Chef Marc Matsumoto Explains Honkaku Shochu and Awamori

November 7, 2017 by Christopher Pellegrini Leave a Comment

If you’re looking for an well-written and extremely easy to understand rundown of what makes shochu and awamori unique, then look no further than Chef Marc Matsumoto’s website, No Recipes.

Copyright Marc Matsumoto at No Recipes — The upper bottle (right side) is shochu, the lower bottle is awamori. The word ‘moromi’ means fermenting mash.

Marc splits his time between talking food trends and cooking on TV, creating content for his website, reinventing classic recipes, and leading cooking classes at various studios around the Tokyo metropolis. And he’s keenly interested in teaching folks about the many wonders of Japan’s indigenous spirits.

Perhaps the best example of this is a recent article that he published on his website which efficiently describes the variety within this often misunderstood spirit category. Marc also spends some time on how to serve shochu and awamori, and how to pair them with food.

Bookmark this article for future reference, and be sure to share it with anyone who will soon be visiting Japan or has a tendency to confuse Japanese shochu with Korean soju.

About Christopher Pellegrini

Christopher Pellegrini, author of The Shochu Handbook, happened upon shochu more than a decade ago, and his curiosity was piqued by the dearth of published information about it. Many years of distillery visits, palate refining, and test taking later, he became one of the few Certified Shochu Sommelier (SSI) to be born outside of Japan. He now spends his time conducting shochu and awamori tastings, writing for various food and drink publications, and consulting restaurants, bars, and distributors on how to bring these drinks into the fold.
A native of Vermont, Christopher was an accomplished pole vaulter and spent several years working for Otter Creek Brewing where he eventually inhabited the night brewing shift. Little did he know that his experience making good beer would lead him to a career in another high quality drink thousands of miles away. After a year in Spain and two in South Korea, Christopher moved to Tokyo, Japan in 2002, where a distinct lack of craft beer sent him straight into shochu's open arms.
He has since found a home talking about Japanese food and drinks for an international audience. He is the host of Japan Booze Blind and Ishokudogen, two web series that cater to Japan's culinary fans around the world. Christopher holds an MA in language education from University College London's Institute of Education, and is the English translator of the survival Japanese textbook Konnichiwa, Nihongo! He has also been published in print and online outlets such as Koe and Global Insider.