Tag Archives: 神沢川酒造

Shizuoka Sake Tasting: Kanzawagawa Brewery-Shosetsu Futsushu

Kanzawagawa Brewery is also an old establishment located very near the sea at Yui, Shimizu Ku, Shziuoka City along the old Tokaido Road.
They have the merit to still make absolutely extravagant “futsushu/regular sake” at ridiculous prices.

Like most of all futsushu (only 18% of the total production, probably the lowest in Japan), the bottles are adorned with old traditional designs!. As they are easy to conserve thy would make the perfect souvenir back home in the rest of world!

Kansawa Brewery: Shosetsu Futsushu

Alcohol: 15~16 degrees
Rice milled down to 70%
Bottled in January 2010

Clarity: very clear
Colour: transparent
Aroma: Strong attack upon opening the bottle. Tends to dissipate quickly.
Fruity. Bitter chocolate, banana, macadamia nuts
Body: fluid
Taste: Dry attack backed up by delicious alcohol and a basket of dry nuts and bananas.
Complex/not straightforward for a fustushu.
Pleasantly warming up back of the palate with plenty of dry almonds, finishing on a pleasant acid note.
Holds its own well with any food with an accentuated dryness.

Overall: A sake for all meals, although eminently drinkable on its own.
Certainly not the “image” of the futsushu, but futsushu are simply extravagant in Shizuoka Prefecture, considering that the rice millage would qualify it as premium sake!

RECOMMENDED RELATED WEBSITES:
-Sake: Tokyo Through The Drinking Glass, Tokyo Foodcast, Urban Sake, Sake World
-Wine: Palate To Pen, Ancient Fire Wines Blog
-Beer: Good Beer & Country Boys, Another Pint, Please!
-Japanese Pottery to enjoy your favourite drinks: Yellin Yakimono Gallery
Warren Bobrow
Tokyo Terrace

Shizuoka Local Food at Local Sake Brewery!

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Last Sunday, I was invited to taste the new sake brewed by Kansawagawa Brewery In Yui, Shimizu Ku, Shizuoka City in the company of some old and new friends.
The purpose of the whole event was first to visit the brewery and being introduced to the arcan secrets of making sake:

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I doubt that you are ready to read the whole sake brewery interview unless you are a sake fan. A more detailed report will eventually appear on Shizuoka Sake blog for the connoiseurs!

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The Brewery owner. Mr. Masataka Mochizuki, is a bit different from your usual owner. Most of his colleagues in Japan do not interfere whatsoever with the brewing and care only about the sale. On the other hand, Masataka Mochizuki is very passionate and even stubborn about his sake. He is far more knowlegeable about the craft than many owners and truly enjoys explaining and discussing the art.

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We had agreed on the idea to actually conduct the tasting of his new brews with purely local food.
A dinner was accordingly served to us inside the Brewery!
Now, Kansawagawa Brewery is located in Yui-Cho, Shimizu Ku, Shizuoka City, a harbour renown all over Japan for its delicacy, “Sakura Ebi/Cherry Shrimp”, a variety found only in our Prefecture. The catches being strictly regulated, it is a rare morsel outside our Prefecture.

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The dinner served to us included naturally rice and miso soup and:

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Boiled Sakura Ebi Salad,

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Sashimi plate. All seafood caught off Shizuoka shores!
Maguro/Tuna (top), Aji/Saurel and Hirame/Sole!

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Sakura Ebi Kakiage/Sakura Shrimps Tenpura. I know a lot of people in Tokyo who would take the first train to taste that!

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Freshly boiled Ika/Cuttlefish. Great with sake.
The small plate contains pickled sakura shrimps.

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Grilled Ishidai/Snapper served cold. An extravagant morsel to go with sake!

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And the sake!
The two with a “number” were not even for sale as they are still in the experimental phase!

Anyway, if you have the occasion to visit Yui, you will know that the real “package” is waiting for you!

Please check the new postings at:
sake, shochu and sushi

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Vietnamese Cuisine: Holiday Lunch at Annam


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Please check the new postings at:
sake, shochu and sushi

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For all their popularity, real Vietnamese restaurants are far and between in this country. Actually, I will go as far as to say that Annam in Shizuoka City is probably the only genuine Vietnamese Restaurant in the whole Prefecture of Shizuoka!
Therefore, I was only too happy to pay them a long overdue visit for lunch last Sunday.
Luckily enough, they propose a “set lunch” for Sundays and holidays. At 2,800 yen (about 24 US$), it may sound a bit steep to some, but the quality, if not the quantity, does warrant it. Even on a Sunday, past 13:00, the restaurant was still half full with more customers coming in. Therefore a lot of people tend to agree!

The menu was served as follows:
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“Sup Mimosa”: a very elegant, tasty, soft soup to sharpen your appetite.
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“Ba men khai vi”/ Set of 3 hors d’oeuvres:
“Cha guo”/Fried Spring Roll
“Goi du du”/Green Papaya salad
“Goi cuon bom”/Prawn Spring Roll
Served with 2 kinds of dressing. Delicious!
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Main dish: “Ga mong mat ong”/Chicken sauteed with honey. A bit small, but cooked to perfection. Very Vietanamese!
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Pho Soup: I had a choice of “Pho bo huoc”/Beef Pho or “Pho ga”/Chicken Pho.
I chose the Chicken Pho. A bit small again, but delicious.
Foodhoe would have loved that!
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Dessert: “Trang miong”/diifficult to describe. maybe a sweet potato vichyssoise? gGeat!
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As for drinks, I had a choice between Vietnamese Coffee or Lotus Flower Tea. I chose the latter. Extremely refreshing, even drunk hot. I would recommend it to anyone!
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You can buy it at the restaurant.

I had a glass of Shosetu sake from Kansawagawa Brewery in Yui to go with the meal (extra).
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Gaijin Tonic would have been interested in the drink the owner graciously offered to me after I had finished my sake (I always pay my bills in full, but sometimes “service” comes in!): A Vietnamese “Shochu” (called “Vodka” in Vietnam. Communist influence?) called Nep Moi. At 36.5 degrees (they have two more, at 25 and 45 degrees), quite heady, but eminently drinkable on the rocks. Tastes more like a liqueur with reminiscences of flowers, coffe beans and bitter chocolate. A dessert in itself!

Annam
Shizuoka City, Aoi-Ku, Tenmacho, 17-9
Tel.: 054-2502266
Fax: 054-2502323
Lunch: 11:30~14:30
Dinner: 17:00~22:00 (last orders: 21:30)
Closed on Mondays and day after National Holidays
Homepage
Slightly expensive
Credit cards OK