Regional sake: Akita Prefecture

Akita is lies in the northwestern corner of the main island of Honshu and is a beautiful prefecture of rugged mountains, beech forests and deep lakes. As cold winds blow in from Siberia over the Japan Sea, the severe winters bring heavy snowfall. Tazawako is Japan's deepest lake and Mt Chokai, in the south of the prefecture, has been nicknamed "Dewa Fuji" for its graceful cone. Kakunodate is a historical town with 200-year old samurai houses. In winter, people huddle around the irori, the square open hearth where they enjoy the local dish of kiritanpo, skewers with pounded rice grilled over a charcoal fire and then added to a hotpot stew of vegetables, mushrooms and chicken.


[Street with samurai houses in Kakunodate, Akita. Photo Ad Blankestijn]

Akita is also a true sake land: it is the fourth producer of sake in Japan and advertises itself with the slogan "Kingdom of Beautiful Sake." Akita has plenty of good rice, crystal-clear spring water and the cold winters help brewers keep the fermentation under control. But perhaps because of its distance from urban centers, it was only in the Taisho-period, in the 2nd and 3rd decades of the 20th c. that brewing in Akita took off, thanks to modern transport. Now there are 50 breweries. Breweries here started early on with ginjo production. There is a small but fine group of local toji, the Sannai toji.

The prefecture is also very active. In 1990, it has developed its own strain of yeast, AK-1 (now also Association Yeast No. 15), which produces very fragrant sake but also calls for fermenting at low temperatures for a long time. A large harvest of medals at the National Competition for New Sake the next year was the result. Akita Prefecture is also one of only two prefectures in Japan that have their own Institute for Brewing Technology. And although Akita still grows a lot of Miyama Nishiki, it has also developed its own types of special sake rice such as Gin no Sei. The Akita Chapter of the Sake Brewers Association has a large English section on its website, where individual breweries are introduced - something we would like to warmly recommend to other prefectures as well! And finally Akita's brewers are actively looking for customers abroad, by sending missions to the U.S. and E.U. via the Akita Sake Promotion and Export Council (ASPEC).


[Samurai house in Kakunodate, Akita. Photo Ad Blankestijn]

Akita's sake is rich but delicate, with a detailed construction. It is also somewhat on the sweet side, due to the mostly soft quality of the water in the prefecture. Akita people are also known as the greatest sake drinkers in Japan (the prefecture has the highest consumption rate in the country), so 90% of Akita's sake is enjoyed by Akita itself.

Here are some well-known breweries:

Ama no To ("Heaven's Door" - from an old song that reads "Quietly open the door to heaven, and let the sunlight shine upon the green leaves of cedar trees in the holy mountain"; Asamai Shuzo in Yokote City).
Founded in 1917. Only uses local rice (no Yamada Nishiki!) and has formed a rice study group with its farmers. Has a famous brew master, Moriya Koichi. Delicate and well-balanced sake. Has won five consecutive gold medals in the National Sake tasting competition using Akita rice and AK-1 yeast.

Aramasa ("New administration" - a name used by the Meiji government; Aramasa Shuzo in Akita City).
Good example of the distinctive style of Akita sake. Founded in 1852. Has won many awards in tasting competitions over the decades. Was the developer of what is now Association Yeast No. 6.

Dewatsuru ("Crane of Dewa"; Akita Seishu in Daisen City).
Located on the Senboku Plain. Mellow and smooth flavor. Founded in 1865. The name goes back to the words of a former brewmaster who said: "May this sake that I brew with all my spirit be like a crane in its caliber and mellowness."

Hideyoshi ("Hideyoshi" is the name of the famous unifier of japan and also a play on the words "excellent and good"; Gomei-gaisha Suzuki Shuzoten in Daisen City).
Founded in 1689 by a brewer who moved here from Ise. The sake was drunk by the local feudal clan, the Satake, who gave it the name "Hideyoshi" after the brewery won a tasting competition in 1849.

Hiraizumi ("Flying good spring"; Hiraizumi Honpu in Nikaho City).
In contrast to the relative youth of most breweries in Akita, Hiraizumi's history goes back to the 15th c. (1487 to be exact), making it the 3rd longest history of any brewer in Japan. The brewery was set up bij a wholesaler from southern Osaka, from an area called "Izumi," and it combined its original wholesaler's name of "Izumiya" with the name of its Akita location, Hirasawa ("Hirasawa Izumi no Sake" which became "Hiraizumi"). In the early Meiji period, sake brewing became the main business. Different from other Akita sake is the fact that Hiraizumi brews with very hard water, resulting in a dense sake high in acidity. It also uses the yamahai method.
The current buildings date from 1883.

Kariho ("Cut rice stalks"; Kariho Shuzo in Daisen City).
Formed in 1913 as a sister company to Dewatsuru. Brews a gentle and charmingly light sake. Has won many awards in tasting competitions over the years. The name of the brewery cites a famous poem by Emperor Tenchi, part of "One Hundred Poems by One Hundred Poets:" "Because of the coarseness of the rush mat in this temporary hut in the rice paddy in autumn, my cuffs are becoming wet by the dew on the cut rice stalks."

Mansaku no Hana ("Flower of Mansaku", the first tree to bloom in spring; Hinomaru Shuzo in Yokote City).
Established in 1689. The Hinomaru Brewery takes its name from the family crest of the ruling Satake clan: a folding fan with a hinomaru (sun) design. Uses under-well water from Mt Kurikoma. Concentrates on ginjo with a sophisticated flavor. Brews with the kimoto-method. One of the smallest breweries in Akita. Most of the sake is aged in the bottle.

Taiheizan ("Taiheizan" is the name of a sacred mountain east of Akita City; Kodama Jozo in Katagami City).
Started as a manufacturer of miso in 1879. Sake brewing began in 1913 and in 1934 the company received top honors in the national sake tasting competition. That year it also became the first company to sell non-pasteurized sake. Uses abundant quantities of clean well water and superior quality rice. Known for its use of the traditional kimoto-method.

Takashimizu ("Pure water from on High" - a place on a hill where the Japanese court many centuries ago established a local seat of government; Akita Shurui Seizo in Akita City).
Founded through the merger of 12 small breweries just after WWII. A brewing powerhouse that has one of the highest production volumes in eastern Japan. Understandably, much of that is ordinary "table sake," but the brand also has a few good premium sakes. It takes its water from a famous well that was used by the reigning feudal clan.

Tenju ("Heavenly Long Life"; Tenju Shuzo in Yurihonjo City).
Founded 130 years ago (1874), this brewery uses melted water from Mt. Chokai. Has set up the Tenju Sake Rice Research Association for studying the organic cultivation of rice. A delicate, light sake with a mellow fragrance and rich flavor.

Yuki no Bousha ("Thatched-roof house in the snow"; Saiya Shuzoten in Yurihonjo City).
Founded in 1902. Brews with water that has been filtered down through Mt Shinzan, at the foot of Mt Chokai. The water is semi-soft. The brewery is shaded by a huge keyaki-tree, providing a stable temperature inside the kura. This brewery uses the kimoto-method. Only brews in small batches as it believes large tanks lead to a bland taste. Uses Yamada Nishiki and Akita Sake Komachi rice, and polishes on average to 58%. In 2001, it became the first sake brewery in Japan to be certified as an organic sake brewer. Uses its own yeast. Housed in historical buildings.

Information from: National Tax Office and Japan Sake Breweries Association, as well as the Akita Sake Breweries Map and the JAL sake site, Sake, the Liquid Essence of Japan.
Regional profile gleaned from: Nihonshu no Tekisuto (2): Sanchi no Tokucho to Tsukuritetachi by renowned sake journalist Matsuzaki Haruo (Doyukan, 2005). Some information about individual breweries based on Matsuzaki Haruo, Tastes of 1635 Shinpan Nihonshu Gaidobukku (Shibata Shoten 2003), as well as The Sake Companion by John Gaunter (Running Press) and The Insider's Guide to Sake by Philip Harper (Kodansha International).

Pickled to Perfection - Tsukemono

Tsukemono, Japanese pickles, are a constant part of every Japanese meal that contains rice - they are usually combined into a set with the rice and miso soup (ichiju issai, "one soup and one vegetable"). Pickling was an important way of preserving vegetables and get the necessary vitamins also in winter. In the past, Japanese families did their own pickling, as some farmers still do. There are many ways of making tsukemono, but as none of these involves the use of distilled vinegar or acetic acid, we should in fact call them "preserved vegetables", rather than pickles in the Western sense. Tsukemono are also eaten with chazuke ("green tea over rice"), or just with a cup of green tea after the meal. Last but not least, they also make an excellent companion to sake.

On menus, such as of the kaiseki cuisine, tsukemono are called "(o-)shinko."

Here are the major types of pickling:

• With salt (shiozuke). The easiest and most popular method. Sliced vegetables are salted and put under a weight in the pickling press (tsukemonoki). The salt is removed by washing before serving. Very light pickles can be made by just keeping them in the press for one night (ichiyazuke). [This is also called "asazuke", although asazuke are not only made with salt, but also with vinegar or rice bran. The original flavor is the vegetable is preserved in this way].
  Best example: umeboshi, Japanese apricots.}
  
  
  [Photo from Flickr by Ad Blankestijn]
  
• With soy sauce (shoyuzuke). Mirin is usually added to the soy sauce.
  Best example: Fukujinzuke, a pickle of seven kinds of vegetables (as there are "Seven Deites of Good Fortune," fukujin), the fixed companion of curry dishes. Has a crunchy texture. Vegetables used are daikon, eggplant, cucumber, etc.
• With miso (misozuke). The miso is usually mixed with sake. This method is used for pickling whole vegetables, such as pumpkin.
  
  
  [Photo from Flickr by framboise]
  
• With vinegar (suzuke). Japanese vinegar is low in acidity, so like the other types, this is also more a preserved vegetable than a real pickle.
  Best examples: rakkyo, pickled scallions or gari, the pickled slices of ginger eaten to refresh the mouth between dishes of sushi.
• With rice bran (nukazuke). Used with salt and chilies. The vegetables are buried in a bed of the rice bran (nukadoko) for a period of several months.
  Best example: takuan, pickled daikon radish, colored yellow by adding turmeric (ukon). Named after a famous priest who purportedly invented this type of pickle.
  
  
  [Photo from Flickr by shiokuma]
  
• With sake lees (kasuzuke). Sake lees are mixed with shochu, sugar and salt. This method of pickling takes a very long time.
  Best example: narazuke, the representative pickle of Nara City, mostly made with pickling melon (shirouri).
  
  
  [Photo from Flickr by ancorena]
  
• With koji (kojizuke). Koji is a mold that is cultivated on rice and that is responsible for the sugarification of the starch in the rice as well as the production of other enzymes. A pickling method for winter.
  Best example: bettarazuke, using daikon. Has a sweet flavor and alcoholic aroma. The name derives from the "stickiness" of this type of pickle.
  
  
  「Photo from Wikipedia]
  
• With Japanese mustard (karashizuke). A pickling bed is made of mustard mixed with the sakekasu (lees) we already saw above.
  Best example: karashi-nasu, using eggplant.

Not all tsukemono fit neatly into these categories. The famous senmaizuke consists of slices of turnip (kabu) pickled with salt plus konbu, mirin and chili pepper so that a distinctive umami flavor develops.

Tsukemono can be bought in supermarkets and other food stores, but there are also specialist shops, often set up by the makers. Kyoto and Nara have many such tsukemono shops and tsukemono from these cities form a popular omiyage (present brought home by travelers).

Whisky from Rikyu's water (Suntory Yamazaki Distillery)

Suntory's Yamazaki Distillery is the oldest whisky plant in Japan. It was set up in 1923 by Torii Shinjiro, the founder of Suntory which until then had been only manufacturing the extremely sweet Akadama port wine. While Akadama for obvious reasons never has won any hearts outside of Japan, Suntory's malt whisky has been another story - it has gathered many international prizes.


[The Suntory Yamazaki Distillery. From my photostream on Flickr]

Mr Torii selected a great place for his distillery: a bamboo grove at the foot of Mt Tennozan, in green Yamazaki between Osaka and Kyoto. It is an area where three rivers, the Katsura, Uji and Kizu rivers, merge, creating mists and fog conducive to good whisky (it keeps the wooden casks used for aging wet so that they don't loose moisture). On top of that, it has excellent water that wells up from undergound - so good and pure that famous Tea Master Sen Rikyu built his Taian teahouse in this area. And, last but not least, the location is also conveniently close to the large population centers of Kyoto, Osaka and Kobe.


[The large mash tuns. From my photostream on Flickr]

Whisky is made by first germinating barley, a process which is called malting. The malt is dried in kilns with a little peat. Next, it is ground and put into a mashtun with warm water (the flavor and quality of the water is very important here!). The enzymes which are the result of the malting change the starch into sugar. When the saccharification is finished, the mash is filtered to obtain a clear wort. That is next transferred to wooden vats called washbacks for the fermentation process. Yeast is added to that purpose. The wooden washbacks are more difficult to operate (temperature control) than stainless steel vats, but they give the whisky a richer flavor.


[Wooden washback. From my photostream on Flickr]

Next, direct-fired pot stills are used to distill the fermented liquid and obtain a higher alcohol percentage. Distillation is conducted twice. The right timing of this proces by the stillman, the artisan in charge of distillation, is central to obtaining a well-balanced flavor.

The distillery operates many different stills ("straight-head stills, bulge stills and lantern-head stills"), crouching in a huge hall like so many primeval monsters, to get various types of whisky for blending. The top blended whisky by Suntory is Hibiki.


[Array of pot stills. From my photostream on Flickr]

The final stage of whisky production is the all-important aging in oak casks. The oak imparts color and flavor to the whisky. Aging takes place in a large storehouse where a huge variety of oak casks has been lined up, with such interesting names as "hogsheads," "puncheons" and "sherry butts," besides normal barrels.

The Yamazaki Distillery also became the location where Japan's first single malt whisky was distilled, Yamazaki 12, which came to market in 1984. Today Suntory offers single malts of 10, 12, 18 and 25 years old.


[Oak casks for aging the whisky. From my photostream on Flickr]

The Suntory Yamazaki Distillery is open to the public. From 10:00 to 15:00 guided tours are held which pass through the factory (the three stages of malting/mashing/fermentation, the hall with the huge pot stills, and the large storehouse with the casks for aging), after which a tasting is offered. The whole proces takes about one hour. Afterwards visitors can freely explore the Yamazaki Whisky Museum and the Distillery Shop. The tasting consists of Yamazaki Single Malt which has a clear and crisp flavor plus the more smoky Hakushu which is made at the foot of Mt Komagatake in Yamanashi Prefecture.


[Casks. From my photostream on Flickr]

The guided tour must be booked in advance by calling (0)75-962-1423. The tour is in Japanese, but English audio guides are available. There is also an English pamphlet. The tour and tasting are free. The distillery is only a 10 min walk from Yamazaki Station on the JR line between Osaka and Kyoto (or Oyamazaki Station on the Hankyu Line).

[Suntory's guide in action. From my photostream on Flickr]

See Nonjatta for another take on the Yamazaki Distillery and copious information about Japanese whisky, including its history.

Eating the eggs of fish

The egg masses of fish or their ripe internal ovaries are called roe (gyoran). Both raw and cooked, roe is a popular food in Japan. We find the following types:

• Ikura or salmon roe. The term is a loan word from the Russian ikra, caviar. Although not as precious as its Russian namesake, the bead-like ikura-spheres have a beautiful orange color and taste delidiously. Ikura is popular sushi topping and is also used in chirashi-zushi and onigiri.
  
  [Photo from the photostream on Flickr of Loremipsum]
  
• Sujiko or "salmon roe in one piece": sujiko is still inside its sack when it is prepared. It is darker in color than ikura.
• Kazunoko or herring roe, usually salted. Kazunoko is yellow and has a firm, rubbery texture. The roe is flavored with soy sauce before eating. Besides being a topping for sushi, kazunoko also is a popular item in O-sechi Ryori, the special New Year's meal.
  
• Mentaiko or Alaska pollack roe, spiced with powdered chili pepper and surrounded by a thin, elastic membrane. A specialty of Hakata (Kyushu). Mentaiko is usually pink to dark red. Tarako (cod's roe) is another way tio refer to mentaiko.
  
  
  [Photo from the photostream on Flickr of ash-man]
  
• Uni, the orange or pale yellow ovaries of the sea urchin, a great delicacy. It is soft and melts on the tongue. It is a popular topping of sushi, and is used in a variety of other ways in the Japanese kitchen.
  
  
  [Photo from the photostream on Flickr of superfantastico]
  
• Karasumi or dried, salted mullet roe (botargo). Eaten as is such in thin slices.
  
  
  [Photo from the photostream on Flickr of panduh]

To complete the (Edo-period) list of the "Three Great Delicacies (chinmi)", to uni and kazunoko should be added konowata, although this is not a roe. Konowata are the fermented intestines of the sea slug (namako). All three delicacies are served as food with sake.


[Photo from the photostream on Flickr of rhosoi]

The refined sweetness of Mirin

When searching the web, there seems to be a lot of confusion what the sweet liquid flavoring called mirin in fact is.

It is, for example. often called "sweet cooking sake", but that is wrong. Mirin does not contain any sake and has not been fermented either.

Mirin is produced by mixing steamed glutinous rice (the type used for mochi rice cakes) on which the koji mold has been cultivated, with shochu (Japanese distilled liquor). Instead of shochu it is also possible to use brewer's alcohol (ethanol). The koji transforms the starch in the rice into glucose and over a period of 40 to 60 days a delicious sweetness develops. When the mirin is ready, it contains 13.5 to 14.5% alcohol and 40 to 50% sugar.

In other words, in the traditional kitchen, mirin is used as the standard sweetener. The alcohol will evaporate during cooking.

There are several cheap "chemical" replacements on the market, so to make clear we have to do with real mirin, it is called "hon-mirin." You can also recognize it by the alcohol percentage that is always on the bottle, and the light brown color, as a thin, golden syrup. The chemical replacements are lighter colored and contain less than 1% alcohol.

Mirin possesses a refined sweet taste and a delicious aroma. With dashi, soy sauce, vinegar and miso, it is one of the most important traditional flavorings in the Japanese kitchen.

Mirin is also used as ingredient for all kinds of dip sauces for noodles, for sweetening simmered dishes, for marinades, and the sauces for kabayaki and teriyaki, as well as for glazing grilled foods. Mirin contains lots of amino acids and therefore "umami." Mirin also helps to mask the strong aromas of meat or fish.

In the past, mirin was sometimes also consumed as an alcoholic drink, by adding more shochu. It is still used as ingredient in otoso, the New Year's sake that has been spiced up with a herb mixture.