Spring sake full of spring vibes

Spring sake is Japanese sake that appears around March and is decorated with spring-like cherry blossom colors and gorgeous labels. It is especially perfect for cherry blossom viewing parties. In recent years, more and more sake breweries are selling it as a sake that celebrates the arrival of spring, which is typical of Japan, which values ​​the sense of the seasons.
The taste is fresh like new sake, and most of them are lightly cloudy, slightly sparkling, fruity and easy to drink. It's perfect for the spring mood, and is delicious enough that even people who aren't usually familiar with sake should try it.

As an aside, when it comes to spring alcohol, many people may think of "shirozake" which is drunk on the Girls' Festival. Shirozake is a sweet alcoholic drink made by aging steamed glutinous rice, rice malt and shochu. It contains about 10% alcohol, so it makes sense that in the Girl's Festival song, "The Minister of the Right's face is red because he drank too much."

Perfect for spring sake! Snacks made with seasonal ingredients

Seasonal alcohol goes perfectly with seasonal ingredients. Here are some snacks made with spring ingredients that go perfectly with spring sake!

●Steamed clams in sake, spring sake style
Asari clams are in season in spring. It would be nice to make a dish using clams to celebrate Hinamatsuri. This time, we will steam them in sake using the sake that will be drinking with the clams. It's a little extravagant, but we'll use the remaining juice so nothing goes to waste. The butter flavor goes perfectly with the slightly milky spring sake.

1. Rub the shells of the clams together to wash them thoroughly and remove any sand. Cut the edible rape blossoms into bite-sized pieces.
2. Place the clams and rape blossoms in a pot and pour in sake (harusake) until it is about 1cm from the bottom. Cover and cook over medium heat for about 3 minutes. When the clams open, turn off the heat and finish by adding a piece of butter.
3. Add the boiled pasta to the remaining soup, which has concentrated the flavors of the shellfish and sake, and place over medium heat, stirring until most of the water has evaporated.

●Spring vegetables tossed in vinegar and miso

The refreshing taste of spring sake is enhanced by the white miso-based vinegared miso. You can easily make vinegared miso using white miso and sushi vinegar.
1. Any spring vegetables are fine. Bamboo shoots, rape blossoms, spring cabbage, broad beans, snap peas, new potatoes, etc. Boil and cut into bite-sized pieces.
2. Add commercially available sushi vinegar to the white miso and mix until it becomes as soft as mayonnaise to make vinegared miso.
3. Place the drained spring vegetables in a bowl and pour the vinegared miso over them. The vinegared miso has a strong flavor, so it is recommended to eat it with the vegetables.

Other things that go well with spring sake include mountain vegetable tempura and vanilla ice cream topped with chopped strawberries, as well as bittersweet or creamy foods and foods that aren't too strong in flavor. Use your imagination and try different things!

Writer/Sake Master Eriko Fujita
Expand your world to a sake specialty store in Osaka and encounter a variety of sake and sake breweries. Favorite sakes are Akishika, Ohgi, and others.
Other than drinking, my hobbies include collecting minerals and raising swallowtail butterflies.