Food Pairing
Tuna Poke - Fresh tuna marinated in white soy sauce with wasabi and other spices. Salmon can be used for a salmon poke.
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:
- Neutral Effect: Neither the food nor the sake was effected
- Balancing Effect: Sake is harmonized with food, giving pleasant taste sensation
- Synergistic Effect: Pairing of sake and food boosts savory or pleasant taste sensation more than individually
- 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.
Green River Sake Food Pairing with Snow-Aged
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
Food Pairing with Other Green River Sake Products
| Koide 12 Rice Wine: | Moderately flavored foods, such as sushi, teriyaki, infusion and natural foods | |
| Five Seasons: | A variety of turf and surf foods throughout year. Good with tempura when served warm | |
| Beyond the Sea: | Japanese menu like sushi, sashimi, tempura, teriyaki and Japanese-Asian fusion foods |
 Sushi |
 Smoked Salmon |
 Chicken Buckwheat Salad |