Alcoholic Drinks

Food & Beverage Hub

Japanese Sake

日本清酒

Shochu

烧酒

Umeshu

梅酒

SAKE

HISTORY

Sake is Japanese national drink and its origin traced back to 2,000 years ago, long before Samurai era. There are many theories about origin of sake however, it is usually said that sake processing was imported to Japan from the rice brewing in China. Others said that it was born with appear of rice cultivation in Japan. Through out thousands of years, sake has been widely produced and drank in Japan.

Like wine to France, sake is more than just a drink; it is a spiritual symbol in Japanese culture..

WHAT IS SAKE?

Sake is naturally fermented alcoholic beverage made from simple ingredients such as rice, water and rice koji. It contains no artifical additives or enhancers. It is lower both in alcoholic content and calories when compared to other distilled liquors.

Different from wine, to make sake, the rice must be saccharificated into sugar form before being alcohol fermented.

SAKE AND HEALTH

Moderate drinking of sake can protect people from getting heart diseases, cerebrovascular, high blood pressure, osteoporosis, overweight, dry rough skin. It is also proved to be effective keeping skin warm and moisturizing, whitening skin, restoring broken hair, restraining allergy, relieving stress, anti aging and lowering cholesterol.

SAKE AND COOKING

Apart from being a traditional national drink, sake is also a perfect seasoning to add a great taste to Japanese dishes. There are many Japanese dishes in which sake is used for flavoring.

•Sake with Dry & Clean Flavor:

Can match with many types of dishes (beef stew, sushi, sashimi, Fried chicken, Chicken rice, Porridge etc.)

•Sake with Refreshing & Dry Flavor:

Can match with light flavored dishes, seafood, vegetables (salad, Wan Ton Mee, Carrot cake, etc.) and traditional Japanese food (sashimi, sushi, chawanmushi)

•Sake with Rich & Refreshing Flavor:

Can match with lightly seasoned dishes (Bak Kuh The, Plain Omelet, vegetable terrine, etc…)

•Sake with Clean & Fruity Flavor:

Can match with light taste appetizer (Tofu, edamame, salad, vegetable sticks, etc.)

•Sake with Sweet & Mild Flavor:

Grilled and deep-fried dishes (Chicken teriyaki, yakitori, Fried Hokkien Mee,etc.)

SHOCHU

HISTORY

Compared to sake, shochu is considered latecomer because it only dated back to around 14 th-16 th century. The origin of shochu is also unclear. It is commonly said that shochu was brought into Japan from Thailand, China or Korea. Kyuushuu, Iki, Amami Islands and Okinawa islands are homeland of shochu. In Kyuushuu, people usually use “sake” to refer to “shochu”.

Nowadays, shochu has become more and more popular. Sales and shipment of shochu has outnumbered that of sake for the last few years.

WHAT’S SHOCHU

Shochu is distilled alcoholic beverage. Different from sake only made from rice, shochu can be made from many ingredients such as buckwheat, barley, sweet potatoes, and sugar. The alcoholic content ranges from 25% to 42%.

Compared to sake, its taste is said to be stronger, nutty and earthy.

SHOCHU AND COOKING

Like sake, shochu is also widely used in cooking Japanese dishes. To combine shochu taste in flavoring a dish, it is important to distinguish taste of different types of shochu.

•Rice shochu: based ingredient is also rice, has fairly thick taste.

•Barley shochu: quite sharp, strongly reminiscent of single-malt whisky.

•Sweet Potato Shochu: strong taste and distinctive smell

•Brown Sugar Shochu: mild but not so sweet taste as people usually expect.

•Soba shochu: milder than barley shochu

BEER

If sake and shochu are more of traditional drinks, beer is considered as one of new but also very popular alcoholic drink in Japan. It is traditional custom for Japanese to gather and drink beer in open air beer garden. Salary man, everyday after work, usually gather up and drink beer together for refreshing after a working day.

Beer is widely sold in department stores, supermarkets, convenient stores and even vending machines in Japan.

Advise on Alcohol consumption

Please drink moderately.

When you drink , Do not Drive, Swim or do any other sports or handle any machineries

Too much alcohol is bad for your health.