Jay Eats Worldwide

It's Nisei Week! "Nisei" in Japanese means 2nd Generation. A Japanese American Celebration. I was invited to the "Sake, Shochu, and Beer Tasting" and one of the Nisei Week events. Entering the room on the rooftop level The room  was filled with over 105 sake, shochu,  and Japanese beers. One of the highlights of the evening was seeing Chef Katsu Michite I used to go to his restaurant on Hillcrest in Los Feliz many years ago.  The restaurant had no sign, I had to look for the pile of salt to find the correct door.  The waiting room was an art gallery and you'd then enter the dining room and there was the sushi bar. The plates and tea cups were hand-made by his  brother. It was almost like going to a privat e club without having to be a member. Salmon and Tuna Sushi was part of tonight's menu. Chef Katsu Michite It was good seeing Katsu san again and tasting his sushi o...

With the popularity of sake over the last 10 years, you can imagine how many sake training sessions I've taught to the service staff at numerous restaurants.  Having attended the recent Mutual Trading Restaurant Expo and sampling many different sake, it was good to be able to compare with today's Shochu tasting.   But I have to admit, I really don't know much about Shochu... Over the last 5+ years, I've heard talk about Shochu, but it didn't sound like they knew any more than I did.  So when I was invited to "The Biggest Shochu Event" by the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO), I jumped at the chance to learn more and be able to share with you. The Biggest Shochu Event by JETRO (Japan External Trade Organization) First, the difference between sake and shochu?  In a nutshell, sake is a fermented alcoholic beverage and shochu is a distilled alcoholic beverage.  I always thought of it as a Japanese vodka, since it's distilled.  ...