Chapter 438 International Friends 14

1.

At this point, I have to talk about Japan's "sake culture".

Japanese sake is a typical Japanese culture, there is such a saying, every year on Coming-of-Age Day (January 15), men and women over the age of 20 in Japan wear gorgeous and solemn costumes, the so-called men wear Wu costumes, women wear kimonos, and friends of the same age go to the shrine to worship, and then drink a glass of light sake (according to Japanese law, adults are not allowed to drink), in front of the shrine to take a photo of drinking. The festival has been held to this day, which shows the importance of sake in the hearts of the Japanese.

The Japanese often say that sake is a gift from the gods. For more than 1,000 years, sake has been the most commonly consumed beverage by the Japanese. At large banquets, wedding ceremonies, in bars and at the tables of ordinary people, people can see the shadow of sake. Sake has become the quintessence of Japan.

In fact, Japanese sake is the national liquor of Japan, which was developed by borrowing from the brewing method of Chinese rice wine. After the middle of the 7th century, the ancient Korean kingdom of Baekje had frequent contacts with China, and it became a bridge for the introduction of Chinese culture to Japan. As a result, the Chinese technique of using koji to make sake was spread to Japan by the Baekje people, and the sake brewing industry in Japan has been greatly improved and developed. According to Chinese historical records, in ancient times, Japan only had "cloudy sake", not sake. Later, some people added charcoal to the cloudy sake to precipitate it, and drank it from the clear liquor, so it was called "sake".

Cloudy sake is the opposite of sake. The new sake obtained by the sake mash after being pressed and filtered is left for a week, and after being rested for a week, the supernatant part is extracted, and the white turbid part left behind is the turbid sake.

One of the characteristics of cloudy wine is the presence of raw yeast, which produces carbon dioxide by continuous fermentation, so it is packaged with special stoppers and pressure-resistant bottles. After bottling, heat to 65°C to sterilize or store at low temperature and drink as soon as possible. This wine is considered to be a treasure of appearance and a unique taste.

Japanese laws stipulate that the alcohol content of alcohol can only be around 15° to 16°, and this kind of alcohol content of sake is mellow and fragrant, and a little drinking will be beneficial to the body and mind, relax the muscles and rejuvenate the body, and beautify the face and aphrodisiac. Of course, there are different grades of sake, from lowest to highest: sake, jojo, tekujo, ginjo, and daiginjo, all of which are the best pairings for Japanese cuisine, and the sake is delicious and sweet.

There are many brand names for sake in Japan, and there are more than 400 types of sake in the Japanese "Meishu Shidian" alone, and there are different ways to name them. Some are named after the flowers, trees, birds, animals, and natural scenery of the four seasons, such as white wisteria and crane sen, some are named after places or places of interest, such as Fuji and Akita Nishiki, some are named after the raw materials, brewing methods, and flavors of sake, such as honkaku spicy, Daiginjo, and junmai sake, and some are named after various honorary words, such as Fukurokuju, Kuniyu, and Elder Mori.

The taste of Japanese sake is divided into liqueur, which is a sake with more sugar and low acidity, spicy sake (which is less sugar and has a higher acidity), thick liquor, which is a sake with a lot of extracts and sugar, and which has a strong taste, light sake, which is refreshing with less extracts and sugar, high acidic sake, which is characterized by high acidity and high acidity, raw sake, which is made and diluted without water, and commercial sake, which refers to the original sake diluted with water and then bottled for sale.

Japanese sake is made with great care. The selected rice is milled to make the rice white, absorbs water quickly during maceration, and is easy to steam; fermentation is divided into two stages: pre-fermentation and post-fermentation; sterilization is carried out once before and after bottling to ensure the shelf life of the liquor; and attention is paid to specifications and standards when blending liquor. For example, the quality standards of "Shochikumei" sake are: alcohol content 18%, sugar content 35g/L, acid content 0.3g/L or less.

The brewing methods of Japanese sake can be divided into junmai brewed sake, regular brewed sake, zozo brewed sake, honjojo sake and ginjo brewed sake. Although Japanese sake is borrowed from the brewing method of Chinese rice wine, it is different from Chinese rice wine. The color of the wine is light yellow or colorless, clear and transparent, fragrant and pleasant, the taste is pure, soft and refreshing, its sour, sweet, bitter, astringent, spicy taste is harmonious, the alcohol content is more than 15%, containing a variety of amino acids, vitamins, is a nutritious beverage wine.

Although Japan's sake brewing culture originated in China, the Japanese terroir refined it and developed it into the sake it is today. Its development process is a process of continuous summarization of experience, improvement and pursuit of high-quality raw materials. This is also where the Japanese strive for perfection and perfection, and it is also a place where Japanese people need to continue to learn.

2.

At two o'clock in the afternoon, the banquet ended. The members of the Japanese delegation, both men and women, had drunk a lot of alcohol, and some of the young people had already shown a slight gaffe, making a fuss and acting lightly, while the two Japanese team leaders, who had been drinking liquor, had also shown a drunken state, their faces were purple, and their steps were staggering.

Because the Japanese delegation was anxious to rush back to Dongzhou City and then take a 7 p.m. plane back to Japan, it refused the arrangement proposed by Director Zhang of the "Party and Government Office" of Hushan Town to go to the third floor of the "Haitian Hotel" for a foot bath and rest, which made Director Zhang feel a little disappointed. Such a good opportunity to spend with public funds and possibly get close to the legendary "special service" of the "Haitian Hotel" was lost, which made Director Zhang a little unwilling.

The crowd boarded the car in a seemingly reluctant handshake with each other and said goodbye, and according to the usual practice of welcoming and sending off, the members of the "four major teams" of the Hushan Town Party Committee and Government still had to send Japanese friends and leaders at all levels who accompanied the visit to the county boundary. As a result, it was the police car of the Hushan Town Police Station that opened the way, and all the vehicles followed behind, rushing out of the parking lot at the entrance of the "Haitian Hotel", sending Japanese friends from across the ocean on their way home.