Fruit Carpaccio with Sake Gel Dressing

Happy Friday! Are you ready for the weekend?

We’re in the middle of summer so we get more opportunities to be the host of home parties or being invited to one. Or just simply enjoy some special boozy food and drinks at home, finally enjoying a pleasant cool breeze coming from the window. 

On these fun days, I like to make a special drink by using a nice bottle of alcoholic beverages to make the night special. Imagine the moment you open up the fresh bottle…when you hear clicking sound or corks pop up, your pressure and stress are also released. The refreshing aroma of alcohol tempts you to get tipsy and it’s a time to raise your glass, say “cheers to the weekend” and enjoy the moment.  

 

This time I wanted to make some fancy appetizer/dessert by using some junmai sake, not only enjoying them as our drinks, and it made my dinner buddy a big smile. 

I hope you’ll enjoy your night too with this recipe. Ready to check the recipe? Let’s cook! 

 

<Today’s Recipe>

Fruit Carpaccio with Sake Gel Dressing

<Ingredients>

*May contain Amazon Associate links. By clicking the links, they will take you to the specific Amazon.com product page and you’ll see what ingredients/tools are recommended for making the food of the day. As an Amazon Associate I will receive a very small commission from qualifying purchases.

• ½ large yellow peach – sliced
• 5~7 strawberries – sliced
• ½ lime – sliced
• Some honey

Sake Gel Sauce

• 200ml dry sake (I used Momokawa Silver)
• 100ml water
• 1 teaspoon unflavored gelatin

 

<Directions>

1. Make Junmai sake gel sauce. Combine sake and water together in a sauce pot. Take out 1 tablespoon of liquid from the pot and mix with gelatin. Set aside.
2. Bring the sauce pot to medium heat and warm up the liquid. When you start to see some steam over the pot, remove it from the heat and add gelatin mixture.
3. Mix gelatin and liquid to fully dissolve gelatin. Let it sit to cool.
4. When the liquid is room temperature, transfer the liquid into a flat container and store it in a fridge to set.
5. When the jelly sets, remove it from the fridge and crush them.
6. Lay out the fruits on a plate. Place sake gel dressing over the fruits and drizzle honey. Enjoy!

 

<Cooking Tips>

• It will take 1~2 hours to set the jelly, so plan ahead to cook this gorgeous appetizer/dessert by dreaming about fantastic party time!
• I used peaches, strawberries and limes this time, but you can choose whatever fruit you prefer. Mangoes, pears, and oranges work perfectly too!
• I used gelatin but if you want to keep it vegan, swap with agar agar. The sake dressing is crushed to make the touch of the mouth unique and fun and it can definitely be recreated with agar agar.

<The Ingredients Highlight>

I used Momokawa Silver Tokubetsu Junmai that was gifted from SakéOne. Even though I’m beginner for sake, SakéOne sent me the tasting guide of what unique flavor each one got, what food to pair with, and suggested temperature to enjoy them. 

 

I know, I know…I can hear some people chiming in “Hey, doesn’t sake have roots in Japan, your home country?” but I left my home country before I could even start to drink, and sake is considered as the next level of alcoholic beverages that we need to nurture our taste buds before we could fully enjoy them. Bottles are of course sealed perfectly, so a lot of people have no idea how to enjoy sake…say, until +10 years since they could legally drink. 

So taste…I chose Silver, the dry crisp sake to pair with fruits. Since fruits already have a sweet tangy flavor and I was thinking of drizzling some honey for garnish and boosting the flavor, the sake needed to be dry and crisp, and the Silver made my dream flavor come true. 

This recipe is ideal for girls/boys night out, adult-only pajama parties, or single boozy party nights (remember, you don’t have to share with anyone so devour it!) 

Thank you SakéOne for great products! 

 

Hope everyone has a great weekend:) Drink responsibly and enjoy the moment that makes a forever lasting sweet memory!

 

<Other Party ideas with Sake>

Need something crunchy-cheesy-yummy? Japanese Fusion Chili Fries

Sake definitely adds a unique flavor! Japanese Fusion Aglio e Olio

If you like more jelly rather than as a dressing! Sake Jelly

Enjoy home cooking and your own creation of homemade food:)