Cover Pineapple chilli sake on tap (Photo: Mùa Craft Saké)
Pineapple chilli sake on tap (Photo: Mùa Craft Saké)
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We speak to chef and co-founder Tru Lang, who sheds light on what it means to produce sake unique to Vietnam
When Okaju’s executive chef and co-owner Eddie Ng enthusiastically told me that the restaurant would be hosting Mùa Craft Saké on two evenings I was unavailable, I knew I had to make somehow it work. What compels me is the sake’s unusual flavours, which range from pineapple chilli to passionfruit with Vietnamese black pepper.
Tru Lang, the chef and co-founder of Mùa Craft Saké, and Ng first met through a mutual friend when Ng was in Ho Chi Minh cooking for a private event. “I almost didn’t go to Mùa Craft Saké, as I wasn’t keen on day drinking, but I’m glad I did,” Ng laughs. He recalls his first time trying the locally-produced beverage: “The sake was young, but in terms of flavours, it was on par with traditional sake, and there is really no other producer serving craft sake on tap and infusing it with local ingredients.”
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Above Tru Lang, the co-founder of Mùa Craft Saké, was born to Vietnamese and Chinese parents
Tru Lang, the co-founder of Mùa Craft Saké, was born to Vietnamese and Chinese parents
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Mùa Craft Saké is the first of many passionate producers and craftsmen from neighbouring countries that Ng hopes to host at Okaju, giving them an arena to showcase their products to the local industry. Lang is looking to expand Mùa Craft Saké (after trying his sake and creative Vietnamese plates, I hope with all my heart he will), so we speak to him to find out how he founded Vietnam’s first craft sake brewery.
Above Mùa Craft Saké's original and pineapple sake
Mùa Craft Saké's original and pineapple sake
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What was your first experience with sake?
I grew up and began my career in the United States. I was a chef there about nine years ago and met a local sake maker who had a brewery called Dovetail Brewery in Boston, Massachusetts. I always knew sake as a traditional Japanese rice alcohol, and that was my first experience of sake as a craft beverage.
He was traditionally trained but forward thinking and incorporated local produce and terroir into traditional Japanese sake making. I loved how technical it was and learned a lot about how to appreciate the nuances and variations that can be created within sake.
Above Lang was a chef in the United States before moving to Vietnam
Lang was a chef in the United States before moving to Vietnam
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How did Mùa Craft Saké begin?
I moved to Vietnam in 2017 and was incredibly inspired by local Vietnamese ingredients. Something I have always done naturally is cook with seasonal ingredients, but when I came to Vietnam, I realised this was not as common.
I felt Vietnam had so much to explore and offer, so during the pandemic four years ago, I decided to begin a restaurant called Mùa, which means seasons in Vietnamese. With Mùa, I began sharing the untold cultural stories of Vietnamese producers through the modern and creative Vietnamese fare we served.
In 2021, I met my co-founders who were looking for a chef to help create a sake business in Vietnam. It was a good fit with Mùa's locavore philosophy and my experiences in Japan, and Mùa Craft Saké was born.
We also have a partnership with Heiwa Shuzo, an award winning Japanese brewery in Wakayama. They are invaluable in the advice and consultations they give us; their brewing team and master brewer often come to Mùa Craft Saké, and we also send our team to Japan to exchange knowledge. Sake brewing is a highly detailed craft, and if we didn’t have them as partners, we wouldn’t have been able to achieve what we have today.
Above Mùa means seasons in Vietnamese
Mùa means seasons in Vietnamese
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What were some of the difficulties that were faced along the way?
The rice we use is grown in Northern Vietnam and is the same variety that sake breweries in Japan use. However, being grown in a different climate leads to a different chemical structure of the rice, and these altered physical properties meant we had to adapt brewing methods.
We also had to build and create the entire brewery from scratch. It took nearly ten months of brewing before we started selling our sake, as it was initially undrinkable. Sake is incredibly nuanced, and when it comes to its craftsmanship, even the slightest change in temperature or humidity affects the quality of the end product.
Above Mùa Craft Saké produces the first Vietnamese craft sake
Mùa Craft Saké produces the first Vietnamese craft sake
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What sets you apart from other sake breweries?
We focus on what is unique to Vietnam—terroir, seasonal ingredients, and what we want to offer in terms of the final product. We are the only brewery using Vietnamese rice to create small batch craft sake infused with Vietnamese ingredients.
In Japan, once fruit is added to sake, it can no longer be considered sake due to strict rules. However, since we are in Vietnam, we are able to infuse ingredients such as pineapple and chilli, passionfruit, and even beer hops. It is non-traditional brewing style that is only possible outside of Japan.
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Above To pair with the sake are a selection of punchy modern Vietnamese plates; this dining writer’s favourite was the seaweed-marinated tomato
To pair with the sake are a selection of punchy modern Vietnamese plates; this dining writer’s favourite was the seaweed-marinated tomato
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What are some unusual sake combinations you have?
Passionfruit has been one of our flavours we had from the beginning, and we blend it with Vietnamese black pepper, which gives it florality and a bite. We also carry pineapple and chilli sake, which is a flavour combination that is common in Vietnam. Currently, on our limited seasonal menu, we also have sake blended with beer hops.
What do you hope for in the future?
From the start, we wanted to create sake in Vietnam for Vietnamese people. A lot of locals are tasting sake for the first time, through us, and we want it to be something they can be proud of.
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Images: Mùa Craft Saké
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About
Katelyn is the dining and travel editor of Malaysia and Indonesia. Based in Kuala Lumpur, she offers readers an inside look at the movers and shakers in Asia’s growing food and beverage industry.
