Kelly Choi at SAKAYA

We were thrilled to receive a phone call from Kelly Choi, the host of WNYC’s "Eat Out New York" telling us that she wanted to come to SAKAYA to do an interview about “how to navigate a sake shop.”

As agreed, she arrived with her camera crew at 11AM on May 20 and two hours later, we had wrapped the session which was to be distilled down to a two-minute segment. It initially aired the following week (and may still be running…we’re not sure). Please click here to check it out for yourself.

Our hope is that we were able to create some new interest in premium sake and that we offered some advice to help make it a bit easier for viewers to explore and indulge themselves in the pleasures of this intriguingly complex beverage.

Day 4 ... The Rice's Tale

Imagine if you will, a journey through time and space that begins with an intensive abrasion of your skin. While still smarting, you're jet-sprayed, dunked, and held under water until you've shed whatever residue remained from the abrasion. "Whew! Glad that's over with," you think as you lie down and rest for the night.

But early the following morning before you know what's happening, you're in the hottest Turkish bath you've never dreamed of. Ouch! With great relief you're allowed to cool off while being transported somewhere by conveyor belt. Suddenly, without warning, you're sucked into a hose and flying at warp speed until...splash! You've been shot into a tank of yeasty smelling liquid.

Such is the sakamai"s tale.

How do they sleep at night? VERY well thank you!

How do they do it? There are so many tasks and so few kurabito. Our Mukune International Sake Brewing Program intern team of six has doubled the work force at Daimon Shuzo. The experience of the last day and a half has given me an immense appreciation for the efficiency of the operation of this sakagura. To say that the craft of sake making is arduous and demanding would be an understatement. But the real difference maker is the coordination, timing, and teamwork.

We've washed, soaked, steamed, and cooled rice for a variety of uses (and we'll do more). We've made and moved koji. Made boxes and labeled bottles. Washed and cleaned our equipment and the materials used in the process. We'll do that many times more as well. Along with the physical, we've also be given an inside look at the science and management of the process. It is astounding what the full time kura team accomplishes in creating and packaging a variety of different sake (each with it's own unique "recipe" requiring different logistics and timing). All is seamlessly integrated following a flow of steps that bends and turns according to time, temperature, and taste.

At the figurative end of the day, we've had a literal taste of the satisfaction that a toji feels as he samples the free run sake that is the first to flow out of the Yabuta (the machine that presses the fermented mash and yields the fresh undiluted, unpasteurized sake). At the literal end of the day, we've also experienced the blissful exhaustion that comes from a labor that produces such an exquisite beverage. I know that I've never slept so well.

Mukune Sake Internship, Stairway to Heaven

Rick is at Daimon Shuzo, Osaka, Japan, participating sake internship program. Here is the report....

Within 10 minutes of our arrival at the Daimon Shuzo kura, we were immersed in the transfer of koji from wooden box-like trays to a burlap lined, wire mesh-based variety. We were smelling, smoothing, and yes, even tasting the almost styrofoam-like grains of rice that were now in a state of saccharine transformation due to the effects of exposure to their koji-kin invaders. With apologies for the lack of specific terminology, it was the experience of immediate entrance into the world and craft of sake brewing that was singularly exhilarating.

Our welcome from Shacho (President) and Toji (Brewmaster) Yasutaka Daimon was at the same time, warm, gracious, and enthusiastic. "Fasten your seat belts!" he exclaimed as he smiled at us from the top of the stairway. And then, there we were, up to our eyes in koji.

The subsequent exploration of our new home ultimately led to a steep, well-worn wooden stairway which led to our sleeping quarters. Looking straight up into the eaves of this ancient structure, I was struck by the feeling (realization?) that I was exactly where I most wanted to be. The stairway symbolized that point of entry from one world to the next.

Our Valentine's Day Heart Beet

Since we've been married, we've had a tradition of beginning our annual Valentine's Day dinner with a heart-shaped beet rosti (shredded beet pancake) that we christened the "Heart Beet." .

Beets are a great source for folate, manganese, potassium, fiber, and carbohydrates and we enjoy eating them cooked, raw, and roasted. We also enjoy eating beet greens which Hiroko usually sautees with garlic, salt, and pepper.

For Valentine's Day, Hiroko quickly prepared the beet version of rosti with chopped rosemary. She grated a beet and mixed it with chopped fresh rosemary, salt and pepper, and flour which serves as the adhesive that bonds the shredded beet mixture. It is best to grate the beets in the sink as everything in the vicinity tends to end up red.

Once all ingredients have been combined, shape the mixture into whatever form you'd like and place it in a pan of hot "shimmering" olive oil. After a couple of minutes, turn and cook the other side.

Not only is it a romantic dish, it's simple and delicious too!

Duck Dumpling Nabe

Our friend Harris Salat is working on nabe cookbook with Tadashi Ono of Matsuri. We volunteered to be recipe testers. What could be better work? Test the recipe and then eat what we've made!

We had already tested the recipes for Chicken Nabe and Lamb Nabe. Our assignment this time was to make Duck Dumpling Nabe. The recipe called for duck legs for making duck dumplings. When we went to our local butcher, who informed us that they don't sell that particular part of duck by itself. We had to buy a whole duck. Since we didn't want to buy an entire duck, we decided to make the dumplings using duck breast. We bought a piece of duck breast for the dumplings and a duck breast for slicing to cook in the nabe.

Hiroko put the chopped duck breast and seasonings in the blender to chop the meat. She then added buckwheat flour and eggs to the meat and then pulsed the meat into a gooey mixture.

When slicing meat thinly, we've found that freezing the meat beforehand is a great trick and we use it often. After freezing a duck breast she cut it in half, removed the fat, and left the fat on the other half. She then thinly sliced the both.

Next, she boiled the water, konbu, shoyu, and mirin in the nabe pot, scooped up handfuls of the blended seasoned duck mixture and dropped into the boiling liquid. Once these "duck dumplings" floated to surface, she added tofu, negi, hakusai, shirataki, and enoki mushrooms. It was then time to cover the pot with its lid and wait while everything cooked.

The last step was to add Shungiku on the top and the nabe was done.

Once we were at the table, we cooked the thinly sliced duck in the hot nabe and "chowed down." It was delicious! We tried two dramatically different sake with the dish: Denshu Tokubetsu Junmai and Narutotai Ginjo Nama Genshu. With the vegetables and duck dumplings, the Denshu was great match. With thin sliced duck with fat, Narutotai Ginjo Nama Genshu was the perfect match. While we were fortunate to be able to have both to enjoy with each portion of the meal, it isn't necessary to have two sake with this dish!

For shime (the carb of our choice in the end of nabe), we threw in soba and slurped it after it had cooked in the delicious duck-flavored broth. You couldn't find a better dish to have on a chilly winter evening! We can't wait to see this book on the market so that more people can experience the pleasure of eating nabe in their own homes.

Our Happy New Year Tradition

When we awoke on New Year's Day, the weather was sunny, clear, and brisk. We decided that it was perfect for our traditional annual walk across the Brooklyn Bridge.

Although we knew it was cold outside, we didn't know HOW cold it was until we saw the thermometer on the Watchtower billboard adjacent to the bridge which informed us that it was 22 F degrees/ -6 C degrees. Crazy to be walking across the BB in those frigid temperatures you say? If so,we were by no means alone in our insanity! In fact, the bridge was crowded mostly it seemed with tourists eager not to miss this quintessential NYC attraction. Our cheeks were frozen and it became difficult to smile but we managed to muster our best grins for a snapshot taken by one of those friendly tourists.

It wasn't our original plan to continue on to Chinatown, but Hiroko insisted on going to our favorite 5 for $1 Fried Dumpling on Mosco Street. When we got there, the place wasn't crowded and the usual Chinese ladies were efficiently cranking out the dumplings. We purchased two steaming portions, found two stools and joyfully savored our first taste of the New Year.