On the 5th of March, a sake dinner was held at the Japanese restaurant in Crown, Koko, as part of the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival. For the last two years, it has been an event to welcome Jun Yukimura returning from Japan, a three Michelin star chef. However, this year the Koko staff personally organised the event to challenge themselves.
This year’s concept focused on Japanese sake and kaiseki dishes (individually served Japanese dishes). The sake was brewed in Japan and prepared at the Asabiraki Sake Brewery. The brewery was established in the fourth year of the Meiji period, and thanks to soil abundant with rice and water, sake brewing in this territory has continued for a long time. Even now, more than 130 years later, Asabiraki is represented locally, nationwide and overseas as the face of the sake hometown of Iwate. In recent years, Asabiraki’s sake has even become popular here in Australia.
To liven up the event, special guests included Koko’s sake sommeliers David Soo and Sachii Habu, as well as Melbourne Sake master Toshi Maeda and a representative from Asabiraki, Yoshihiko Takao. The kaiseki dishes were prepared by Koko’s chef Tomotaka Ishizuka, with roots in the kaiseki cuisine of the Kaga area in Japan.
The event was opened by Noriko Tadano’s musical performance on the shamisen, which created a Japanese ambience. In total, seven different types of sake were prepared for the dinner. The most popular was Asabiraki’s undiluted sake. As Mr Maeda passionately explained, not only is it easy to drink, but it is also brimming with freshness.
Accompanying the sake were seven individually served dishes, full of delicacies that are rare in Australia. The dishes had a distinctive Australian feel from the interesting combinations of flavour, and because these kaiseki dishes were inspired by the local cuisine of Kaga, ingredients like kinjisoumen (thin Japanese noodles which made predominately from kinjiso, a leafy vegetable grown in Kaga which is high in Vitamin A, iron and calcium) and heshiko (mackerel fillet lightly seasoned with salt and marinated in a fermented rice bran paste) were skilfully incorporated.
ASSORTED STARTERS
KAMO JIBUNI
BURI SAIKYO YAKI
CHILLED KINJISOUMEN NOODLES
For the occasion, the sake was individually selected to match each dish. Being able to experience the personality of the dish, mixed with the sake's flavour was a definite highlight, as was the preservation of Japanese culture through the dinner. The importance of Japanese food and sake culture was a central focus of the event. If Koko put on another event, the abundance of flavours of the Japanese sake and food that Australia is lacking, paired with the wonderful Japanese entertainment will surely be outstanding.
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SAKE LIST
Asabiraki Junmai Daiginjo Sparkling
Asabiraki Junmai Daiginjo Genzou
Asabiraki Junmai Daiginjo Nanburyu
Asabiraki Junmai Daiginjo Kyokusen
Asabiraki Junmai Ginjo Yumeakari
Asabiraki Namachozoushu Honjozo
Asabiraki Suijin Junmai Okarakuchi
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★A part of sake introduced can be purchased on Sake Online. Go to www.sakeonline.com.au★
Story and Photos : Maruyo
KOKO
Level 3, Crown Towers (8 Whiteman St, Southbank)
03 9292 6886
www.crownmelbourne.com.au/koko
