The drink that has long been enjoyed with sushi is hot green tea. Many sushi restaurants also offer a variety of drinks, including sake. At kaitenzushi (conveyor-belt sushi) restaurants, the drinks are mainly green tea, beer and affordable sake.
There is no single “sake that goes with sushi”. Even at the same sushi restaurant, the sake that pairs easily changes with the neta (the topping on sushi rice, such as fish). This article sums up clues for choosing sake, how to order at a sushi restaurant, and manners when drinking.
Why sake pairs easily with fish
Sake contains a lot of amino acids that come from the protein in rice. The most abundant is glutamic acid, a component that is a source of umami. Fish also contain umami components, such as inosinic acid. When you put sake and fish in your mouth together, the two kinds of umami overlap and the taste gains depth.
Another reason is that sake contains almost no iron or sulfur dioxide. These two react with the fat of fish and produce fishy smells and tastes. Sake is a drink that does not easily bring out the unpleasant parts of fish.
Sake also refreshes the mouth with each sip, making it easier to welcome the next bite.
Four types by taste and aroma
Sake can be divided into four types by how strong the aroma is and how rich the taste is. Each type has dishes it pairs easily with and a temperature that suits drinking it. Taking dishes close to those served at sushi restaurants as examples, they are as follows.
| Type | Aroma and taste | Dishes it pairs easily with | Suitable temperature |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fruity type | A showy aroma like fruit or flowers. Moderate sweetness and roundness, balanced with a refreshing acidity | Dishes that make the most of the taste of seafood or wild mountain vegetables. Salt-grilled white-fleshed fish, kobujime (fish cured between sheets of kelp) made with white-fleshed fish, and so on | 10–16°C |
| Light and smooth type | A gentle, modest aroma. A clean taste that feels light in the mouth | Light dishes with a light aftertaste. Sashimi, Japanese rolled omelet made with dashi stock, and so on | 6–10°C |
| Rich, full-bodied type | An aroma suggesting wood or dairy products. A full taste with sweetness, acidity and a pleasant bitterness | Dishes that make use of the umami of chicken, pork and so on. Mackerel simmered in miso, and so on | 10–45°C |
| Aged type | A powerful aroma like spices or dried fruit. A thick sweetness and a mellow acidity | Protein-rich dishes with strong umami. Grilled eel, unagi (kabayaki), and so on | 7–25°C |
These type names are not always written on a restaurant’s menu. When you order, the surest way is to tell the staff the type you want to drink and let them choose. If you say something like “a sake with a showy aroma” or “a clean-tasting sake”, the staff can choose from the menu.
Match the richness of the neta
The basic rule when pairing sake with food is to match the strength of the flavors. Pair a rich sake with rich food, and a delicate sake with delicate food.
Applied to sushi neta, it looks like this:
- With delicately flavored shiromi (white-fleshed fish), pair a light-tasting sake. The sake brings out the taste of the fish without erasing its delicacy
- With fish that has a rich flavor, such as salmon, pair a rich, full-bodied sake. The richness of the fish and the taste of the sake balance each other
Temperature is also a clue. Pairing chilled sake with cold dishes and warmed sake with hot dishes is one of the basic ways to combine them.
Another way to choose is to pair sake from coastal breweries with seafood, and sake from inland breweries with local vegetables and mountain foods.
How to order at a sushi restaurant
Order the amount in “ichi-go”
At many restaurants, you order sake in units of “go”. Ichi-go is 180 ml, and ni-go is twice that. Most masu, square wooden containers, are sized to hold ichi-go.
Sake comes in a small bottle called a tokkuri, and you pour it into a small cup called an ochoko to drink. Some restaurants put a glass inside a masu and pour until it overflows. Types of vessels are introduced in Sake Vessels.
How to say the temperature
| Word to say | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Reishu (冷酒) | Chilled sake |
| Hiya (冷や) | Sake at room temperature (about 20°C) |
| Kan (燗) / Atsukan (熱燗) | Warmed sake. Atsukan is about 50°C |
“Hiya” does not mean chilled sake; it means sake at room temperature. When you want cold sake, say “reishu”. The names for temperatures are introduced in detail in Kanzake and Reishu.
Sake suited to drinking chilled includes ginjo and namazake. Ginjo is sake with 40% or more of the outside of the rice polished away and a small amount of brewer’s alcohol added. Namazake is sake that has not been pasteurized. The types of sake are summarized in Types of Sake.
What “karakuchi” means
Menus and labels sometimes say “karakuchi (辛口)” or “amakuchi (甘口)”. In sake, “karakuchi” does not mean spicy like chili peppers; it means low in sweetness. It corresponds to “dry” in English. How to read these words is introduced in Amakuchi and Karakuchi.
Brands whose breweries mention sushi
Some breweries themselves mention sushi for their brands.
- Kiku-Masamune (菊正宗): Kiku-Masamune Sake Brewing in Kobe, Hyogo Prefecture, is a brewery that has kept making “karakuchi” sake that leaves no sweetness. It aims for sake that you can keep drinking with dishes such as soba, sashimi and sushi. → The article on the Kiku-Masamune brewery
- Dassai (獺祭): A sake made by DASSAI Inc. in Iwakuni, Yamaguchi Prefecture, served at places such as izakaya (Japanese pubs), sushi restaurants and kappo (Japanese restaurants serving traditional cuisine). The temperature the brewery recommends is 10–12°C. → What is Dassai?
Manners when drinking with sushi
In Japan, there are no strict rules when drinking sake in a casual setting. Even so, there are some things that are useful to know.
- When drinking with several people, if someone’s ochoko is about to be empty, say something and pour for them. Hold the tokkuri around the neck with your dominant hand and support the bottom with your other hand
- When someone pours for you, hold the ochoko with your thumb, index finger and middle finger, and support it from below with your other hand
- Kampai (“cheers”) means “drain the cup”, but you do not need to drink it all at once. You can drink at your own pace
- The alcohol content of sake is about 15% on average. Drinking water in between helps you avoid drinking too much
- When you dip sushi in soy sauce, dip the neta side, not the rice
- The gari (pickled ginger served with sushi) is for refreshing your mouth between pieces of sushi. It is not meant to be put on top of the sushi
In Japan, drinking alcohol under the age of 20 is prohibited by law. A restaurant may ask you to confirm your age. After drinking sake, do not ride a bicycle, let alone drive a car.