Zuiyo Tohi Akazake Cooking Sake (瑞鷹 東肥赤酒（料理用）)

The story behind it

Kumamoto has a drink that has never really been drunk anywhere else: akazake. It is made by akumochizake, an old method that protects the moromi (the fermenting mash) with wood ash instead of pasteurization, and it deepens toward amber over time. Kumamoto's New Year otoso is still akazake, as it was in the days of the Higo Hosokawa domain.

Zuiyo, founded in 1867, is the sake brewery in Kawashiri that keeps this akazake culture going. Tohi Akazake, the version built for cooking, is unusual in being weakly alkaline: it keeps ingredients plump rather than tightening them, and its full savor and refined sweetness give food gloss and shine.

Use it in place of mirin and the difference is obvious. Professional cooks order it from across the country. It is Kumamoto's quiet advantage.