Owariya is a Kyoto soba shop with a rich history, that can be traced back hundreds of years. I love the branch in Takashimaya as it is near many popular sites such as Nishiki Market and Gion. As the shop is in a department store, it is also kid-friendly. The vegetable tempura soba (1620 JPY)…
Tag: shochu
Tokyo Food Guide
photo by Olen Peterson We can demystify Tsukiji Market, the world’s largest seafood market, and introduce you to a new sushi neta, like kinmedai (splendid alfonsino) that is pink, slightly sweet, and is succulent. Introduce you to a wide variety of Japanese pickles. Lead you to a special bar where cocktails are made with seasonal fruit and…
Bettako Shochu Izakaya in Ikebukuro
When going out to izakaya I always take some ヘパリーゼ Hepalize to prevent a hangover the next morning. Usually in the tablet form. But, today I forgot to bring some Hepalize pills with me from home so stopped by a convenience store and picked up this liquid form. It worked like a charm. We had lots…
Food Sake Tokyo Tours
Food Sake Tokyo conducts private guided field trips to Tokyo’s popular food destinations that is led by food professionals. Yukari Sakamoto is a chef, sommelier, shōchū advisor, and author of Food Sake Tokyo. Shinji Sakamoto is a fishmonger and former buyer at Tsukiji Market. Popular topics include market visits, saké or shōchū tastings, or shopping at local supermarkets. The customized tours are…
Shochu – Mitake Imo Jochu 三岳芋焼酎
Mitake first came on my shochu radar when I was working at Nihonbashi Takashimaya in the saké department. One large bottle (1800 ml) was sitting in the storeroom as a customer had special ordered it. It wasn’t a shochu that we normally carried. I asked one of my colleagues about it and she told me…
Towari Soba Shochu 十割蕎麦焼酎
Part of the beauty of shochu is that it is made from a variety of base ingredients. While sweet potato (imo) and barley (mugi) are very popular, it is worth exploring the others, such as buckwheat (soba). This Towari is rich and intense. The aroma of buckwheat is undeniable. This comes from the unique koji…
Jougo Kokuto Shochu じょうご黒糖焼酎
Another good shochu to start with for shochu novices is a kokuto shochu which is made from sugar cane. It’s inherent sweetness is soft on the palate. This is from Amami Oshima south of Kagoshima. Koji: shiro (white) koji – making it a light, delicate shochu alcohol: 25% suggested drinking method: on the rocks distillation:…
Antenna Shops in Ginza
updated 25 September 2017 If you are looking for jizake or shochu from a small producer or an artisanal miso the first place to check out are the antenna shops. Markets that specialize in regional products, usually from a specific prefecture. The Okinawa antenna shop in Ginza has a huge selection of awamori and the Miyazaki antenna shop…
Shochu 焼酎 – Futan 風憚
My favorite type of shochu is an imojochu, or sweet potato shochu. It comes in a wide variety of aromas and flavors. Some can be really funky and others very smooth. Fuutan is on the easy-drinking and light side. This is a great starter shochu if you are interested in sweet potato shochu but are…
Shochu 焼酎 – Shiro しろ
Perhaps the most asked question I have is what is a good shochu to start with for those who are new to shochu. A rice based shochu is a good place to start as it is usually light, easy-drinking, and clean, much like rice. A good brand to start with is Hakutake Shiro, referred to…
Shochu 焼酎 – Tantakatan 鍛高譚
As a shochu advisor I wanted to share with readers shochu that are worth checking out. The first shochu I will introduce is very interesting. My first day at work at Nihonbashi Takashimaya in the sake department some of my colleagues took me out for drinks. They asked me to pick something from the store…
Book Review – Japanese Cocktails
Japanese Cocktails is filled to the brim with original concoctions with fun names like Oyaji, Salty Hachiko Dog, Bloody Mari-chan and Office Lady. And not only are the names creative, so are the recipes. With drinks based on sake, shochu, whisky and more, this thin book has a cocktail to please everyone, many of the recipes…
Okinawa Washita Shop in Ginza 沖縄わしたショップ
Okinawa Washita Antenna Shop 沖縄わしたショップ Chuo-ku, Ginza 1-3-9 03-3535-6991 10:00 – 19:00, no holidays http://www.washita.co.jp/info/shop/ginza/index.html (Japanese) The Okinawa Washita Shop in Ginza may be one of the most unique antenna shops in the city due to the unique food and beverage culture of Okinawa. The cuisine of the southernmost islands of Japan is very different…
Drinking Japan by Chris Bunting
Imbibers in Japan, be on the lookout for Drinking Japan, A Guide to Japan’s Best Drinks and Drinking Establishments. The author, Chris Bunting, has an impressive website on Japanese whisky: http://www.nonjatta.blogspot.com/ Here is the link to the book on Tuttle Publishing’s website: http://www.tuttlepublishing.com/book/?GCOI=48053100473120
Tokyo Do’s and Don’t’s
Do visit a depachika, the epicurean food floors in the basement of major department stores. My favorites are Takashimaya (both in Nihonbashi and Shinjuku), Isetan in Shinjuku, Mitsukoshi in Ginza, Tokyu Toyokoten in Shibuya, and Tobu in Ikebukuro. An incredible variety of food is exquisitely presented. In particular, be sure to check out the wagashi…
Shochu 101 – Part Two
There are many base ingredients that shochu is made from providing a wide variety of flavor profiles. The most commonly found are: Imo 芋 – (sweet potato) is highly aromatic, can be smooth, and also slightly sweet on the palate. There are many varieties of sweet potato all contributing their own characteristics. Kogane sengan is…
Shochu 101 – Part One
SHOCHU 焼酎 Shochu, the distilled spirit native to Japan, is made from a variety of base ingredients including sweet potatoes and barley. Shochu has the misnomer of “Japanese vodka”. Vodka often is 45 degrees in alcohol but shochu is typically 25 degrees. It is made using koji kin (a mold) that gives it a unique…
Kagoshima Yurakukan Antenna Shop in Yurakucho
Japan is a small country, about the size of California, yet each prefecture and region has its own local food and the Japanese treasure these regional products. There is no better expression of the diverse terroir of Japan than its local commodities. Kombu harvested from the rich mineral waters of Hokkaido. The southern prefecture of…
Kappabashi Gotta Gets
I love these shochu cups in the winter when I drink shochu with hot water. These have the type of base ingredient written on the cup 芋 for imo jochu (sweet potato shochu) or 黒糖 for kokuto jochu (brown sugar shochu). These teacups will get lots of use in any home. The cup on the far…
Shochu Basics
While I love nihonshu (Japanese sake), my preference is for the locally distilled spirit, shochu. While working at Takashimaya the company paid for those of us in the sake department to cross train in other areas of specialty. As a sommelier (wine specialist) I could choose from nihonshu or shochu and selected shochu, as there…
Food Sake Tokyo 