As the winter solstice approaches, the season’s arrival feels ever more present. The crisp, clear air brings a comforting sense of serenity, highlighting the natural beauty around us. In the chill of morning and evening, breath rises in white clouds, and stars can be spotted glittering in the winter night sky. The sight of leaves falling from the trees carries a certain dignified elegance.
During the daytime, when warm sunlight streams through, there is a gentle kindness hidden within the cold. Hot meals and drinks offer us special moments that warm both body and soul.
Our “Early Winter Course,” designed to savor the unique tastes and sensations of the cold season, has begun.
大ぶりの新鮮なボタン海老を、京都の「玉川」2017 BY の山廃純米無濾過生原酒を、2018 年の夏に常温（＝灼熱？）で夏越しさせたお酒と、八角などのスパイスとで作った漬け液で数日漬け込みました。あまりにも魅惑的な香りとその姿に、店内のあちこちからため息が聞こえました。 食しているのは自分なのに、まるで自分が飲み込まれてしまっているかのような、極上のねっとりとした複雑な濃醇さが口中を騒がせます。
On Saturday, February 23, 2024, we held a special sake pairing event with ”SAKE-BAN” Masaki Tada at Medetashi. The first event was held in December 2023, and this would be its second.
Although there were still occasional cold days, the event was held in the late winter when the footsteps of spring could be heard gradually.
This is a report on a pairing course of nine dishes and eight types of sake that evoke the arrival of spring.
The first dish features youthful beans, which are also “seeds” that sprout and grow into new life as the weather warms up. The fresh green pea sauce is emulsified with rice bran oil and seasoned only with salt to bring out its sweetness and aroma. Snap peas with their crisp texture and fava beans are added to the sauce, making a total of three types of beans. The tender and bouncy scallops and the crunchy ark shell, each with their distinct texture, sweetness, and flavor, blend lightly with the green sweetness of the beans.
The sake is “Yamaishi Junmai Ginjo Limited Direct Bottling Unfiltered Namagenshu Usunigori” 2023BY from Ishikawa Brewery in Yokkaichi, Mie Prefecture. This sake, bottled directly after pressing, has a sparkling freshness, the refreshing quality of usunigori, and a pleasant ginjo aroma. It is already delicious on its own when it’s cold. By carefully warming it to about 40 degrees Celsius in a glass flask, the hidden flavors of the rice in this sake are brought out.
Without compromising the delicacy of the ingredients, gently warming it enhances the flavors of the beans and shellfish, opening the course with a harmonious pairing of fresh dishes and fresh sake.
■ Botan Shrimp Marinated in “Tamagawa Stored Over the Summer” SAKE : Furousen Kame-no-o Yamahai Junmai Ginjo Unfiltered Namagenshu 2023BY (Takashima, Shiga Prefecture)
After a refreshing start, it’s time for something impactful.
Large, fresh botan shrimp are marinated for several days in a marinade made with spices like star anise and sake – Tamagawa’s 2017 BY Yamahai Junmai Unfiltered Namagenshu, which had been stored at “room temperature” (scorching heat?) over the summer of 2018. The shrimp’s enchanting aroma and appearance elicited sighs from everywhere in the restaurant.
Though you are the one eating, it feels as if you are being consumed, as the exquisite, rich, and complex flavors envelop your mouth.
A gentle sake would not stand a chance.
The representative full-bodied sake from Uehara Brewery in Shiga Prefecture, “Furousen Kame-no-o Yamahai Junmai Ginjo Unfiltered Namagenshu 2023BY,” is clear and rich without any aged flavors, boasting a perfect balance of acidity and a robust body. It was warmed to about 60 degrees Celsius in a tin chirori to bring out its full flavor and aroma, then allowed to cool before being served in a flat sake cup.
The union of rich, powerful food and sake in your mouth is a moment of decadent delight.
■ Abalone and Comté Cheese Risotto using Kame-no-o Rice SAKE : Shinrai Blue Label Senbon Nishiki Tokubetsu Junmai 2022BY (Jinseki District, Hiroshima Prefecture)
The third dish, intended to carry you from the rich aftertaste of botan shrimp and Furousen to the next allure, is a vibrant dish with powerful flavors – Abalone and Comté Cheese Risotto using Kame-no-o Rice.
The rice is “Kame-no-o” rice, grown with great care and without pesticides or fertilizers by momoG Farm in Nagano Prefecture. Though often recognized as a sake rice, it was originally popular as a table rice. Discovered and cultivated in 1983 (Meiji era), its deliciousness was highly praised, becoming the progenitor of various brand-name rices in the Tohoku and Hokuriku regions. This deeply flavorful rice is made into risotto with seafood broth and French Comté cheese. Softly steamed abalone and abalone liver sauce shine in this dish. The abalone, with its elegant and fragrant taste, is not what you might expect from its appearance. Each element—the Kame-no-o rice, Comté cheese, and abalone—contributes its own robust flavor.
The dish is harmonized by “Shinrai” Blue Label, a junmai sake made with “Senbon Nishiki” rice from Hiroshima Prefecture. Warming this sake slowly to about 57 degrees Celsius brings out the rice flavor and an elegant, rich aroma reminiscent of red grapes.
Whether served cold or warm, Shinrai sake has a unique refreshing quality, making even the most exuberant dishes surprisingly calming.
■Spear Squid, Peetan(Century Egg), Wild Vegetables SAKE : Kaze no Mori Mirai Yosouzu(Future Prospects) II – The World of High-Temperature Fermentation Unfiltered Water-Added Namagenshu Junmai 2023BY (Gose, Nara Prefecture)
Wild vegetables peeking out from the thawing mountains herald the arrival of spring.
For the fourth dish, enjoy wild vegetables and seasonal spear squid with a sauce made from Taiwanese century egg. Finely chopping the century egg eliminates its sharp odor, leaving only its delicious essence. The combination of fermented century egg and shio-koji creates a rich dip reminiscent of “crab miso + mayonnaise.” The bitterness of wild vegetables—kogomi and tara no me—and the sweet, crunchy texture of the spear squid create an addictive combination.
This unique dish was paired with an equally unique sake.
“Kaze no Mori Mirai Yosouzu(Future Prospects) II – The World of High-Temperature Fermentation Unfiltered Water-Added Namagenshu Junmai 2023BY” is made from Nara Prefecture’s “Akitssuho” rice, polished to 90%, and brewed at high temperatures, contrary to the typical “low-temperature fermentation” of winter. This style, reminiscent of pre-Edo period summer brewing at temperatures close to 30°C, might represent a future revival, hence the name “Future Vision.” The sake, with its signature fresh fruit aroma, natural effervescence, and profound rice flavor, is decanted to fully showcase its complexity.
Dish 5 and beyond will follow in the second half of the report.
The third edition of this event will be held over two nights, Saturday and Sunday, July 20-21, 2024.
Next theme is “herbs”. Lemon thyme, cinnamon basil, sweet basil, rosemary rex, fennel, various mints, salad burnet, lemongrass, anise hyssop, curry plant, stevia, and more will be featured in the new menu, which is filled with the energy of herbs that are full of vitality despite the extreme heat.
By utilizing herbs as ideas for Italian, French, Asian, and various other culinary genres, summer ingredients have been given a new delicious flavor. The wide range of possibilities of sake will add an even more dramatic dimension to the menu. Please come and enjoy the new taste of sake pairing!
Date & Time : Saturday, July 20, 2024 at 18:00, Sunday, July 21, 2024 at 17:30 Fee : 25,000 yen (including meal, sake, and tax) Capacity: Maximum 11 seats per section (7 seats at the counter and 4 seats at the tables) Application Please specify “July 20, 2024” or “July 21, 2024” on our reservation form, select the menu “7/20-21 酒番 多田正樹@めでたし”, and fill in the necessary information.
