aged sake

Usually, people drink sake in a year, but There are some aged sake like wine. This sake is aged in 2 years. and tonight sake is little higher alcohol than usual. It still tastes fresh. I've tasted 30 years aged sake before, That tasted sherry, but This wasn't that aged ones. It still has rice taste.
And I cooked a Arani tonight as Tsumami(a kinda nibble food with alcohol). Ara means the part of a fish which is useless, Mainly the head. but this part is still eatable and you can eat it by simmering. Arani is a popular Japanese meal. Usually, It costs about 300yen per one head, which means very cheep. and The head has collagen. I think It's a healthy meal.
The fish meat like this needs to pour boiled wwater to rid the strong fish aroma. and simmered in sake(for cooking) and sugar for 8 minutes. after that, add Mirin and Soy-sauce and simmer till the liquid get thicken. Basically, The taste is salty-sweet. You should ladle up the sauce and pour the fish meat sometimes while simmering.

Tonight meal

Yudoufu, Misozuke(marinated tuna in miso based sauce), and Sake. It's a Japanese meal tonight. The sake was stronger than usual ones. It went together with Misozuke. Yudoufu was also nice. The Tofu was a Kinugoshi-dofu.

tamago-zake

Tamago-zake is a kinda of egg nog in Japan. The ingredients were egg, the liquid of ginger, sugar, and sake. This time, I mixed all in a sauce pan, and put it in hot water to heat it up(We call this technique "Yusen" in Japanese). It tastes milky and creamy. little vanilla flavor, I think. People drink it when they get a cold. It's said a very effective hot drink.

Japanese olives

There is a place which makes olive in Japan, Syoudo-shima(in Japanese). I've received a olive paste yesterday, The taste is very Japanese style. The ingredients were green olive, ginger, and ao-nori(green laver). You can paste it on Yu-doufu(warmed Tofu). Kinugoshi-Dofu would be better, but I only had Momen-Dofu, but not bad at all. Kinugoshi is more soften than kinugoshi.

acqua pazza

Yesterday, I've visited my friend for a dinner. We've cooked acqua pazza. The ingredient were Kasago(a kinda rockfish?), clams, garlic, black olives, dried petite tomato in olive oil, and water. I thought acqua pazza was difficult to cook, but very simple meal. sauted each side, added clams, the other ingredients and simmered for 10mintues or so.

A.H. Hirsch Reserve Bourbon 16 years

I've sipped a Bourbon at a Restaurant bar after dinner Yesterday. "Bancone Yohachimaru", My favorite restaurant bar. They serve delicious Italian foods basically. They used to work some Italian restaurant. So that, They can still serve nice cozy Italian meals. The Bourbon was A.H. Hirsch Reserve Bourbon 16 years. It smells nicely and little sweetness. Usually, I have a feeling that It smells less fruity, more cereal(corn?), but this bourbon wasn't. I liked it.

Arbois

I opened a Jura wine this weekend. Les Grandes Gardes 1995, Domaine de la pinte. The variety is pino noir. It smelt like Sherry, Huangjiu(Chinese liquor) and Koshu(Japanese aged Sake).

grappa distilled by Coffele

I've puffed a cigar with grappa. This grappa was little too sophisticated to me. and little expensive. It wasn't bad, but Well, I prefer more rougher ones. I can buy 2 bottles for the same price. I love their wines though..
The cigar was Hoyo de monterrey, Epicure No.2. It's not so strong type, but I love it.

westmalle

I've drunk a Belgium beer tonight, Westmalle, Dubbel. It's a nice balanced beer. amber color and nice bitter taste. Silicon cork is getting popular in these years.

hiyaoroshi part 2

Tonight sake is a hiyaoroshi again, "Mutsu-hassen", brewed by the Hachinohe brewery. It says that it's located in Aomori. This hiyaoroshi taste sweeter than the last hiyaoroshi I've drunk. and pure rice taste, and smells fruity like melon. Melon flavor is one of popular descriptions about Sake. It's little sweeter than usual, I think. The color was little yellow like white wine. The meal was a pasta and a nimino tonight. the pasta sauce was made with Clams, broccolis, shirasu(boiled tiny fish), and butter. It was nice pasta. and The nimono was simmered with Shirataki, Daikon-oroshi, Atsuage(is fried thick Tofu. it's popular.), and carrot. the taste was basically soy-sauce and Katsu-dashi.

beer in the daytime

Today is a holiday in Japan. So that, I'm lazing in my room with beer and some foods. Today's beer was Palm, a Belgium beer. It tastes fruity(little berry) and light alcohol. and the food was pita bread with sausage and curry(simmer with lentil, corn, and some raisin). It was a cozy brunch.

shirako

Shirako is milt(fish eggs or sperm of the fish?). It's a traditional popular foodstuff in Japan. Usually, the milt of Anko's or Fugu's are popular. They are eaten with Ponzu(soy-sauce and citrus juice based sauce. Usually, people use it with Nabe dishes). I don't know eating fish milt is popular in the world though.. At this time, there were salmon's sold in a market. It was very inexpensive. I thought shirako is an expensive foodstuff. Actually, this sake's milt needs to clean away odors, fish strong aroma, you know. I think sake's is stronger fish aroma than other milt. I guess that some people don't like it much. Anyway, I boiled and soak them into sake, to clean the aroma. That's preliminary. and I made soup and pasta with them. the soup weren't bad, the texture was unique. I liked it. but it has still fish aroma including. The pasta was better than the soup. I think I should've cooked them with butter. I think butter and salmon usually go together.

hiyaoroshi

I've opened a sake tonight. Hanagaki hiyaoroshi brewed by Nambu Sake Brewery(Japanese site). Hiyaoroshi means that the brewed sake in early spring, and Brewery keeps the sake in cold place while summer. and the beginning of autumn, the sake is bottled and released. It'said that it tastes more tasty than usual. Actually, This sake is tasty. It has rich rice and pure water taste and smells fruity. I've paired wine with some Japanese popular foods, Hiyayakko(a way of eating Tofu), boiled vegetables and thicken fillet with Sumiso-ae(which means a Japanese traditional popular sauce mixed by miso and rice vinegar basically), and grilled fish(Kamasu). It was nice paring.

davidoff short perfecto

I've puffed a cigar tonight, davidoff short perfecto. It was the first time to puff the cigar shaped like this. Figurado shape. I've heard of that it was a popular shape in the past. It was good, but I prefer Millennium Blend petit corona.

natural wine in Loire

We opened three bottle of Loire wine, 2 bottle of Thierry's and one bottle of Domaine des Griottes's.

This Sauvignon Blanc was superb! It's completely different from what I've tasted. I don't think people recognizes the variety is Sauvignon.



This pino is light taste. I didn't mean watery. It tastes natural and charming. This wine also went together with seafoods.



pinot d'aunis. It tastes little sweet and semi-sparkling. It's sealed with crown cap. You should chill it. but it's not that sweet. It tastes natural, and I enjoy drinking naturally.


This is a compote de figues I made. One of my favorite.

Ca'visco 2006

Wow, This wine is superb! It's nicer than ever. It smells honey, pear, citrus, vanilla, and chamomile. and It has nice bitterness and acidity too. I like this wine. I drunk it with pasta, linguine piccole with tiny clams and broccoli sauce. It went together tonight.
Before sleep, I've sipped a grappa tonight. It's also made by Coffele. It's elegant. It's a nice grappa, but little more expensive than I expected. I prefer little more wilder though, It's not bad at all. It's an elegant and delicate grappa.

sawaya matsumoto

I've opened a sake tonight, Matsumoto syuzou, Sawaya matsumoto 700k. It's a limited-line which is made once a year. The rice is Yamada-Nishiki and shined till 65% size. The rice is said that it's nicer when it's shined inward. This sake is nice balanced. It goes together with foods. You should drink it with foods. soft taste, and after tasting is dry, it's not persistent. I think it's a nice sake as daily.

kiriboshi daikon

Kiriboshi daikon is one of popular Japanese dried vegetables. It's a dried shredded daikon radish. People soak it with water for 10 or 20min, and usually use it as simmered dish(Nimono) or salad(sunomono). This product is produced in cold winter. I cooked sunomono with it tonight. I mixed it with carrot, and cut kombu(edible kelp cut tangle). and I boiled down the water that kiriboshi daikon soaked. it become sweeter, because, this daikon includes sweetness. You know, Champagne is added some sugar to go second fermentation. that sugar is made from ond of Daikon. Didn't you know that? I've been told this by champagne winery. Anyway, the liquid became sweeter. and I added su(Japanese vinegar), mirin, nam pla, and Szechuan hot bean paste in the liquid. and I made sure that this sauce tastes okay, and I dressed with it.

I also cooked simmered livers and gizzard with soy-sauce, sake, mirin, and water. and I added little balsamic vinegar.



Tonight drink was Belgian beer, Leff Brune Bruin. Yeah, I knew I loved this beer!

gamay

I opened a red wine in Loire, Pascal Simonutti, gamay. The wine shop owner tole me this gamay is named gamay-chardonnay or something. that wasn't chardonnay, but sounds like it. It's said one of gamayT relatives. I couldn't find the detail on the net.. Anyway, this wine was gamay. taste naturally. I ate pasta with it. the pasta was Linguine piccole with clams and broccoli sauce. I added a half peace of potato because it was a leftover. the potato get the sauce little thicker. it's not bad.

cozy dinner

I went for dinner with my sister yestarday night. but I completely forgot taking the picture. The food, We've chosen some marinated sashimi, figu and prosciutto ham with cassis mustard, as appetizer. and We ate three pasta, spaghettini with clams and uni(echinus or see eggs?), ricciutelle with pork and dried porcini mushroom, and casarecce all'arrabbiata(that was very hot, but tasty). I should've taken the pictures.. You can't image how they are, can you?
This is the only picture that I took. I tossed off a cup of espresso with dropping grappa flavored juniper. I love this way to drink.