized by
The tour runs from January 20 till February 2, and you can view the complete tour schedule on the
on the website of Lola's Blog Tours.
S. J. Pajonas loves all things Asian and has been in love with Japan for as long as she can remember. Writing about Asia and Japan came naturally after studying the culture and language for over fifteen years. She studied film and screenwriting first and eventually segued into fiction once she was no longer working a full-time job.
Released is S. J. Pajonas’s second work, book two of four in the Nogiku Series. The first book in the series, Removed, is described as “a wonderful story” with “engaging characters, seamless world building, and an action packed plot.” It’s an “up-til-3am-because-I-read-it-in-one-sitting book.” She also writes contemporary romance and her upcoming first book in the Love in the Digital Age series will be published in 2014.
S. J. lives with her husband and two children just outside of New York City. She loves reading, writing, film, J- and K-dramas, knitting, and astrology. Her favorite author is Haruki Murakami and favorite book is The Wind-up Bird Chronicle.
And now, the moment you've all been waiting for . . . . .
WHAT IS SAKE?
A Guest Post by S.J. Pajonas
Sake is very misunderstood
outside of Japan so I’m glad I get to write about it today for the Nogiku Blog
Tour. Sake is the drink of choice in both REMOVED and RELEASED, and Sanaa and
Jiro always have a bottle or two in the fridge. In Japan, it’s considered the
life-blood of the country and
there’s
even a song for it!
Here in the U.S., I hear,
“What’s the deal with hot sake? Is that an actual thing in Japan or just the
way we serve it in America?” all the time. This is a very common question for
Americans who know nothing about Japanese food besides sushi. They think sake
is always served hot and there may be only a few varieties, and this couldn’t
be further from the truth.
Let’s start with the basics.
First of all, please do not call sake “SAH-KEY.” Saki is an entirely different word in Japanese, and you will get
stares of incomprehension if you don’t pronounce it right. The word is
pronounced “sah-kay” and sometimes in English we put an accent over the e to
help you pronounce it correctly.
Okay, now that you know how to
ask for it properly, you’re wondering, “Don’t I just ask for sake and take what
they give me?” Depends. If you’re eating sushi at a little place not well-known
for being authentic, probably. But if you’re lucky to happen upon a sushi
restaurant or even an izakaya that serves a variety, this is where it gets fun!
What is sake?
Sake is not the same as vodka or
other similar clear alcohols, but it’s actually more like beer, and comes in
just as many artisanal varieties and from many different regions just like beer
in America. Sake is brewed, as beer is, but the main component is rice. (If
you’re looking for a hard alcohol made from rice, you should try shochu). Sake
is usually clear but can range in color, from cloudy, milky white or even
taking on a caramel hue. It comes filtered and unfiltered, in big bottles and
small, and is available in small handcrafted batches and from big distributors.
Sounds familiar, right? And although beer is its own thing with many
ingredients (and there are many different Japanese beers that are amazing
too!), sake is its Japanese cousin. So, for this blog post and making sake
easier to understand, I’ll use American beer comparisons.
Choosing your first sake
The most prevalent brand of sake
in the U.S. is definitely Gekkeikan. I’m sure most people have seen it because
it comes in small and REALLY large bottles. It’s what I would term as the
Budweiser of sake, and I call it “The Gek” at home, as in, “Honey, bring a
bottle of the Gek up from the basement, please!” I mainly use Gekkeikan for
cooking, to be honest. It’s lower quality sake, in my opinion, but perfectly
drinkable, if you drink it warm! The majority of lower quality sake is served
warm to mellow out the harsh tones, and once it’s warm, I can put away a
ridiculous amount of Gekkeikan. But, oh my god, the hangover!
If you have a liquor store that
stocks other brands of sake, you’re in luck! There are a lot of decent sakes
sitting on liquor store shelves to choose from. This is where I, as a sake
novice, have the most fun. The first thing I do when confronted with new sake
is look at two things: the label and the price.
Here’s the label of my favorite
“everyday” sake, Tozai “Living Jewel.” I find this at my local liquor store and
it runs about $15 per bottle. $15 per bottle is what I consider to be the
equivalent of buying Blue Moon beer over Budweiser, great for a small gathering
of people sipping sake with a meal. There’s a lot you can learn from this
label: grade, profile, prefecture (where it’s made), and the kind of rice used.
I always look at grade first.
When I want a good, drinkable sake that’s served cold, I go with junmai grade
or better. In general, the better the grade, the colder its served. When I
drink Living Jewel, I pull it from the fridge and pour it into a double
old-fashioned. No fancy sake cups. No pretensions. Just drink and enjoy.
So look at the label! Buy
something in the junmai, tokubetsu (special) junmai, ginjo, or daiginjo
(daiginjo being the best) grade.
I’ve used my sake knowledge in
Book 1, REMOVED, of course. The story starts out with Sanaa celebrating her
20th birthday. In Nishikyō, the city in which she lives, the legal drinking age
is 20 so when she shows up at the izakaya to celebrate, her bartender friend
immediately pulls out a bottle of daiginjo sake and serves her. He doesn’t heat
it because daiginjo is the best grade of sake, and it’s served cold. I’m sure
if you know nothing about sake, you would probably read that and thinking
something was wrong with my story! Hopefully now you know.
Storing your sake
Rule of thumb: store sake how
you bought it. If you bought it from the shelf, store it on the shelf. If you
bought it from the cooler, store it in the fridge. If it’s served chilled, put
it in the fridge ahead of time and then keep it there. Sake never goes bad!
Seriously. I’ve bought sake, drank half the bottle, and then let it sit for up
to three weeks before drinking more. It DOES change in flavor, though. Sake, as
the brewer intended for it to taste, should be consumed within 24-48 hours of
opening. When I’ve had a bottle in the fridge for a long time, I tend to use it
for cooking and then move onto a fresh bottle.
Feeling adventurous?
You’re out at a nice Japanese
restaurant, one that offers a wide variety of sakes, and are totally confused
by the menu? Do yourself a favor, put on a smile and ask for a recommendation.
I bet the waitstaff or bartender would be more than happy to help! In fact, if
you can, ask for a tasting flight of sake. This is a great place to start. Try
a few and figure out what you like best, then ask to see the bottle. I have
been to many bars in NYC and done this. It’s not uncommon to find me taking out
my iPhone and snapping a pic of the label so I won’t forget! It always makes
the bartender smile.
Want more info?
I have three favorite sake books
to recommend!
●
The Book of Sake: A Connoisseur’s Guide – This
is great starter information with thorough background on types of sakes, how to
read the labels, how to pair sake with food, the regions and their styles.
●
Sake: A Modern Guide – Also great starter
information but has a fun section full of sake cocktails and food to pair with
sake.
●
The Sake Handbook – I use this to find common
sake and learn more about it. It contains information on the top 100 brands and
gives good tips for choosing a sake.
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