Sake represents the namesake and heritage of Japan, such as wine represents France. As its volume of production expands in the United States, sake confronts non-Japanese lifestyles—and non-Japanese cuisines. With so many culinary choices in the United States, it is time to challenge sake’s versatility.

Can this beverage offer a complement to foods other than its historic pairing with sashimi? Is it practical for everyday sipping? Can we apply it to a variety of snack foods? What history has kept it limited to certain Japanese foods?

Regardless of how it is marketed outside Japan, the Japanese do not drink sake with sushi. That would be rice on rice and considered redundant, like having potatoes and pasta on the same plate. It creates an imbalance of carbohydrate.

What you do see is sake routinely drunk with sashimi, thin slices of fresh raw fish. This combination allows the subtlety of beverage and fish to be appreciated in sake varieties grouped through citrusy and sweet, sharp and dry, aromatic and floral. The key to pairing is understanding that sake is first a brewed beverage, then distilled. Quality factors and price are established from what is termed “polishing” of the rice before the sake is produced.

Beer has taken its place in pubs with serious food. Champagne is trying to expand out of its celebration-only niche. Wine has grown into far more than a café quaff. Why not sake? Sake appears more often on restaurant menus, but it isn’t ordered enough. While warm sake is a favorite in U.S. sushi bars, heated sakes have different flavor profiles and tend not to be complex. Purchase price to volume may be a consideration, or it may be lack of education.

The challenge is similar to Riesling in that varieties are a mystery to both consumers and professionals. A tasting test I did in March demonstrates sake’s versatility with world cuisines. What better place than Chicago for its cultural food diversity?

Chicago Sake Tasting
Accompanying me was bon vivant, raconteur Joe Glunz Jr. from Louis Glunz Wines, who provided high-quality sakes from Niigata Province. Sake rice for those selections listed their polished contents from 50 to 70 percent, showing enormous subtleties. Bottle translations were Dai-ginjo, ultra super premium; ginjo, super premium; tokubetsu, special; futsuu, regular. Joe and I each sported our respective sake pocket bibles. A simple English coding would assist sake sales and training for non-Japanese (the majority of the world’s drinking population).

Joe had just returned from Japan. Brimming with fervor and familiar with the restaurants, Joe became a sake missionary reverently describing nuances, production techniques, and styles of the variety of brew families he represented. Joe was truly a man on a mission. We had a vision. Both of us revered the Pacific country. We found ourselves beginning and concluding each session with a Japanese bow and Western handshake.

For weeks the black bag of selected holy waters called sake traveled with us from door to door, accompanied by laptop and notebook. We were determined to find ultimate pairings and a host of wonderful combinations. Twelve restaurants assisted.

Each chef and restaurant or bar manager could sit in on our sessions as we wrote “cross-cultural food confessions of a sake drinker.” No special glass was used and, due to the style of the sakes, they were served chilled. I asked for three dishes to test against four different sakes. The only food requirement was to choose plates representing the restaurant’s nationality or style. Chefs were asked to let the dishes from the menu stand with no changes in preparation and presentation.

Two Approaches
Joe pointed out you can either focus on the sake with the food or the food with the sake. And it works. Each of us took our approach, with Joe choosing the former. His notes describe how each sake performed, while mine centered around the food/sake flavors left on each combination.

We found sake can perform with simple foods almost as a sauce, highlighting a one- or two-dish combination. In each case, the characteristic notion of sake’s acid against the food was key. The temperature of food and beverage was also astounding. Many more bows were exchanged.

The first adventure took on simple French fair at Cyrano’s Bistro on Wells. The aromatic chicken liver mousse stepped forward. Three blocks later, Eastern Mediterranean variety in the mezze plate from Naha: babaganoush, feta turnovers, spiced beef, hummus, and string cheese grabbed full attention. Next came sensational green peppery and lean steak tartare from Brasserie Jo, followed by a walk to Kevin Restaurant on Hubbard for both traditional perfection with Hamachi sashimi as well as a traditional brown rice crusted scallop with a yuzu vinaigrette. Nacional hit a full chord with its incredible ceviche. Block 44, a new kid in town, delivered complete awe with perfect lamb chops. All were surprisingly good with sake.

We continued to Blue Water Grill and numbing sashimi condiments containing apricot, cilantro, and lemongrass. Later, Le Lan was striking in challenge. Crispy noodle wraps, nam pla additionals, red curries, and various espumas of the highly talented kitchen forced us to think of sake against condiments.

All dishes demonstrated sake’s flexibility plus the importance of knowledgeable, focused menu pairing to reveal its simpler flavors. Minutes later, a short taxi ride to Roy’s found Hawaiian cuisine. A plate of smoked and grilled Mongolian spareribs prefaced striped bass with curry. Both were huge successes. Next, I looked for traditional oysters and vegetables. The Custom House, another favorite of the 2006 press, responded with small bowlfuls. Each time, one of the sakes fared well.

As I continue my interest in pairing sake with world cuisine, I will head to Cajun, Mexican, Peruvian, Russian, Spanish, and Polish styles of cooking. This experience provided great insight into a bin of flavor profiles fitting the wide range of sake’s flexibility. Find out for yourself. Drink sakefrequently. Add a reason to discover. Maybe blend a less costly variety as a margarita. Enjoy!

Michael Foley, a celebrated American chef, has three decades of owner/operator hotel, winery, and restaurant experience. Based in Chicago, he travels for the U.S. government highlighting American products with regional and creative cooking.