I am pleased to report readers of my blog that Nokanro, a commercialized
product that has the same functionality as that of what is called kandouko, which I several times wrote about
in past posts of this blog.
Sake lovers sometimes drink their sake warm. Actually, some types of sake
are very nice when they are warmed. However, to enjoy warmed sake, it is very
important that you warm your sake in a proper way to a proper temperature.
A microwave oven is a useful device for warming sake. However, it
tends to happen that sake is warmed unevenly; some part of the sake becomes hot,
and some part remains still cold.
An alternative to the microwave oven is to place a flask containing
sake in hot water and leave it until the sake becomes hot. You put some water
in the pan, place the pan on a gas stove, place the flask containing sake in
the water in the pan, and then wait for the sake to become warm.
Otherwise, you can use a dedicated sake warmer. There are various types
of sake warmer products. You can execute Google image search with the keywords
"sake warmer" to view different sake warmers. Some products use
electricity to warm sake, and some are designed to be used on a gas stove.
There are those that are just containers made of thermal material to contain
hot water; sake flasks are just placed in them and left until the sake becomes
warm.
Among these various sake warmer types, there is one that uses
charcoal fire. A sake warmer of this type is called kandouko (or nokanro).
The figure below shows the structure of the kandouko, which is a gadget usually made of copper, and is
basically a water tank with an embedded brazier. As shown in the figure, the
gadget holds some amount of water, warms the water with heat of charcoal fire burning
in the brazier. Since the kandouko is
not so large, you can use it on a table, where you drink sake.
You place a flask of sake in the heated water in the tank, to warm
your sake. While you wait for your sake to become warm, you can cook some foods
such as dried fish on the grill placed over the charcoal fire. So, the bottom
line is, amazingly, the kandouko serves
as not only a sake warmer but also a small tabletop cooker!
The microwave oven is handy, but you need to leave the table every
time you make a helping of sake. The same thing can be said to using a pan containing
water on a gas stove. Using a tabletop device like a kandouko eliminates the need to leave the table for helpings. Moreover,
cooking some foods on a kandouko adds
to pleasure of sake drinking.
The kandouko is not so large and heavy, so you can bring it to a deck
or porch, or outdoors. You can enjoy sake with the kandouko when you go out for camping, fishing, or just relaxing in
the nature.
Having read the above, if you are a great sake fan, you may have become
wanting to own a kandouko. Kandoukos
are sold in antique shops or in net auctions, and I have actually purchased
some of them in net auctions. I think it was difficult for people living
outside Japan to purchase one (these items are usually not exported). However,
a new company named Jipang Works has lately been established and started
selling a product named "Nokanro,"the very revival of kandouko.
The following is the link of the site of this product.
Before this product appeared in the market, brand-new kandoukos were hardly sold (I know there
was one shop selling brand-new kandoukos
but the price was far from affordable), and the only practical choice to own a kandouko was to make a successful bid in
a net auction or find and buy one in an antique shop.
Now that Jipang Works started selling its Nokanro, it has become
easier to own a kandouko because you
can buy the Nokanro. The Nokanro is sold at a price of 31,000 yen (including 8%
consumption tax). The product includes the main unit, a net grill, a lid for
extinguishing charcoal fire, and a fire grate to be placed in the brazier.
If you live in Japan and you buy a kandouko in a net auction, you will pay 5,000 to 20 thousand yen or
more for it. So, an antique item is still less expensive than a brand-new
Nokanro, However, the new Nokanro looks beautiful and robust.
Lately, sake is gaining in popularity in markets outside Japan. Sake
is a beverage that can be enjoyed at various temperatures, and some of the sake
fans in foreign countries have noticed this fact and have found pleasure in
drinking their sake cold, at a room temperature, lukewarm, warm, or hot, as
they like. The more people recognize diverse pleasure of sake, the more people may
want to enjoy sake in various ways and styles, including by using a gadget like
the Nokanro. So, there must be a growing market of sake warmer like the
Nokanro. Actually, when I posted a blog article about the kandouko before, a reader of my blog, inspired by my post, created
a handmade kandouko and he wrote about
his kandouko in his blog post. Very
interesting. I think there must be some people overseas who are willing to buy
a Nokanro, and I hope this Nokanro will sell well among not only people in
Japan but also those outside the country.
