Sake, often called the “Drink of the Gods” by the Japanese, is a beverage produced from sake rice, pure water, koji spores, and specially selected yeasts. Sake is brewed like beer, but it is served and enjoyed like a fine white wine. There are different sake grade levels, each requiring different brewing methods and a different percentage of rice milling. In general, the more you mill )or polish) the rice, the higher the quality. The brewing process for higher grade sake is also more labor intensive and more steps are done by hand and over longer time periods.

Vine Connections imports only premium, authentically-Japanese sake, the majority of this failing into a grade level specifically referred to as “Ginjo” sake. Ginjo sake is made with premium sake rice and the purest of water and uses only labor-intensive, traditional brewing methods. Non-premium sake usually served hot to mask the undesirable aromas and flavors usually associated with lower quality rice and water.

Tozai sake is a marvelous introduction to sake as it offers choice for every type of sake drinker at a reasonable price.  If you are just beginning to develop your sake palate, we suggest the light, clean, easy-to-drink Tozai Living Jewel. As you progress and wish to drink sake with more depth and complexity, we suggest moving to a Ginjo such as Tozai Well of Wisdom or even a Daiginjo such as Konteki Pearls of Simplicity.

Courtesy of Vine Connections

Chinese sausage or “Lap Cheung” is found in the refrigerated section or in the dry goods section. Chinese sausage is sold in plastic shrink-wrapped packages in Asian markets. It is cured, so it lasts for a long time like Italian sausage. Keeps for about six months, sealed in its original packaging at room temp. Once you open, seal in plastic bag and refrigerate for up to another 6 months. Unopened, they keep in your pantry for 1 year, as they have already been cured.

Dried Chilies

You can find whole dried chilies at most Asian markets and you can soak them in hot water for a few hours to blend with some garlic or other seasonings to make a great chili sauce, or you can throw them in whole into your cooking. Of course, if you use them whole, you’ll get lovely flavor of the chili without all the heat. I personally like to cut each dried chili in half, empty out and discard the seeds and and add the halved chilies to my dish. This way, my kids aren’t surprised with a zinger of a bite if a chili seed (the source of most of the heat) is hidden in their food! The whole dried chili is about 1 1/2 inches to 2 inches long and you can usually find them in your regular supermarket.

Chili Powder

Chili powder is dried chilies ground into powder or flakes. It’s very popular in firey Korean dishes, like Tofu Stew. It’s also the heat that makes kimchi hot! Use sparingly at first, taste and then add more chili powder if you need to into a dish. A little goes a long ways, trust me. Oh, and one more thing. After you taste, wait 30 seconds before you add more chili powder. Some chili powder sneaks up on you, and its effect won’t be apparent until a few seconds after you swallow!

Japanese rice is short grain rice that becomes sticky when cooked. Most rice is sold with the outer portion of the grains polished away. Unpolished rice is considered less delicious by most people but is more nutritious and healthier than the polished one. A second major rice variety used in Japan is mochi rice. It is almost translucent and is more sticky when cooked than conventional Japanese rice, It is commonly used for sekihan (cooked mochi rice with red beans), sushi or rice cakes.