The 71st installment of [Sakana Masu-chan] x Ginjo Gokujo Yoshinogawa
To everyone visiting Niigata for their summer holidays, "Welcome to Niigata!" And to everyone returning home for the holidays, "Welcome back!" How is your summer in Niigata this year?
The Nagaoka Festival Grand Fireworks Display, held on August 2nd and 3rd on a Friday and Saturday, attracted many visitors to Nagaoka. Yoshinogawa provides the "Shosanshakudama" (three-foot diameter fireworks) for the Nagaoka Festival Grand Fireworks Display held every year on August 2nd. Nagaoka fireworks have now become a summer tradition not only for Nagaoka residents but for people all over Japan. Many customers who went to the Nagaoka fireworks venue also visited our brewery, and it seems they enjoyed a tipsy feeling before the call of "Let's start the fireworks!!" Thank you for visiting us. We also sell "Special Junmai Shosanshakudama," which is inspired by these famous fireworks. It is recommended as a souvenir to cherish your summer memories. Please enjoy it at home with delicious food.
Now, in this segment called "Tipsy OneDish," we visit restaurants and bars in Niigata Prefecture and ask them to create snacks that pair well with Yoshinogawa sake. This time, the restaurant that will be preparing the dishes is "Sakana Masu-chan" in Sanjo City. They have created dishes that pair perfectly with "Ginjo Gokujo Yoshinogawa"!
"Ginjo Gokujo Yoshinogawa" is a sake that has continued the "ginjo brewing" method, considered the foundation of sake brewing, even during the post-war era when rice was scarce, passing down its techniques. It is a special ginjo sake brewed using 100% locally contract-grown sake rice [Gohyakumangoku]. Its gentle ginjo aroma and clear, refreshing taste will impress even the most discerning sake connoisseurs.
And the restaurant that prepares the food, "Sakana Masu-chan," is a Japanese-style izakaya that opened in February of this year with the desire to create a space where people of all ages can enjoy dishes made with seasonal ingredients. When you sit at the counter, there is a whiteboard in front of you, and it is filled with wonderful messages written by young children who have come as customers. The manager, Ishizuki Masuharu, said that he hopes to be able to drink with the children one day when they have grown up.
And this time, as a dish that pairs well with the premium Ginjo Yoshinogawa sake, they prepared "Sardines with plum and shiso in a kabayaki style."
Now, let's get straight to the recipe!
The recipe is here ↓
★Material★
・Sardine: 1 fish (filleted into three pieces)
・Perilla: 1 piece
・Pickled plum: 1
Grated daikon radish: appropriate amount
Potato starch: appropriate amount
• Salad oil: appropriate amount
≪Sweet Sauce≫
• Soy sauce: 1 teaspoon
• Sake: 1 teaspoon
Mirin: 1 teaspoon
Water: 5 teaspoons
Sugar: 1 teaspoon
<How to make>
1. Lightly coat the sardines, which have been filleted into three pieces, with potato starch.
Point: Pat the sardines dry with a paper towel and lightly coat them with potato starch!
2. Lightly coat a heated frying pan with vegetable oil and cook both sides.
3. Once the pan-fried sardines are removed from the oil and placed on a tray, add the ingredients for the sweet sauce to the remaining oil and simmer until reduced.
4. Pour plenty of sweet sauce over the sardines, garnish with mashed plums, shiso leaves, and grated daikon radish, and it's done!
The crispy texture of the thin batter and the soft, fluffy flesh of the sardines, soaked in sweet sauce, pair perfectly with the refreshing aroma and crisp finish of Ginjo Gokujo Yoshinogawa sake! The mashed plums add a nice accent, making it a refreshing dish. Please try it at home!
・Sardine and plum shiso tempura: 650 yen (tax included) *Limited time offer in August
Additionally, the restaurant offers the "tempura" that served as the basis for this recipe. This dish features mashed plums wrapped around sardines and then deep-fried. It's visually appealing and offers a delightfully fluffy texture. This is also a special menu item available only in August, so please enjoy it with a crisp, chilled bottle of premium Yoshinogawa ginjo sake.
And here's another recommended item from the restaurant!
・Delicious stewed offal: 600 yen (tax included)
The offal is sourced from a regular supplier and is repeatedly blanched to remove any unpleasant odor. The offal is then simmered in a miso-based broth made with Echigo miso, ginger, and garlic, resulting in a robustly flavored stew. In addition to the offal, the stew is generously filled with large chunks of other ingredients such as daikon radish, carrots, burdock root, and konjac, and the addition of grated onion gives it an overall sweet vegetable flavor. The rich flavors of the offal and vegetables in this dish pair perfectly with the crisp taste of "Ginjo Gokujo Yoshinogawa" sake. We highly recommend enjoying it chilled.
The details of this event will be broadcast on NST from 6 PM on August 10th (Saturday)Smile StadiumIt will be broadcast within "[program name]!". It will only be broadcast within Niigata Prefecture. For those outside the prefecture, please check the YouTube channel "I love Niigata! ChannelYou can view it at [link/website].
"Sakana Masu-chan"
【address】96-1 Gomei, Sanjo City, Niigata Prefecture
[Telephone] 050-8883-2858
[Opening Hours] 18:00 - 22:30 (Last Order 22:00)
[Regular closing days] Irregular closing days
[Total number of seats] Approximately 20 seats
*Please contact the store for information regarding the Obon holiday.