Turn up the Heat with Warm Sake

Back again in Yagan square heading into Market Hall to Hiss and Smoke Perth's CBD Traditional Teppanyaki Restaurant famous for their Izakaya food eats. Perth food lovers can experience an open Kitchen in the heart of Perth, watch the chef's in action while you wait for your meal handed to you from the hot plate.

Our theme was " Hot Sake" It is was the perfect way to bring Perth Sake lovers together to " beat the winter cold" in two sessions we introduced 5 warms sake to be paired with beautifully with Hiss & smoke's dishes to excite our guest. The small group session was designed to help guest experience a more deep appreciation to the world of Japanese sake and encourage guest to share and bond with other guests who they met for the first time.

Within this session, I focused on the term Umami in both food and sake. Umami is the what we call the 5th taste. In our taste buds, you will normally experience, sweet, salty, sour, bitter and the fifth taste is Umami. How you know if its Umami taste?
Well, this is where we focus on the taste and the experience we get every-time we eat.
3 things you will notice about the Umami taste:

• The taste spreads over the tongue
• The taste last longer
• Facilitates saliva throughout your tongue.

It will normally have more taste 8 times stronger than the other tastes.

To understand the pairing guest were guided to follow special instructions along with the sake warm journey. With this pairing guest started with the warm sake first.
Our first sake is Hakutsuru Tanrei Junmai from Hyogo preference which is located in Kansai region near Osaka on the southern coast of Honshu Island. Tanrei means light or mellow, crisp or dry. We heated the sake to about 55 degrees bringing forth the aroma which is a lovely fruity invitation to the rice which is creamy but soft and delicate, the sweetness of the rice invites to the start of the umami journey. 





To start of the course we had Hiss and smokes Ika Karaage (baby squid) with yuzu pepper and mayonnaise.  It has a lovely crunchy texture which the saltiness and spice salivating in the palate with yuzu pepper giving a subtle sour kick inviting you to Hakutsuru Tanrei Junmai sake to clean the palate with a clean crisp finish.
Some our guest was vegetarian or couldn't eat all seafood unless it was fish so  Hiss and smokes did a fantastic job in catering to their needs. 
The vegetarian courses the guests had were Assorted Vegetable Tempura, with Yuzu Pepper & Mayonnaise. A classic traditional style of vegetable tempura batter crisp and saltiness and spice from yuzu pepper, when paired with Hakutsuru  Tanrei Junmai, compliments the sweetness of the sake.

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For the next pairing, the guest was instructed to start with the sake first and enjoy the course.
The next sake we paired with was Sawahime Premium Tokubestu. Junmai from Tochigi Prefecture which 1 hour away from Tokyo in the capital of Utsunominya in Kanto region.

Sawahime means princess by Master Brewer Hiroshi Inoue my mentor in my 7 years of sake. Tokubetsu means special, Junmai means pure rice. We heated this sake around 65 degrees which is very hot. With this temperature, the aroma is elegantly fruity which doesn’t take over you whole senses. In the palate is clean and crisp setting your palate ready to invite the course. 

Paired with Sawahime Tokubetsu Junmai Premium is Yaki Bara & Horumon with House Tare and sea salt. Bara is pork belly which is lovely and juicy based with Tare sauces with charred flavour here  Sawahime cuts through the fats and juices to cleanse the palate of the oils, the sweetness of rich invites the umami sensation which salivates in your palate and contrasts the savouriness of Sawahime. Horumon is Pig intestines and it is delicious. You first get a lovely crispy bite texture and saltiness follows wanting you to sip Sawahime again to reset your palate. ​

The vegetarian course the guest had Exotic Mushroom, House Tare, Sea Salt. The lovely char-grilled earthiness of the mushroom invites the umami sensation when enhanced with the tare sweetness and saltiness this when paired with Sawahime contrast the savouriness of the sake which cleanses the palate.​

This course highlighted the evening and kept guest palates salivating wanting another bowl. Sake Poached Clams with ginger and dashi broth. This dish in itself "screams winter warmers"  and a classic example of all things Umami we have the sweetness of the clams, bitter from the ginger and Umami from dash broth plus sake for more amino acids to help you salivate more and have the taste longer. See if you can notice.  Take a spoonful of the broth itself is well balanced. The clams enjoy it from the shell which invites you Sawhime Kimoto Junmai.

Sawahime Kimoto Junmai is a traditional sake which is used as a yeast starter. We have the temperature just about 65 degrees where the sweetness of the sake invites you to the lovely clams where the broth is a bit creamy to have a continuous journey until you finish.

Vegetarian dish the guest enjoyed Sake Poached Tofu & Daikon Radish. Here the tofu melts with a creamy silky texture, the Radish pungent in flavour for contrast with Sawahime and light and brothy calms the deep flavour of the Kimoto.

For the next course guest were instructed to start with the course first and enjoy with the sake.
So the next dish is Char-grilled saba ( blue mackerel) with citrus ponzu.

The lovely char-grilled captivated you sight which just wants you to start digging into the fish. The first bite you get is the lovely freshness of the Saba the saltiness invites you to pair with Sawahime Yamahai Junmai which is another traditional sake and another style of yeast starter. The umami is trigger by the high acidity and richness of the Yamahai which is around 60 to 65 degrees the aroma high and prominent in fruit but it opens up the senses to invite more flavours to the palate.  Hidden in the Saba you find a lovely balance of the Citrus ponzu which helps cut the lingering flavour of the Sawahime Yamahai.

The vegetarian dish was an eye-catcher totally off the menu other guests also wanted a bite. Pairing with Sawahime Yamahai we have cold soba with julienne cucumber for a crunchy texture and sour saltiness based with the soba when paired with Yamahai the acidity helps cuts through the lingering of Sawahime Yamahai.

So for our last dish guest would enjoy the meal and then drink sake at the end of every bite.
Our last course is Grilled Eggplant, sweet miso, ginger and bonito flake. With this we have layers of Umami, you have creamy saltiness from the eggplant, sweetness and umami from the miso, bitter from the ginger. The eggplant you have lovely bite texture which is chewy and creamy which invites the lovely warm sweetness of  Urakasumi Junmai at a temperature of 52-55 degrees aroma fruity coming from Miyagi Prefecture Urakasumi cleanses the palate with its crisp clean finish.

*People's choice for best sake and dish *

Sake : Sawahime Tokubestu Junmai Premium

Guest, we captivated how this sake performed when heated brought forth a beautiful richness of the rice which kept lingering deliciously and how it  cleansed the fattiness of the Bara from the palate allowing the palate to reset. Among the 2 sessions, this sake won people's hearts.

Best Dish:  Sake Poached Clams in Dashi Broth with ginger

The lovely sweetness of the Clams in that hot creamy broth just makes you salivate by looking at it. Guest couldn't get enough because it was simply delicious and perfect for winter the only complaint the guests had was it wasn't enough.