Exclusive Japan Travel – 2012 Sake Brewery Tours

Flip through the photo book of Sake Brewery Tours destinations. In 2012, the 5-day excursions take you to experience the best of the snow country in Akita, and to really immerse yourself in sake and culinary traditions in the Land of Myth, the San-in region. Enjoy & visit http://saketours.com!

2 min 7 sec

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I have always wondered what makes the simplest staples such as buckwheat soba noodles taste so good. What is the secret that sets some restaurants apart from others?

Last February, Sake Brewery Tours group learned how to roll out soba from Sato-san, a master, who joined us in a historic building at Kariho sake brewery in Akita. For many guests, it was their first time making soba. Under Sato-san’s very good instructions–and with some hands-on help–we kneaded, rolled, and cut our own fresh soba. While we were waiting for the noodles to boil, Kariho’s toji, or brew master, told us some amazing tales. He took us back 30 plus years to when he had started working at the brewery. When the noodles were ready, we enjoyed them with some just-brewed Kariho. Nothing could have tasted better. Everything was just so magical and that whole experience at the brewery was definitely one of the highlights of our five day in the snow country!

The soba master, Sato-san and his family own a restaurant in Kakunodate where the group spent the night. So, the next day, some of us visited him at his shop called simply, Kakunodate Soba. Again, we watched him roll out soba. This time he was in his own soba station with a huge wooden board on the counter next to the giant green soba grinding mill. He does this behind a glass wall so the diners can see his work as well as taste it. Just like the previous day, the soba I had was great-simple, but perfect.

Last week, I went back to Kakunodate to finalize arrangements for the 2012 Akita tour in February. I stopped in at Kakunodate Soba before they gets busy for lunch. As I was waiting for Sato-san to pack some of his soba for me to bring back to Tokyo, I noticed his father was carefully picking through a tray full of something. “Is that what soba looks like?” I asked. He said this batch was just hulled in the back of the restaurant, but there were a few black pieces left in the layers of yellow seed. He picked out any unhusked soba one by one because they change the color of the noodles. “It’s a lot of work, but we do this everyday. Otherwise, flavor and aroma of soba noodles are not so good.”

I know many soba shops grind the seeds to make their own flour, but I had not heard of a place where they husk the soba in-house. When Sato-san came back, I expressed how taken aback I was to learn how much work goes into preparation. “Do you have some time?” He invited me to the back of the restaurant to see his workshop where his seeds are prepared before milling. After learning the whole process, I was even more surprised to see how much care and time go into a simple bowl of noodles. Sato-san’s approach reminded me of sake brewing.

First, he showed me the giant refrigerated room dedicated to keeping the bags of buckwheat after it comes from a grower. Then, in the back room, he had two big green machines, one was tall and another one was low. One looked like a small rice milling machine like you might see at a sake brewery, so I assumed it is for husking. But, I could not figure out what the other short machine was for. Sato-san scooped black seeds from a blue bucket and said, “These are pretty clean when the growers ship them to us, but first we have to polish them. We clean off any trace of dust or unwanted bits by running a batch through this machine.” Then, he picks up metal plate with many holes all the same size. He explained the next step to sort the polished seeds by running them through the screen. There is a series of ten screens with ever smaller holes. Thus, everything is sorted by size before the soba goes into the tall husking machine. This kind of attention improves the husking process. Even after all of this, there are going to be a few unhusked ones in the mix. So, he uses a metal sorting plate again to separate husked and unhusked ones. Unhusked ones go back to go through the machine again.

Before getting to the point where I watched Sato-san’s father working on in the kitchen, an unimaginable amount of care goes in. “Do people know that you put in this much time and attention everyday before serving them a bowl?” I asked. In February, we had no idea how much went into making the flour we had in front of us. “I don’t think so. The prep work is time consuming but it makes all the difference in taste and aroma. Also, it is not as hard as finding the right growers and doing business with them. That’s the hardest thing and I sometimes have to ask my shisho, or master, to help me out.”

We did not even get into his dashi broth at all. Nut, his soba sauce has just the right balance of dashi and soy sauce. I imagine the same philosophy he has about noodles goes into his sauce. I never knew how complex it was to make this simple meal. I finally found the answer to my question. Now I know the secret.

If you are visiting the beautiful, yet very relaxing historic town, Kakunodate in Akita, you can try their soba yourself! They are open for lunch only and close once they have served all soba they prepared for the day.
Kakunodate Soba
Address: 17 Iwase, Kakunodate, Senboku, Akita
秋田県仙北市角館町岩瀬町１７
Tel: 0187-53-2054
Access: Kakunodate Soba is located between Nishinomiya-ke and Ando Jozo. It is a few houses up the street from Nishinomiya-ke.
Web site in Japanese:http://www.hana.or.jp/hana/kigata/kakusoba/sobatop.htm

Please join the Sake Brewery Tours to Akita in 2012 to taste and see the sake and soba master craftsmanship yourself!

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Enter to win a guinomi!

We are giving away this beautiful guinomi sake glass from Yumachi Gama pottery kiln to a lucky winner from 6th Annual Sake Day guests. Stop at the Sake Brewery Tours table to get a secret code to enter to win!

While you are there, find out about the two regions, Akita and San-in, we visit in 2012. In addtion, you will have a chance to contribute to the recovery of Tohoku by purchasing Sake Brewery Tours o-choko. 100% of the sale price is donated for Tohoku. Don’t forget to try some yummy treats from San-in region!

Please visit Sake Brewery Tours for more information.
6th Annual Sake Day informtion: http://sakeday.com/

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Tokyo

9/25 (Sun)The Annual Nihonshu-no-hi walk in Tokyo starts at 1:00 pm from Ginza. After this strenuous sake support activity, head to Takara at Tokyo International Forum for a sake party!

Info in Japanese.

10/3 (Mon) Free Sake at Sake Plaza. Sake Brewers Association will have Kagami-biraki to celebrate Nihonshu-no-hi at 12 and 5pm.
See japansake.or.jp in Japanese

North America

NYC

Sake Party at SAKAYA NYC: 10/1 (Sat) 5:00 – 7:00 pm
Hiroko and Rick will be presenting Joto’s boutique sake selection. Don’t miss a chance to sip Yuki-no-bosha!
http://www.sakayanyc.com/events.php

The National Sake Day? at Sakagura: 10/1 -10/3 http://sakaguranyc.blog64.fc2.com/blog-entry-91.html

San Francisco

6th Annual Sake Day “A Toast to Recovery” by True Sake: 10/1 (Sat) 4-8 pm
Great party with sake, food, and music. While you are at the event, stop by the Sake Brewery Tours table for goodies!
http://sakeday.com/

Sake Day Weekend (9/30 – 10/2) Pairing at Nombe Restaurant:
http://www.nombesf.com/sake-day-weekend-930-102-pairing/

Portland

International Sake Day at SakeOne: 10/1 (Sat) 11am-5pm
Brewery tour, cooking demonstration, daiginjo flight info on SakeOne site

Vancouver

Premium 酒 Tasting Night at Tonarigumi: 10/1 (Sat) 7:30 – 9:30 pm
http://tonarigumi.ca/calendar/premium-tasting-night/

Austin

Grand Opening of Texas Sake Kura: 10/1 (Sat)
http://www.txsake.com/

Dallas

Sake at Tei-An Soba House: 10/2 (Sun) 7:00 pm
Tohoku sake pairing dinner by Chef Hung and Teiichi Sakuraiat Tei-An Soba House
info on Side Dish

Minneapolis

National Sake Day at Moto-i: 10/1 (Sat) all day
Celebrating being the only sake brewpub in North America (and 3 years old) with $3 sakes!
http://www.moto-i.com/

Honolulu

SAKE DAY 2011 CELEBRATION at The Sake Shop: 10/1 (Sat) all day
Sake tasting and drawings to win hard to get sake items!
Info

Boston

SAKE DAY at Umami Asian Bistro: 10/1 (Sat) 6:00 – 8:00 pm
Sake flight and an opportunity to try your hand at mixing a Sake cocktail
Info

South America
São Paulo

Sake Day Special Pairing at Itigo Sake House: 9/27 to 10/01
Special paring of three sake with three small plates.
http://www.itigo.com.br

Did we miss your sake event? Is anything happening in Australia, Asia, Europe, or South America? Please let us know via twitter @tokyofoodcast.

Enjoy your sake on October 1st!

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As life in Tokyo gets back to normal, so does our life. During the Golden Week holiday, many people made last minutes plans to get in or out of the city. We traveled one and half hours on local trains to Chigasaki, Kanagawa to spend the afternoon at Kumazawa Brewery, makers of Tensei label sake and Shonan Beer. Just like their fermentation, at Kumazawa Brewery, they have perfected blending old and new ways to create their own local art and food community.

One toughest choice that day was between Mokichi Trattoria or Tensei for our late, low-key lunch. Both eateries are part of the Kumazawa Shuzo compound and are run by the same people. They just differ in styles and atmosphere. Mokichi Trattoria is a kid-friendly pizza centric place with more of the beer theme. Tensei serves fusion dishes from right next to their sake brewery. You can see the roomful of fermentation tanks through the big glass walls.

Having been to Tensei a few times, but not to Mokichi, I thought we’d try their wood oven pizza with sake this time. Te-chan was excited about sausage from a local farm and micro-brewed beer.

So, here we are, at Mokichi Trattoria. Everything at Mokichi was impeccable but at the same time so comfortable and relaxed. We loved it here, especially the last glass we had- Tensei Junmai aged for five years in sherry casks. And, it is not available anywhere but in these two restaurants.

About Mokichi Trattoria
Information in English: http://r.gnavi.co.jp/g246300/lang/en/
Address: 7-10-7, Kagawa, Chigasaki-shi, Kanagawa
Phone: 0467-52-6111

About Tensei
Information in English: http://r.gnavi.co.jp/g246301/lang/en/
Phone: 0467-52-6115

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We will continue to share our sake, food, and travel experiences with some updates from our life in Japan.

To kickstart the return of our long lost Tokyofoodcast site, I thought to share this short video about miracle sake we tasted at John Gauntner and Robert Yellin’s seminar at the end of April. This sake brewed by Hitakami in Ishinomaki was left in the tank untouched for two weeks after the disaster. Visit John’s site for the whole story (Scroll down to entries for April 7 and 13).

Kanpai!

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If you are wondering where to find a good place to kanpai, here are some events Tokyofoodcast’s friends are hosting.

Bonsai Bar, Ebisu
Our friend, Mame-chan, is hosting a special sake event on 10/1 at Bonsai Bar. Yes, it is the only bar you can admire beauty of perfectly manicured trees and enjoy sake picked by Mame-chan. 3,000 yen covers all sake for the evening and o-tsumami is at 500 yen per plate.

Link to Bonsai Bar with a map:http://ebisubonsaiya.web.fc2.com/info.html

Akasaka NOTE, Akasaka
While back, Tokyo Sake Meetup hosted Japan vs. Holland Game with FIFA World Cup Official Sake event here. A nearby sake shop, Suzuki Mikawaya, and Goshima-san from Akasaka NOTE collaborated to put together two great sake parties in one evening. One goes from 6:30-8:30pm, then the second session starts at 9:00 pm. Purchase tickets in advance at Suzuki Mikawaya or contact the shop before you head out to the event. Ticket is 4,000 yen and it covers all nihonshu, food and live music.

Suzuki Mikawaya map and shop info: http://www.mikawa-ya.co.jp/shop/ and event info in Japanese

USA
New York
Now, if you cross the International Date Line and start with NYC, Hiroko and Rick are celebrating the day with special tasting at Sakaya NYC.

Rick says… “October 1st is Sake Day (Nihonshu no Hi) in Japan and we’ll be celebrating with our third annual party at SAKAYA on Friday evening, October 1 from 6-8PM. The festivities will feature “ample samples” of a selection of six of our favorite sake from World Sake Imports, embodying a set of distinctly different styles from across Japan.”

SAKAYA NYC info: http://www.sakayanyc.com

San Francisco
In SFO, True Sake is hosting the 5th annual event, Sake Day! Celebrate the special day with great sake, food, music and lots of fun.
Over 100 Sakes, Great Food, Rocking Okinawan Band,
Sake Learning Stations, and Win Sake Stuff!

Beau says… “Move over Octoberfest!! October 1st is “Nihonshu No Hi”
pronounced “he”), the day of sake in Japan. Be a part of history when the world stops for a day and sake lives for a night!”

True Sake – Sake Day info: http://www.sakeday.com/

Honolulu
Malcom and Nadine at the Sake Shop will host an all day tasting at their shop featuring very special selections. Now, I wonder what Iki na Onna from Tedorigawa is like. Dry or sweet?

The Sake Shop info: http://sakeshophawaii.com/2010/09/happy-sake-day/

How are you celebrating the special day? I will tell you about my day later! Kanpai!

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The penultimate isshobin was Kissui Miyanoyuki Junmai on the 6th of September. Vinod has been busy travelling and getting more isshobin has been a challenge, but we’re sure he’s going to cross over soon.

Gambatte, Jumanai Djimi Django!

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Jokigen Misatonishiki Hiya oroshi 上喜元 美郷錦 ひやおろし

I don’t pass through Tokyo Station often enough to know my way around as well as I should. Drop me in Shinjuku and I can change trains in my sleep, but Tokyo… So, when I had plans to meet up with my friend “S” in Akihabara yesterday, I left early to do a little reconnaissance. Where the heck was Hasegawa Shoten again?

The first time I went looking, I found the branch that is outside the ticket barrier by mistake–no tasting bar! Since then, I’ve been to the inside-the-barrier-branch a few times, but usually at the end of a very long train ride back home. This time I would find it and grave it indelibly on my brain for future reference. And, as an added bonus when I got there, Jokigen was having an in-store tasting of two fresh, new hiyaoroshi. I tried a few sample sips, was very pleased, then went my merry way. I think they looked disappointed to see me try everything, take a bunch of photos and then run off, but it was 11am and I had shopping to do.

Met up with “S” and we threaded the bowels of Akiba until we found the Drobo Second Generation boxen we were looking for. During August, my MacBook Pro HD, a LaCie 500GB external HD full of media, and the disc “S” used to for music all went to the “Big Enclosure in the Sky” and my external HD at work has been making nasty grumbling noises, so time to get serious about storage. But, I digress! Enough geekery of the digital kind–on to the sake-otaku goodness!

I’ve been working on “S” for the last year or so, and predictably he now likes several Shizuoka sake including Garyubai, and is a big Kozaemon fan. So, when I mentioned a nice little bar in the station with a great selection of nihonshu, he was sold. We needed to break up the return trip anyway.

The rep for Jokigen gave me a big smile when I walked up again, this time with a friend in tow. “S” gave each of the Jokigen a try and had the same reaction as I had had in the morning. The Omachi was more delicate and a little sweet, but the drier Misatonishiki really hit the spot. Shopping is hard work, so we quickly retired to the bar for further fortification. Continuing my recent string of “Sake from Saga”, we took a glass of Azumaichi and went with some Isojiman for a counterbalance. Both were good, but couldn’t have been more different. They deserve their own SotW one of these days.

Properly refreshed, I went back out to the shop floor determined to drive Et-chan insane by completely filling our refrigerator with bottles. It’s only one more! No question, I went for the Misatonishiki (美郷錦) over the also very good Omachi (雄町). If you need a refresher of what hiya oroshi is, click through to John Gauntner’s explanation. Actually, it was 5 October last year when we had another brew of this type as SotW, which brings me to a question. Is it just my imagination, or is hiya oroshi getting earlier? It feels like it, but maybe that’s just me getting in tune. A perfect example of wishing summer was over and fall was here and looking for the seasonal change on the shelves of the sake shop.

This Junmai ginjo, fresh-bottled (single-pasteurized in the bottle?) hiya oroshi (純米生詰ひやおろし) is a perfect example of the type. Light and lively with a few rough edges, and in this case, a brisk dryness. It has a strong, but consistent long aftertaste that gets a little more complex than what is right up front.

Tastes like the fall I wish it already was in Tokyo, but it is still damned hot here!

Links
Kano Shuzo, makers of Jokigen
Tel：0761-74-1551 Fax：0761-74-6120

Hasegawa Saketen, inside Tokyo Station. Head for the Marunouchi Center Exit then look for escalators taking you down to Gransta in B1.
TEL: 03-6420-3409
Hours: 7:00- 22:00　Sundays: 7:00～21:00

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Yamato Shizuku Yamahai Junmai

Finding a good izakaya with a good nihonshu list on Sundays presents a bit of a challenge because a lot of places are closed on the weekend, especially those in the central Tokyo business area. Rather than trying to search for a new place on Sundays, I start with Nozaki Saketen for a reservation.

Last night, a bunch of us sake fans from around the globe went out and had plenty of nihonshu and typical izakaya food. The last sake recommended by the restaurant was this bottle, Yamato Shizuku Yamahai Junmai brewed by Akita Seishu. The recommendation came after starting the night with summery sake from Tsuji Zenbee, Raifuku, and Mizubasho. Then we went on full bodied Akita streak with Ippaku Suisei and Mansaku-no-Hana.

For Akita sake fans, Kariho or Dewatsuru should sound familiar. Yamato Shizuku is the third brand from the same company, Akita Seishu, and it is dedicated to their original yago or brand name and logo from Edo period.

Actually, Nozaki Sakaten is a great lively, casual, and reasonably-priced place to sip from a good selection of sake any day of the week, but if you are at a loss on Sundays, try calling them first!

About Yamato Shizuku in Japanese: http://www.igeta.jp/yamato01.html

Nozaki Sakaten
A few minutes walk from JR Shinbashi Station Karasumori exit.
3-19-4 Shinbashi, Minato-ku;
Phone: (03) 6430-3329
Map and Directions: Please see this Japan Times article for directions.

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