French, Sake, and Sake Cocktail Pairing Experience
at Kubota Sake Bar in Shibuya, TOKYO
The duo from MAEN is one of the up-and-coming culinary creatives in the sake pairing scene. The Kubota Sake Bar counter in Shibuya Parco showcased their improvised live kitchen.
MAEN is a cozy French restaurant in the south of Shibuya, Ebisu area ― a high-end residential neighborhood with a plethora of eating and drinking spots. They have been attracting sake-loving foodies since its opening last year. It is a team effort between chef Yuta Ido, a native of Tokushima prefecture with experience in Italian, French, and Japanese cuisines, and Satoru Mikoshiba, a sake evangelist from Nagano prefecture with experience in restaurant management. The dishes are carefully prepared using rich ingredients from the two prefectures and served with a range of sake at various temperatures and with different vessels to best suit the foods.
Guests acclaimed the session that sake can be a lot more inventive with a much wider range of tastes. Please see below for the varied pairing trilogy the gastronomic artists created.
1. Tartare of Tokushima prefecture-reared venison and dried tomato
The venison tartar was served with KUBOTA SEPPOU warmed to bring out the taste of the meat more along with the cheese on top. Ido said, “ we selected the knuckle of the venison which is the most tender and has the finest grain” . The pepper and pickled ginger highlighted the expressive sapidity. Mikoshiba suggested SEPPOU, which he said had a particularly strong umami among Kubota selections, to match the dish. A guest commented, "The warm sake feels refreshing in the mouth as the alcohol evaporates". The other noted, "sake is not exclusive to Japanese food, it can go with any dish".
2. Fromage blanc, green mandarin, and puffed rice
The second pairing gained the most favorable response from today’ s guests. Fromage Blanc, a homemade cheese made with yogurt, was paired with KUBOTA SPARKLING. "When the lactic acid of the yogurt cheese meets the liquor, which also has a lactic acidic element, together they make the cheese shrivel up. It goes well with the light acidity of the citrus fruits and the sweetness of the early honeydew. Then, the crispy rice chips accented the texture, accompanied by mint and tomato skin powder, and the savory flavor blossomed” , Ido said. A guest remarked, "The sparkling sake brought out all the ingredients, especially the fresh flavors".
3. Low-temperature cooked Shinshu-region salmon served with sauce sabayon made with eggs selected by professional egg sommeliers
Paired with warmed cocktail using
earl grey tea and KUBOTA KOUJYU
Last but not least, many of the guests admired the final dish of wit and full of pairing flair. The salmon was served with an egg sabayon sauce and carrots as a garnish. Ido and Mikoshiba remarked, "Since there are salmon and carrots on the plate, we embrace black tea for the cocktail to match the autumn orange color. It also is a play on the words KUBOTA KOUJYU (紅寿 ) and black tea (紅茶 ). The sabayon sauce adds a touch of glamour and at the same time extends the flavor of the dish by heating it. The carrots are admittedly a perfect match for black tea and ginger. Moreover, since it is tailored to have a strong flavor and richness with eggs, ginger and white pepper in the beverage tighten it up". Some appreciated the cocktail of “ superb match of sweetness and spice” and described it as a “ pleasant surprise” . Another commented, “ smokiness paired really well with salmon after all” .
Kubota Sake Bar
Shibuya PARCO, Floor B1
15-1 Udagawa-cho, Shibuya, Tokyo
03 6455 3975
www.kubota-sake-bar.com
Instagram @miraisakebar
MAEN Sake Pairing Restaurant
Ebisu Hiroo Square Bldg, Floor 7
1-16-1 Hiroo, Shibuya, Tokyo
070 8547 7054
Instagram @maensakepairing
Yuta Ido
Satoru Mikoshiba
EN