When the weather gets chilly, you can enjoy hot sake.

Sake is a drink that can be enjoyed at different temperatures for different tastes. There is a drinking method that you should try when drinking sake warmed up.

It is.

Zubari ... Sake with soup stock.

What is dashiwari in the first place?

Sake dashiwari is a drink that has been enjoyed at oden restaurants.

It's easy to make!

(i) Sake and oden broth are heated.

(ii) Mix sake and dashi in a ratio of 1:2 or 1:2.5.

(iii) Sprinkle with seven spice chillies. (To taste)

Even if you don't make oden at home, you can use juice from a convenience store oden!

Now, as for the taste, the aroma of sake and dashi is pleasant and mild. The sweetness of the sake is complemented by the drinkability, which adds to the ease of drinking, making it perfect for those who like their food seasoned with Japanese flavours! Even people who don't normally drink sake can enjoy this way of drinking.

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The secret of the delicious taste of sake x dashi is the synergy between glutamic acid and inosinic acid!

Why sake dashiwari is such an intense drink! Why? It's because sake and dashi have a synergistic relationship in terms of umami ingredients!

Sake originally contains an umami ingredient called glutamic acid. Dashi soup stock contains an umami ingredient called inosinic acid.

When these two meet, the taste is doubled.

As can be seen from the diagram below, a good balance between the two transforms the drink into a 'tasty' drink.

Source: Kenzo Kurihara, What is umami (Iwanami Junior Shinsho), Iwanami Shoten, 2012.

The first sip of the hot dashiwari is filled with a taste that can even be perceived as intense, but the secret of the dashiwari's deliciousness is that the umami is doubled.

Easy dashiwari, even with the hot-only Ponchuglia!

And in fact, Ponchuglia also has a 'dashiwari' flavour! Simply pour in your favourite sake and enjoy dashiwari, which is infused with plenty of flavour.

Ponchuglia, a special hot-glazed ponchuglia, is available only during the cold season.

This Oden Dashi kit already contains Oden soup stock and dried bonito flakes in a bottle, which can be used to make Dashiwari by pouring in half of the sake you have on hand, lenching it and then pouring hot water over it.

We actually made a dashiwari using Marutobi from the Yamahai Junmai No. 24 yeast. This Marutobi is dry, but has both a solid body and umami, and is very drinkable.

How to drink.

(1) Pour half the sake and warm in the microwave.

(ii) Pour hot water.

It is a simple two-step process of

Heat in microwave oven

Warm in the microwave for approximately 30 seconds to 1 minute.

Be careful not to overdo it, as too much alcohol will cause the alcohol to fly out.

When making hot sake, glassware cannot be microwaved, so it is usually heated in a hot water bath. It's a hassle because you can't tell the temperature from the look of it and it takes a long time, but with Ponchuglia you can heat it in the microwave, so it's super easy.

Dashiwari is the best way to drink sake in cold weather, and can be done at home.

Even if you are not a regular sake drinker, why not try the intense umami of dashiwari at least once?