FOOD PAIRING

Traditionally, sake has been matched with any food in Japan which includes mostly seafood, vegetables, tofu and rice. Sake is conventionally selected as an accompanying alcoholic beverage with sushi, sashimi, tempura, and other Japanese foods while beer (and recently wine) are chosen for Western foods. Lately, people have begun to realize that sake can be paired well with a wide variety of foods, both Oriental and Occidental in nature.

Generally, one of the following reactions occurs when sake is consumed with a food:

1. Neutral Effect: Neither the food nor the sake was effected
2. Balancing Effect: Sake is harmonized with food, giving pleasant taste sensation
3. Synergistic Effect: Pairing of sake and food boosts savory or pleasant taste sensation more than individually
4. Suppressing Effect: Sake or food brings about odd taste sensation

Desirable food pairing should be through balancing and synergistic effects. We need to remember that tasting sensations are a subjective matter and not universal. However, there must be some general consensus shared by the majority of people. This has become apparent as we have paired food with our sake. We are in the process of food pairing experiments with many appetizers, entrees and individual foods. The results of these experiments will be reported here later.

Tuna Poke - Fresh tuna marinated in white soy sauce with wasabi and other spices. Salmon can be used for a salmon poke.

Green River Sake

Food Pairing

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Snow-Aged Rice Wine

Strong sake character but respects food flavor, prefer appetizers with characteristic ingredients or good flavors Friendly enough to accommodate strong aromas and flavors Interesting to match with creative foods May play the role of both white and red wines for food pairing. Appetizers: oysters on the shells, shrimp cocktail, crab cake, vegetables, buffalo wings, cheese, pate, salad, egg rolls, etc. Entrees: seafood dishes (salmon, sea bass, sole, scallops, shrimp), chicken dishes, pork dishes, filet mignon, pasta with a cream sauce or tomato sauce, tofu-vegetarian dishes, infusion dishes Ethnic Foods: Japanese (sushi, sashimi, Ceviche, tempura) Chinese, Mexican, Italian

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Koide 12 Rice Wine

Enjoyable with moderately flavored foods such as appetizers, salads, roll-sushi, chicken-beef teriyaki, meat dishes and pasta. Always excellent with seafood like slamon and calamari or fruits/vegetables like avocado, papaya, etc. Highly recommended for straight consumption as aperitif or table rice wine.