By Troy Segal, ZAGAT.com staff editor
Seeking something stronger than sake, but subtler than scotch? Try a sip of shochu.
Shochu
Lynne Wallack and John Handler, owners of Chicago’s popular Deleece, were ready to launch a second restaurant. Rather than just doing Deleece Part Deux, however, they “wanted it to be something unique, something innovative, that would also be popular,” Wallack recalls. Then her executive chef Josh Hansen came across an ancient Japanese distilled spirit, and the more they researched it, the more intrigued they became. “We stumbled on a great beverage – really smooth-tasting, with less alcohol, fewer calories [than American liquor] and even health benefits – and everything spiraled from there,” says Wallack.
Designed around their discovery, the new venture opened last Wednesday, April 23rd. Set in a contemporary storefront room complete with a fireplace, this American take on a Japanese izakaya serves Eclectic small plates, sushi and 20 varieties of the drink it’s named for: Shochu.
While Wallack and Handler’s concept for an “American Shochu Lounge” may be new, shochu itself – along with its Korean cousin soju – has been around for a while (references date back to the 1300s). It’s even been around here for a while, mostly in Japanese or Korean restaurants, some grand and some surprisingly humble. In California and New York, a loophole in the liquor laws has allowed eateries with only beer/wine licenses to serve a spirit labeled “soju,” as long as it’s no more than 24% alcohol (about 48 proof).
Shochu – Good For You?
In Japan, shochu sales are booming, surpassing even that of sake. One reason for its popularity, some surmise, has to do with health. Shochu contains about one-third the calories of other liquors and less alcohol (usually 50 proof); because of that, and the purity of its ingredients, some imbibers claim it causes less of a hangover. There may be other medical benefits: 10 years ago, a Japanese medical researcher published a paper claiming that shochu activates enzymes that inhibit the growth of blood clots, thus helping to prevent strokes, heart attacks and other thrombosis-related ills.
But what really sold shochu as a health drink was an item in the 2002 Guinness Book of World Records saying that the then-oldest man in the world had consumed a few ounces of the stuff every day for the last 50 years of his 120-year-old life (he lived on an island off Kyushu, Japan’s premier shochu-producing region). Actually, his doctor advised against it, but the lifelong farmer – who had sworn off smoking and rarely ate meat – claimed he would rather die than give up his beloved beverage.
But around 2004, coming off an explosion in popularity in Japan (and, no doubt, noting America’s culinary craze for all things Asian), producers and distributors began stepping up shochu exports, especially of the good stuff – and to push these smoother, artisanal varieties as a premium liquor. “About three to five years ago, we began to heavily promote shochu and its various ingredients,” says Ami Nakanishi, assistant manager of business planning for New York Mutual Trading, which distributes 35 brands (up from three when the company started, back in the ’90s).
While practically any starchy substance can be used – there are versions composed from sugar cane, carrots, buckwheat, green tea and tapioca – shochu is typically made of rice, barley or (the current favorite) sweet potatoes, or a combination thereof. But more significant, as far as aficionados are concerned, is the way the spirit is distilled: continuous or multi-pot vs. the artisanal single-pot. Most common is kourui, the result of the continuous distilling process; often compared to vodka, this sort is milder, both in alcoholic content – generally 48–72 proof – and in aroma. Almost all the Korean soju available here is this type, which is why some prefer it for cocktails: “It’s less bitter, cleaner and smoother – so smooth it immediately takes on the flavor of any juice or fruit,” explains Danny Lee, manager of Washington, DC’s Mandu restaurant where, he adds, specialty “sojutinis are killing all the other drinks” on the full bar menu.
Historically older, but newer to these shores, is otsurui or honkaku shochu, which goes through a single-pot distilling process; the result is a stronger (50 to 90 proof) drink, with a more distinctive flavor of the main ingredient. If kourui is akin to vodka, honkaku often “has the same characteristics that single-malt scotches do,” notes Rick Smith, owner of Sakaya, a New York City liquor store devoted entirely to sake and shochu. Like single malts, these shochus are best savored straight, on the rocks or with hot water (60% shochu, 40% water is the traditional way, though a 50-50 split works if the shochu – and the drinker – are strong).
In a recent poll on ZAGAT.com, 70% of surveyors said that they’d never tried the colorless spirit – but would be glad to give it a whirl. Where to find some shochu near you? Although trendy bars and lounges are beginning to stock it, interested imbibers should also check out Korean barbecue or Japanese izakaya-style restaurants. Traditionally, shochu has been drunk with food, “but not serious food” – more like noodles or other nibbles you’d find at publike places, says Masaharu Morimoto, whose namesake restaurants in New York and Philadelphia have recently introduced a proprietary label. While he doesn’t indulge much now, back in his youth he put away his share of shochu, the Iron Chef recalls – his preferred tipple being the sweet potato–based type. And his favorite now? “My brand, naturally.”
Here are some restaurants and lounges in Chicago that offer a selection of shochu or soju: