NikkeiWest--Northern California Japanese American Newspaper

By Cody Kitaura--Sushi chef Jimmy Giang has a secret weapon for slicing up 215-pound tuna fish into sashimi-friendly pieces: a shimmering, three-foot-long knife resembling a samurai sword.

That knife, worth about $2,000 and used only for tuna, was just one of the tools he used on Sept. 29 to slice up the massive fish – the largest he had ever cut – in front of hundreds of people at the sixth-annual Northern California Premium Sake Fest.

“The neck bone was really big and really tough,” Giang said in a later phone interview. “I don’t think any knife could go through that.”

The crowd roared as he hefted pieces of the massive fish above his head. The tuna was so heavy, several assistants had to help him flip it over as he worked to divide it into smaller pieces.

Attendees filled the Sheraton Grand Sacramento Hotel in downtown Sacramento that evening for a three-hour extravaganza featuring dozens of sake vendors, free sushi samplings and entertainment. The event was sponsored by North American Food Distributing Company, Inc., with proceeds going to the UC Davis Children’s Hospital’s Pediatric Heart Center.

North American Food Distributing Company, Inc., President Harley Inaba recalled the story of how his son started to turn blue hours after his birth because of a heart defect called transposition of the great arteries. He received life-saving surgery at UC Davis Children’s Hospital and is now about 30 years old, Inaba said.

“Thanks again, UC Davis, for saving my son,” he said.

The event opened with Inaba, Sacramento County Supervisor Jimmy Yee and UC Davis representative Kelli Si performing kagami-biraki, the ceremonial breaking of a sake barrel.

“I’ve been here quite a few times,” Yee said. “There’s great food, great sake and great companionship.”

The floor of the event was part trade show and part celebration, with separate booths set up for breweries, each offering free samples to passers-by.

Vincent Sterne, owner of Sacramento-based brewery Two Rivers Cider, sampled several offerings from the crowded “Born” Sake booth, where CEO Atsuhide Kato eagerly poured cup after cup for a long line of attendees.

“It has a unique flavor,” Sterne said of the sake. “It’s delicate, but has incredible body as well.”

He said although he has been drinking sake for 20 years, he still considers himself a “novice.”

“You have to have such a refined palette to appreciate sake,” he said. “I feel like I’m in my infancy.”

Richard Oh, a chef at Rancho Cordova’s Samurai Sushi, tasted sake as he prepared to compete in “The fastest, most furious sushi chef” contest. He was confident in his chances for the five-minute competition, which pitted six chefs against each other to see who could make the most sushi from the giant tuna Giang had sliced up earlier.

“I’m very, very fast,” Oh said. “I will try everything.”

Whatever the self-proclaimed “master” tried, it worked. Oh won, creating 75 pieces of nigiri sushi.

Of the many volunteers who staffed the event, Japanese immigrant Kaori Chladek likely had one of the most glamorous jobs: competing in the kimono competition.

Chladek, who came to the United States about a year ago after marrying a man she met while studying abroad at UC Davis, came to the event planning to volunteer. When she arrived, she was recruited to wear a shimmering purple and gold kimono in the contest, which was judged by the volume of the crowd’s applause for each contestant.

The crowd’s approval was loudest for Chladek, and she was crowned the winner.

“I was a little nervous, but it was fun,” she said. “I’m from Japan so I really like for people to enjoy Japanese culture.”

She said the atmosphere of the event reminded her of home, where bar-goers “just walk around and have sake.”

As she walked away from the stage, Chladek was congratulated by her husband, who was volunteering at the event as an interpreter for the managing director of Uchigasaki Sake Brewing Co., based in Japan’s Miyagi Prefecture.

Others at the sake fest weren’t sampling for restaurants or distributors – just for their own enjoyment.

Ernie and Betsy Bertram, a Grass Valley couple, have attended the event for three years.

“I love it because first of all, the sake is superb,” Ernie Bertram said. “The food is superb; everything about it is wonderful.”

His wife, who said they originally thought the only kind of sake available was an inexpensive variety carried by a local grocery store, described the event as a good way to get to know different types of the beverage.

“He’s been to Japan and wants to take me,” Betsy Bertram said. “Now I’m ready to go.”