I always thought sake should be served hot. Boil it until
bubbles burst and funnel it into my little ceramic sake jar with
matching cups. The set has been with me for years and makes it out
of the cupboard maybe once a year when I actually make sushi at
home.
I always thought sake should be served hot. Boil it until bubbles burst and funnel it into my little ceramic sake jar with matching cups. The set has been with me for years and makes it out of the cupboard maybe once a year when I actually make sushi at home.
This week I was treated to a tour of the Ozeki Sake USA Inc. facility right here in downtown Hollister. The first thing I learned was most Japanese sake drinkers prefer their libation slightly warmed, at room temperature, or on the rocks. Certainly not bubbling hot, like I take the drink.
In Japan, however, Sake is not a cocktail. It is always eaten with food, or at least served with appetizers like dried squid if people are out for the evening at the Sake Bar. It’s a drink as rich in history as Japanese culture.
And Sake has its history in Hollister too. Ozeki Sake has been made in Japan since 1711, bit the current company president dreamed of expanding the company to the United States, and Hollister was chosen as the location in 1979 because of good water quality and the availability of rice, which comes from the Sacramento area. Evidently, it was a wise move as Norio Sumomogi, U.S. company president, said American sales doubled in the last ten years. A direct link to Americans new-found passion for sushi.
Sake production is not much different than the wine making process, but instead of grapes, sake is made from brown rice. Ozeki Sake exclusively uses short grain rice they say makes a higher quality wine.
The process, explained to me by Production Manager Takashi Kida, starts with polishing the grain of rice to remove most of the protein and fat. It is then washed, soaked, steamed and cooled. The rice then moves into a cedar lined Koji room, where a spore that produces Koji, an enzyme that converts starch to sugar is added. The Koji rice ferments in large stainless steel tank where the yeast and water are added. The rice mash is fermented for 20 days, then pressed, pasteurized and stored for six months to mature. At this point, chemistry takes a bit of a back seat and Kida brings the artistry to light by blending the different batches together to get the company’s signature taste. The blend is then filtered again and bottled.
Like table and premiere wines, different qualities of sake abound. Ozeki Sake, Ozeki Sake Dry and Ginjo Premier are the three levels of sake produced in the United States.
The difference between brands depends how much the grain of rice has been polished and the coldness of fermentation. Thirty percent of the grain is removed in the regular and dry, and 50 percent of the grain is removed for the Premier and it is fermented at 10 degrees Celsius versus 15 degrees for the regular and Dry. Sake is between 14 to 16 percent alcohol by volume. Kida recommends drinking the regular sake warm; the smoother dry chilled, and he likes the Ginjo Premier on the rocks. Ozeki also makes Mirin, a Japanese cooking wine, for Kikkoman and JFC.
Storing sake properly is important. Once bottled, sake begins to mature and change color, becoming more yellow as it ages. The wine is particularly sensitive to high temperatures and sunlight and so ideally should be protected from light by wrapping in newspaper and storing in an area where the temperature stays below 68 degrees Fahrenheit. Under these conditions, the average sake will keep for up to 6 months without any change in quality. Premium sakes which are usually pasteurized only once, instead of the usual two times, and will last up to two months if properly stored at 50 degrees Fahrenheit, and like wine, it should be consumed quickly once opened because of oxidation.
More than likely you’ve had sake while dining at an Asian restaurant, or you have a dusty bottle on the back shelf of a cupboard waiting for that Japanese dinner you’ve been meaning to make. I took Kida up on trying Ozeki Dry on the rocks, and I think I’ve found a new summer drink to sip on during the heat of the day.
Sake is a local treasure that shouldn’t be missed, especially with the Ozeki right here in town. Make an appointment, take the tour and have a tasting – you’ll love it.
For more information, call 637-9217.
