1. homemade fresh crab cakes (Ruth Reichl's recipe--delish!), topped with Asian aoili;
2. vegetable potstickers and Secret Aardvark Drunken Garlic Black Bean Sauce (yay!);
3. sauteeed broccolini with soy and Hoison sauces;
4. homemade Asian slaw (with rice vinegar/Mirin/Peanut oil dressing).
We tried two sakes both by SakeOne in Forest Grove OR:
1. Moonstone Asian Pear Sake: Nice balanced pear flavor; 12% alcohol; the rice flavor is noticeable. I liked it OK but probably wouldn't buy it again. $7 or so wholesale for a 375ml bottle. Grade: B-/C+
2. Moonstone Lemongrass Coconute Sake: 16.5% alcohol (typical sake alcohol range is 15-020%, but I say that 12% is far better--it doesn't get you drunk as fast and it allows the flavors to shine through) Oh, no! The coconut flavor is so strong that it comes off like the smell of a person slathered with cocoa butter at the beach on a hot day. It is so strong that it seems fake. How about some subtlety please? It might make a great Asian-influenced Pina Colada, but by itself it's a bit of a mess. Grade: D-
I am open-minded to sake, but usually don't like it. So you can understand my grades are biased in that way...
No comments:
Post a Comment