This year SEAFOOD LOVES SAKE is back! About 40 Canton Seafood Restaurants join the campaign through providing Sake and Seafood collaboration menu. And in this video, we would like to introduce the most popular and famous Michelin Starred restaurant 「Forum Restaurant」 and your expeirience of Collaboration of Sake and Canton Seafood Dishes.
The 2022 “SEAFOOD LOVES SAKE.” Campaign has successfully ended.
2022 SEAFOOD LOVES SAKE Campaign Start!
2021 "SEAFOOD LOVES SAKE." has successfully ended.
The phase 2 restaurant campaign has started! Click here for more details
Famous artist Roxanne Tong and chef Wong Ah Po share their positive comments on the exciting "seafood x sake" pairing concept.
Updated the restaurant list joining the campaign
"SEAFOOD LOVES SAKE." 2021 is launched.
The 2022 “SEAFOOD LOVES SAKE.” Campaign has ended successfully.
This year is the fourth year for the campain to run in Hong Kong, it lasted for a around a month from November 16th to December 20th, aiming to let everyone in Hong Kong can experience the charm of the pairing of "sake and seafood dishes." In collaboration with about 40 Cantonese restaurants, we offer sake and Cantonese seafood pairing menus.
In addition, the campaign was held at about 10 restaurants other than Cantonese cuisine, and various genres of cuisine and sake pairing menus were offered. During the campaign, many people tried the pairing menu and received many favorable comments!
Over the promotion, to win the "Seafood x Sake" themed package of one-night staycation and dining experience from Eaton HK, numerous reviewings were received for the "SEAFOOD LOVES SAKE. OpenRice Review Campaign".
Once again, thank you for your continued support for "SEAFOOD LOVES SAKE."
Surrounded by seas blessed with a rich diversity of marine life, seafood has always been at the heart of Japan’s food culture and like the culinary techniques used to prepare it, the flavors of sake have evolved to match.
It may be common practice to pair seafood with white wine and or light red wines, but in fact, it is sake that provides the best match. Recent studies have revealed that the iron and sulphuric acid (an antioxidant) present in many wines can cause and even amplify fishy aromas. Sake contains no such antioxidants, and iron levels are close to zero, but sake’s real trump card is that it is high in amino acids, which can enhance the umami in seafood.
The ability of sake to suppress fishy odors and enhance umami scientifically substantiates its strong affinity with seafood.
The iron and sulphuric acid (an antioxidant) present in white wine react with the fatty acids in seafood causing fishy odors.
Sake blocks the receptors in the nose that detect fishy odors.
Sake is not made from the same kind of rice as used in Japan’s staple diet. Instead, special sakamai (brewer’s rice) is used, and this is what forms the basis of the umami (taste) of the Sake. With larger grains than those served at the dinner table, this rice is characterised by having low levels of protein and fats, which can ruin the flavour or aroma of Sake. There are over a hundred varieties of sakamai, a few notable ones of which are Yamada Nishiki and Gohyaku Mangoku.
Blessed with bountiful nature, Japan is a country full of fresh, bubbling springs of gentle, tasty water. This is another reason for its delicious Sake. In actual fact, Sake is 80% water, and much is used not only during fermentation and to adjust the alcohol content but also when washing and soaking the raw ingredients. As the saying goes, “A place with fine water produces fine Sake”, testament to the importance of tasty water is in Sake brewing.
Sugar is needed to create alcohol. Grapes, for example, the raw ingredient of wine, contain natural sugars and so can be fermented into alcohol using a single fermentation process involving adding yeast. However, rice contains no sugar so cannot be fermented on its own. To make Sake, a process called ‘multiple parallel fermentation’ is used, which is unique to the world. At first, yeast is added to convert the starch in the rice into sugar in a ‘sugarizing’ process. This results in a koji (malt). In parallel to this, yeast is added to the sugar to turn it into alcohol by fermentation. This is what creates the rich umami.
Umami is the most important element of Sake flavour. Amino acids are the basis of this umami, and Sake contains many times more amino acids than beer or wine. The sakamai does not originally contain these acids, but rather produces them in great quantities in the complex and unique fermentation process used to brew Sake. The volume of amino acids influences the strength of the Sake’s flavour. This in turn enhances the flavours of food with which it is shared, helping to make meals even more delicious.
Sake basically comes in four types - one a deeply fragrant and slightly citrus-tasting ‘aromatic’, another being ‘smooth and refreshing’ with a clean aroma, then there’s a ‘rich’ type with a strong, full umami, and lastly an ‘aged’ type characterised by its dry, grassy, nutty fragrance and lingering umami. But the ‘sparkling’, a dazzlingly refreshing carbonated addition to the above types shouldn’t be overlooked either. In more recent years a naturally sparkling type has also been developed and which is growing in popularity. Utilising secondary fermentation that takes place within the bottle itself, the Sake’s umami can be more directly savoured. Selecting the Sake that best suits your meal will further heighten the delicious synergy between food and drink.
Exclusive Nanhai No. 1 Sake Tasting Event ”Japanese Sake X Seafood Tasting Experience”
This year, SEAFOOD LOVES SAKE. collaborated with the popular contemporary Canton restaurant Nanhai No. 1 to host a 7-day sake x Canton seafood cuisine tasting event from November 15 to 21. During the one-hour tasting experience, participants will sample four seafood dishes, including King prawn served in bang sauce and Braised Yoshihama abalone with oyster sauce, as well as three carefully selected sake varieties chosen by Sake Sommelier.
Each dish will be paired with a different sake to enhance the flavour of the dish, and our Kikisake-shi will be on-site to explain all of the sake pairing knowledge to participants, allowing them to dive into the world of sake and Canton seafood pairing.
SEAFOOD LOVES SAKE. OpenRice Review Campaign
We are pleased to announce that the OpenRice review campaign will continue in its fourth year. Diners who visit our participating restaurants and try the seafood x sake set, the first three diners who write an OpenRice review and show it to the restaurant staff will receive a 300ml mini bottle of sake as a gift. Following the campaign, three best OpenRice reviews will be chosen to receive the "Seafood x Sake" themed package of one-night staycation with dinner from Eaton Hotel for 2 persons, seize the chance and join our review campaign!
SEAFOOD LOVES SAKE. OpenRice Review Campaign