• Skip to content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Time Travel Turtle

A travel blog with stories beyond the brochure

Header Right

  • HOME
  • ABOUT ME
  • CONTACT
  • MOST RECENT
    • Menu Item
    • Menu Item
      • Menu Item
    • Menu Item
    • Menu Item
    • Menu Item
    • Menu Item
    • Menu Item
    • Menu Item
    • Menu Item
  • MOST POPULAR
    • The world’s oldest backpacker
    • Orangutans in Borneo
    • The need for speed
    • Trying to get out of the slum
    • The lake swamped with tourism
    • Journey into Dreamland
    • The village where life begins again
    • Is Cambodia safe for travellers?
    • Podgorica is a hole!
    • Cave of hands
    • Making the perfect gin and tonic
  • BY COUNTRY
    • ASIA
    • EASTERN EUROPE
    • WESTERN EUROPE
    • AFRICA
      • Egypt
      • Morocco
      • South Africa
    • NORTH AMERICA
      • Costa Rica
      • USA
    • SOUTH AMERICA
    • OCEANIA
      • Australia
      • New Zealand
  • UNESCO

Sake: 30 Days of Japanese Food

Michael Turtle | 11 Comments

Day 30: Sake

What better way to finish a food series about Japanese food than with something all good feasts here are finished with – some sake! I know this isn’t technically a food but I hope you’ll forgive me this indulgence.

Sake is a traditional form of Japanese alcohol, often called ‘rice wine’ although the process to make it is actually much more similar to beer production. Although it’s not exactly clear when it was first drunk in Japan (it’s hard to keep records after a few glasses), it’s thought to have originated in the eighth century.

sake, japanese rice wine, rice alcohol, japanese drinks, sake brewery

To learn a little bit more about sake, I went to the museum of the Hakutsuru Brewery near the city of Kobe. Its excellent exhibits show the history of the drink and how that’s evolved into the modern processes.

sake, japanese rice wine, rice alcohol, japanese drinks, sake brewery

It’s actually a much more complicated procedure than I realised. Briefly, the rice is washed first, then it’s steamed, it’s then cooled, then mixed with a mould that’s been specially prepared, then the mixture is soaked in water, then this fermented mash is added to new steamed rice in three stages, then it’s all filtered to extract the sake, then it’s left to settle before being skimmed, it’s then pasteurised, put into large tanks to rest, and eventually poured out ready to drink. Phew!

sake, japanese rice wine, rice alcohol, japanese drinks, sake brewery

Undiluted sake has an alcohol content of about 20 per cent, although this is often diluted slightly in the commercial varieties you would buy at a bottle shop in Japan. Still, it’s a highly potent drink and it’s no great surprise that you often see Japanese salarymen stumbling around the streets or train stations in the evenings.

sake, japanese rice wine, rice alcohol, japanese drinks, sake brewery

You may have heard of sake being served warm and that’s a popular way to drink it in the winter. But the Japanese feel that heating good sake gets rid of the special tastes and smells so quite often it’s just the cheap stuff that will be served warm (which has the effect of getting rid of the bad tastes and smells).

sake, japanese rice wine, rice alcohol, japanese drinks, sake brewery

The price varies greatly depending on the quality you are buying and where you are buying it from but a 300mL bottle from a shop would cost about 300 or 400 yen. (US$3.10 – US$4.10). It means it’s not an expensive way to warm up your insides after or during a nice meal.

[button size=’medium’ text=’DAY 29: Tsukemono’ icon=’fa-arrow-left’ icon_size=’fa-3x’ icon_color=” link=’http://ttt.rtwlabs.net/2013/04/tsukemono-japanese-food/’ target=’_self’ color=” background_color=” border_color=” font_style=’normal’ font_weight=’300′ text_align=’right’]

[button size=’big_large’ text=’You can check out the whole list of Japanese food dishes here’ icon=” icon_size=” icon_color=” link=’http://ttt.rtwlabs.net/japanese-food-dishes/’ target=’_blank’ color=” background_color=” border_color=” font_style=” font_weight=” text_align=’center’]

 

Day 1: Oyakodon

oyakodon, japanese food, japanese cuisine, japanese dishes, rice meals

Day 2: Ramen

ramen, japanese food, japanese cuisine, japanese dishes, noodle meals

Day 3: Okonomiyaki

okonomiyaki, japanese food, japanese cuisine, japanese dishes

Day 4: Tonkatsu

tonkatsu, japanese food, japanese cuisine, japanese dishes

Day 5: Tsukemen

tsukemen, japanese food, japanese cuisine, japanese dishes, noodle meals

Day 6: Sashimi

sashimi, japanese food, japanese cuisine, japanese dishes, raw fish

Day 7: Curry Rice

curry rice, japanese food, japanese cuisine, japanese dishes, japanese curry

Day 8: Karaage

karaage, japanese food, japanese dishes, fried chicken in japan, fried japanese food

Day 9: Soba noodles

soba noodles, japanese food, japanese dishes, fried chicken in japan, noodles dishes

Day 10: Tempura

tempura, japanese food, japanese dishes, fried food

Day 11: Gyoza

gyoza, japanese food, japanese dishes, asian dumplings

Day 12: Yakisoba

yakisoba, japanese food, japanese dishes, fried noodles dishes

Day 13: Katsudon

katsudon, japanese food, japanese dishes, chicken and rice

Day 14: Takoyaki

takoyaki, japanese food, japanese dishes, japanese cuisine, fried balls, tokyo street snacks

Day 15: Shabu shabu

shabu shabu, sukiyaki, japanese food, japanese dishes, japanese cuisine, boiled pot meals, shared food

Day 16: Nigiri Zushi

nigiri zushi, japanese food, japanese dishes, japanese cuisine, types of sushi, rice and raw fish

Day 17: Yakitori

yakitori, japanese food, japanese dishes, grilled meat in japan

Day 18: Udon

udon, japanese food, japanese dishes, noodles in japan, types of udon

Day 19: Teppanyaki

teppanyaki, japanese food, japanese dishes, grilled food in japan, teppanyaki restaurants

Day 20: Omurice

omurice, japanese food, japanese dishes, egg and rice cooking, osaka

Day 21: Kushikatsu

kushikatsu, japanese food, japanese dishes, fried food on a stick, snack food in japan

Day 22: Onigiri

onigiri, japanese food, japanese dishes, japanese snacks, rice balls with filling, convenience stores

Day 23: Miso soup

miso soup, japanese food, japanese dishes, soup with seaweed and tofu, japan

Day 24: Makizushi

makizushi, japanese food, japanese dishes, types of sushi, seaweed nori and rice

Day 25: Donburi

donburi, Japanese food, Japanese dishes, rice meals in Japan, Matsuya

Day 26: Bento

bento, japanese food, japanese dishes, boxed lunch in japan, rice and mixed foods

Day 27: Edamame

edamame, japanese food, japanese dishes, green beans in japan, japanese snacks

Day 28: Champon

champon, noodles, japanese food, japanese dishes, mixed noodles, pork, seafood, vegetables

Day 29: Tsukemono

tsukemono, pickled vegetables, japanese food, japanese dishes, side orders, japan

Day 30: Sake

sake, japanese rice wine, rice alcohol, japanese drinks, sake brewery

Reader Interactions

    Comments Cancel reply

  1. Lumaca |

    May 1, 2013 at 5:16 am

    Reply

    Sake, although I wouldn’t call it food, but can’t argue sake goes well with almost all kind of food! I would love to visit one of this sake producing places, envy you. I tried to make my own sake once and the final product tasted awful!! So I use it for soup instead, and I have to say, the soup tasted ok. Thanks for sharing 🙂

    • Michael Turtle |

      May 10, 2013 at 2:09 am

      Reply

      Sake in soup would be a good use for it – not sure about the taste, but I’ll take your word for it. The museum was really interesting because I had never realised so much effort goes into making it.

  2. Lumaca |

    May 1, 2013 at 5:20 am

    Reply

    oh by the way, the name I use, lumaca, translated into snail, I use it for the meaning of slowdown, relax and find beauty in the common places. I took that as my philosophy in travel as well. So we have something in common with our view of travel and seeing the world, one being turtle and another being snail, lol

    • Michael Turtle |

      May 10, 2013 at 2:09 am

      Reply

      Ha ha ha – love it!!

  3. AAT |

    May 2, 2013 at 4:18 pm

    Reply

    Oh no! no Okonomiyaki! I’m devastated

    • Michael Turtle |

      May 10, 2013 at 2:36 am

      Reply

      I did okonomiyaki on Day 3!!

  4. Stephen |

    May 7, 2013 at 12:49 pm

    Reply

    Nice images. Warm sake in the wintertime is a wonderful thing!

    • Michael Turtle |

      May 11, 2013 at 3:28 am

      Reply

      Warm sake anytime is a wonderful thing! 😉

  5. Elaine J Masters |

    May 7, 2013 at 1:08 pm

    Reply

    Great pictures! I was in Japan last month and visited the Sake Museum in Kyoto. It was a disappointment being on the edge of the distillery and only being allowed in the little museum and gift shop. Still…some great sake tasting to be had and it was near the Inari gates.

    My favorite sake? Nigori – cloudy and cold, slightly sweet and delicious!

    • Michael Turtle |

      May 11, 2013 at 3:30 am

      Reply

      I know what you mean – I would have liked to have gone into the distillery properly and seen how the large production works. It was really interesting to see the old style of making sake, though (and how the essence of it hasn’t changed in centuries).

  6. Lorraine |

    June 26, 2017 at 10:59 pm

    Reply

    I`ve never tried sake yet. Reading this leave me with wanting to try it asap.

Primary Sidebar

This is the website of travel writer, Michael Turtle. After working in broadcast journalism for a decade in Australia, Michael left Sydney to travel the world indefinitely and write about the places, people and experiences he discovers. This isn’t a diary – these are real stories from the world.

Want Occasional Updates?

Sign up to be the first to hear the latest about the adventures of Time Travel Turtle. You’ll also get access to special offers and exclusive news.


  • Home
  • About
  • Contact
  • Work with me
  • Privacy Policy