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Justin Ault, Hapa IzakayaJustin Ault of Hapa Izakaya restaurants.
The perfect sake for local spot prawn. Plus lamb ?shank done right, and a cheese-and-wine ?night you won’t want to miss. Ask an Oenophile The Expert: Justin Ault, proprietor of Vancouver’s Hapa Izakaya restaurants and downtown’s new Hapa Umi? The Dish: B.C. spot prawn sashimi, market price? The Pairing: Yoshi no Gawa, Yoshi Organic, Junmai Ginjo, $36?
The Expert: Justin Ault, proprietor of Vancouver’s Hapa Izakaya restaurants and downtown’s new Hapa Umi The Dish: B.C. spot prawn sashimi, market price The Pairing: Yoshi no Gawa, Yoshi Organic, Junmai Ginjo, $36
I love the sheer variety of sake. Rice, water, yeast and koji – essentially a mould that breaks down the starches in rice and turns them into sugars – all affect the quality and flavours of sake.
There are about 60 to 70 different types of rice used to make sake, and of those there are half a dozen that are the big ones, which would be as familiar as a Merlot or Cabernet Sauvignon. Sake is classified by how much the rice is milled. To be considered Junmai, 30 per cent of the rice must be milled away; for Ginjo, it’s 40 per cent; and for Daiginjo, it’s at least 50 per cent.
As a Junmai Ginjo (a Ginjo sake with no distilled alcohol added), Yoshi Organic is an elegant, clean and crisp sake with a light, fruity character. It’s very smooth and has understated aromas of almond and pear. It’s a wonderful complement to our B.C. spot prawn sashimi. The flavours of this sustainable and delicious local bounty are amazing: very subtle and yet representative of the best of what B.C. has to offer. Combined with the Yoshi, you have an elegantly complementary pairing; neither the sake nor the dish overpower, and they bring out each other’s flavours.
They say March comes in like a lion and out like a lamb, but in our mind lamb is always in. And so this month we study Yaletown’s Lupo Restaurant + Vinoteca’s popular lamb shank osso bucco. Here’s your how-to: Season lamb shanks with salt, pepper and olive oil. Roast at 175 degrees Celsius until golden brown. Add one thinly sliced onion and cook for 15 minutes. Deglaze with 1 cup of Chianti red wine and add chicken stock to cover lamb shanks. Layer with 1 cup of tomato sauce and a pinch of cinnamon, cover and braise for 2½ to three hours. A low-and-slow cooking method will produce deliciously tender results. Serve over a favourite rice or risotto preparation. $23, luporestaurant.ca
Cheese and wine – you really can’t have one without the other, right? That’s our thinking as we rush to sign up for this month’s Vive la France with Allison Spurrell. On March 7, from 7:00 to 9:30 p.m., Spurrell – owner of cheese chainlet Les Amis du Fromage (West Second, Hastings, Park Royal) and East Hastings restaurant Au Petit Chavignol – will be tantalizing palates with some of the best cheeses France has to offer. The tasting, which takes place at Au Petit Chavignol, will also include some classic cheese pairing with wines from Alsace, Loire Valley and Bordeaux. Tickets available in-store or by phone at Les Amis du Fromage. $80/person, buycheese.com