Shaking up the martini

Mix the vogue of sushi bars, rising sake imports and the cocktail craze and what do you get? Saketinis!

Local bibbers and bartenders are finding that sake, the Japanese rice brew, makes a fine cocktail ingredient.

"Sake mixes well with other liquors," said Joseph Sheahan, manager at Ra Sushi Bar Restaurant in Lombard. "And sakes range from sweet to dry, so they can add a lot of complex flavors."

Monica Samuels, sake sommelier for SushiSamba rio in Chicago, said sake "doesn't have a strong alcohol taste."

It even "takes the bite off the harsher flavor of vodka in martinis," Sheahan said.

According to World Sake Imports, imports of sake to the U.S. have doubled in the past 10 years. Even non-Asian restaurants, like Shaw's Crab House in Chicago and Schaumburg and NoMi in the Park Hyatt Chicago, have begun to offer saketinis, as well as other Asian-inspired cocktails.

Saketinis have even taken a page from the martini playbook.

Once, a "martini" was a drink of gin and vermouth. Then the definition stretched to include vodka, sometimes even without vermouth. Now, people use the term to refer to just about anything in a martini glass.

Similarly, "saketini," which originally meant a gin or vodka martini with sake standing in for vermouth, is coming to mean just about any sort of Asian-influenced cocktail, whether or not it has sake in it.

Clark Hill, a bartender at Swordfish in Batavia, said he mixes saketinis from Kurasawa and Ichinokura sakes, but noted that the "Asian Pear," a cocktail of vodka, triple sec and Asian pear juice, has many adherents.

Meanwhile, Naomi Kim, proprietor of Naomi Sushi in Arlington Heights, said that the next big thing is the "sojutini," mixed with Korean spirits.

At most places, saketinis cost between $7 and $12, and sakes can run anywhere from $6 to $72 for a 500-ml bottle.

Here's a look at where to sip saketinis in the suburbs.

Benihana, www.benihana.com; 1200 E. Higgins Road, Schaumburg, (847) 995-8201; 150 N. Milwaukee Ave., Wheeling, (847) 465-6021; 747 E. Butterfield Road, Lombard, (630) 571-4440

Mixologists at these teppanyaki specialists are serving up such concoctions as the "Black Ninja," sake and Kahlua; the "Sake Slide," sake, Kahlua and Bailey's Irish Cream; the "Ocean Blue," sake, blue Curacao, triple sec and pineapple juice; the "Godzilla," shochu, Midori and a splash of chardonnay; the "Blue Moon Masaka," sake, vodka, peach liqueur, blue Curacao, lemon juice and Calpico; the "San Diego Beach," sake, Apple Pucker, pineapple juice; and the "Chocolate Cake Saketini," sake, Absolut Citron and Frangelico.

Blu Coral Contemporary Sushi & Lounge, Seven Bridges Golf Course, 6320 Route 53, Woodridge, (630) 719-8808 www.blucoralsushi.com

In this ocean-esque bar with backlit wall panels and an undulating blue banquette, DJs crank out fresh tunes and bartenders pour cocktails into two-part glasses that rest inside a globe filled with ice. Look for cocktails with ingredients like aloe, ginger and Asian pear and an extensive list of premium sakes, including such high-flight brews as Ginyu Sizuku, Kan no mai and Moriko, at prices ranging from $9 to $87.

Karma Asian Food & Fine Wine, Crowne Plaza Chicago North Shore Hotel, 510 E. Route 83, Mundelein, (847) 970-6900, www.karmachicago.com

The chic lounge at Karma presents a smooth black bar top and contemporary low-backed seats amid a tranquil environment in gray, green, black and white. The signature saketini is the "Bonzai," with Belvedere Vodka, Dreamy Clouds sake, Apple Pucker and cucumber, while other Asian cocktails include the "Instant Karma," Beefeater Wet with infused pear and lychee nut liqueur, and "The Geisha," Absolut Mandarin with passion fruit, pomegranate and cranberry juices. During December and January, Karma will be offering warm sake flights ($9) of Kanbara Bride of the Fox, Mukune Root of Innocence and Rihaku Nigoni Dreamy Clouds sake.

Naomi Sushi, 1309 N. Rand Road, Arlington Heights, (847) 590-9722

The mellow atmosphere of spacious, romantically candlelit Naomi Sushi is filled with light woods, plants and soothing music. Seating includes a long bar counter, a pair of sofas to snuggle up on and canopied booths in the dining room just off the lounge. Naomi serves about eight kinds of sake and mixes a great melon saketini, with sake, melon liqueur, and lime, orange and pineapple juices, as well as the "Green Dragon" sojutini, a melon liqueur and soju cocktail.

Ra Sushi Bar Restaurant, The Shops on Butterfield, 310 Yorktown Center, Lombard, (630) 627-6800, www.rasushi.com

A dramatically lit, urban decor featuring deep red-stained wood, stainless-steel detailing and a bamboo canopy plus pumping music in the large lounge make Benihana sibling Ra a suburban hipster draw at happy hour and until late night. Guzzle Kirin beer-and-sake cocktails; sake spritzers made with raspberry sake, club soda and 7Up; saketinis mixed from Ketel One Vodka and Hakutsuru sake; the "Banzai martini," a hot pink mix of Malibu rum, raspberry liqueur, sake and pineapple juice; a ginger martini of ginger brandy, Hakutsuru Sake and peach schnapps; and sakes such as Hakutsuru Draft, Kobe, Kizakura Nigori-Kyoto and Kizakura Pure. There's also "Tsunami Punch," 60 ounces of cold sake, liqueurs and tropical juices served in a fishbowl for two. Ra offers over a dozen sakes. Watch for a "Sushi and Sake Social" coming up in January.

Swordfish Contemporary Sushi, 207 N. Randall Road, Batavia, (630) 406-6463, www.swordfishsushi.com

A small but hip lounge with contemporary banquette seating and a blue-neon-lit bar adds to the contemporary decor of high ceilings, exposed pipes, rocks and waterfalls at Swordfish, where bartenders shake up both Kurasawa and Ichinokura sakes with vodka and garnish the blend with cucumbers for the house saketini, and combine vodka, triple sec and Asian pear juice for a sweeter cocktail.

Wildfish, 60 S. Arlington Heights Road, Arlington Heights, (847) 870-8260, www.wildfishsushi.com

A bamboo-backed bar, moody lighting and dramatic black, red and green color scheme pack them into the lounge at Wildfish, where along with saketinis you can find a Fuji apple martini made with soju.

The skinny on sake

"People describe sake as a 'Japanese rice wine,' but it's really brewed, like beer," said Joseph Sheahan, manager of Ra Sushi Bar Restaurant in Lombard.

Sake is made from rice, which is washed, steam-cooked and mixed with yeast and "koji" (rice inoculated with the mold Aspergillus oryzae). The mixture ferments in a large tank, with more rice, koji and water added over four days. Then the mash sits for 18 to 32 days, and then it's pressed, filtered and blended.

The alcohol content of sake ranges from 16 to 19 percent by volume, a little more than wine, said Monica Samuels, sake sommelier for SushiSamba rio in Chicago. "And sake has no sulfites. It's supposed to be the 'no-hangover' drink." (Although not, of course, when it's mixed with the other booze in saketinis.)

"The rice is very polished, very refined," she said. The amount of polishing the rice gets before fermenting affects the quality and flavor of the sake, according to Samuels. The most premium sakes come from the heart of the rice.

Japan makes at least 10,000 types of sake, each subtly different due to variations in the ingredients, aging and other factors. The flavors range from very clean and dry to sweet and almost thick.

Don't expect your sake served hot. "A lot of people associate sake with a hot beverage," said Sheahan. In truth, only cheaper sakes are heated in Japan. "The majority of fine sakes are served chilled."

You certainly wouldn't want to heat a premium sake like Ginyu Sizuku, a junmai daiginjo from Tochigi, Japan, which sells for $87 per 720 ml bottle at Blu Coral Sushi in Woodridge.

Soju and shochu

Although they're similar, soju and shochu aren't quite the same, Samuels explained. Both are distilled beverages, stronger than sake.

Soju, sometimes called "Korean vodka," is distilled primarily from potatoes or sweet potatoes, usually with added ingredients like barley, wheat or tapioca, and ranges from 20 to 45 percent in alcohol by volume. It's a bit sweeter than vodka, with added sugar or other sweeteners.

Both beverages are commonly made into cocktails. In Korea, soju cocktails might be made from soju, Sprite and a flavoring like sour mix; in Japan, a similar shochu highball is known as a "chuhai."

Locally, Naomi Sushi in Arlington Heights serves a "Green Dragon" sojutini mixed from soju, melon liqueur and lime juice, and Wildfish in downtown Arlington Heights offers a sojutini flavored with apple.