O'Hara's Sorachi Ace - a beer with Japanese roots

As a craft beer lover I'm so excited to see that O'Hara's has added a beer with Japanese roots to their collection. Sorachi Ace is named after the Sorachi region of Hokkaido in Japan. The Sorachi Ace hop was developed by a large Japanese brewey in the late 1970s. 

This craft beer is definitely worth talking about, it's a great introduction to the world of Indian Pale Ales as it's not bitter and has a nice crisp and smooth finish. It was definitely refreshing! O'Hara's describe it as having truly distinctive and unique flavours. They say that people have reported aromas and flavours of lemongrass, dill, coconut and bubblegum all at once from this hop. To see more about it go to O'Hara's website. 

I'm looking forward to using Sorachi Ace in my Japanese cooking too!

I'll be returning again this year to Savour Kilkenny to give a sushi and craft beer tasting demo alongside Seamus from O'Hara's after the fantastic feedback we received from last year's interactive demo (Sunday October 25th). 

Remember! 
If you are interested in reading/learning about Irish Craft Beer & Cider Caroline Hennessy and Kristin Jensen co-wrote an amzing book called SLAINTE.

Goatsbridge Trout with Teriyaki Sauce Recipe

Here's a recipe from my demo at Savour Kilkenny

Ingredients:

Goatsbridge Trout Fillet

Vegetable oil (for frying)

Few handfuls of pak choi/ spinach leaves (blanched)

For the teriyaki sauce

2 tbsp soy sauce

1 tbsp sake

1 tbsp mirin

Half tsp honey (I used Fiona Dillon's honey from Hunters Lodge)

Instructions:

1. Heat the oil on a frying pan.

2. Place the trout fillet skin side down and fry on medium heat for a few minutes depending on size.

3. Whisk all the ingredients for the teriyaki sauce in a small bowl.

4. Turn the trout fillet and continue to fry to a minute or so.

5. Pour the teriyaki sauce over the fish. Try to spoon the sauce over the fillet to help the fish absorb the flavour.

6. The teriyaki sauce is ready once it starts to form small bubbles and thickens like syrup.

7. Take off the heat and serve on a bed of blanched pak choi or spinach.

Notes:

-       - Try not to overcook the teriyaki sauce as black bits will start to form. 

Savour Kilkenny Food Festival 2013

 
My husband, Gilmar and I arrived in Kilkenny on Friday morning with a platter of sushi that I made earlier that morning for all the crew at KCLR96FM.

I had the pleasure of meeting both Sally and John McKenna just before we went on the Sue Nunn Show to talk about some of the great events taking place at Savour Kilkenny including the Focus on Fish Day organised by Mag and Ger Kirwan at Goatsbridge Trout Farm (http://goatsbridgetrout.ie). We also had a great discussion with Sue about my time in Japan, Japanese food and sushi. Sally who has just published a book on seaweed called "Extreme Greens" talked about Ireland and how seaweed was used years ago. I'm looking forward to reading her book and sharing it with you in the coming weeks.

We went straight to Goatsbridge Trout Farm after the radio interview to meet Mag and Ger Kirwan and all the guests that arrived to take part in a day of debate, discussions and demonstrations on fish. I'll write more about this in a separate post.

On Saturday morning I gave a talk at Food Camp on Japanese food and my experience living in Japan for 3 years. Then, I was honoured to open the Chef's Table - Main Demo with a sushi and Japanese cooking demonstration. It was so exciting to stand in front of such a large crowd and share my passion for Japanese food. Japanese food and sushi were certainly popular at Savour leaving no leftovers after my demo!

To bring a wonderful weekend to a close we attended the book launch of Fiona Dillon's "Food From An Irish Garden" at the Pembroke Hotel. It was a great opportunity to catch up with friends in the food community and talk about the highlights of Savour! We're already looking forward to Savour 2014.