Saké

This is a generic name for the alcoholic beverage distilled from steamed rice. It is also known as nihon shu (“Japanese wine”). There are two types of rice wine: kara kuchi, or dry, and ama kuchi, or sweet. The choice for drinking depends upon your personal taste. For cooking purposes, any type or brand of drinking saké will do as long as the label does not say “cooking wine,” which usually indicates a mixture of inferior rice wines and occasionally the addition of sugar or other additives. Price is a good indication of quality. Store it, tightly capped, on a dark kitchen shelf.