If Masa Shiroki has his way, rice fields will someday be a common sight in the Fraser Valley.The Granville Island sake maker harvested his third rice crop from an Abbotsford field over Thanksgiving, gathering almost three tons of sake rice that he鈥檒l turn into 5,000 bottles of the traditional Japanese beverage.
鈥淚鈥檝e had no problem selling it,鈥� he said of his Fraser Valley Junmai sake. 鈥淧eople are very excited by the idea that the rice was grown locally.鈥�
Shiroki鈥檚 Fraser Valley sake places him on the cusp of several big B.C. food trends, including the craft-beer boom and the local food movement. It鈥檚 the latter that led him to begin experimenting with rice cultivation in 2008.
鈥淔rom the beginning, it was my goal to be 100 per cent self sufficient,鈥� he said of his sake brewery, which opened in 2006.
Test rice fields in Kamloops and Ashcroft grew remarkably well during the hot summers, but his limited access to water was problematic. That led him to 91原创 Island and Agassiz, until the long travel time between the fields and his 91原创 shop became too onerous.
Shiroki said he then looked to the Fraser Valley, where farmland is among the most productive in the world and also the most expensive in Canada.
He learned about the Bakerview EcoDairy, a demonstration farm in Abbotsford, where there was a two-acre field with serious drainage problems.
鈥淚t was always wet and nothing could be grown,鈥� he explained. 鈥淭hey were quite happy to let me lease it.鈥�
And Shiroki was quite happy with the drainage problems.
Rice fields are typically flooded as natural weed control 鈥� the plants survive under water, while weeds do not. The water also helps keep the transplanted seedlings warm in the early spring and prevents the plants from forming too many shoots.
Shiroki said the clay in the Abbotsford soil reduces the amount of water needed to keep the field wet.
The sake maker鈥檚 equipment comes from Japan 鈥� his rice combine and industrial drier are the latest addition to a collection that includes a dehusker, sifter, thresher, rice grader and tractor.
He is looking for more land to lease and envisions rice cultivation throughout the Fraser Valley on land that others find difficult to cultivate.
鈥淭here鈥檚 always a spot on the farm where you can鈥檛 do anything,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e can come in, flatten it, flood it, and make it productive.鈥�
Shiroki, who was a civil servant before becoming a sake importer, then brewer, and finally, rice farmer, also grows a small row of rice outside his Granville Island shop, which called Artisan SakeMaker.
鈥淧eople stop and learn about rice,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 hear parents telling their children about how it grows.鈥�
The brewery and shop have been very successful.
Their popularity may be tied to the growing interest in craft brewing and small-batch beers.
While Shiroki calls his operation a winery to distinguish it from 91原创鈥檚 craft breweries, sake is actually a brewed drink. Unlike grapes, which contain sugar that is fermented to make wine, rice must be brewed so the starch is converted to sugar and then to alcohol.
Shiroki and other B.C. producers and importers are working to change the perception that sake is only meant to be served with Japanese food, said certified sake educator Elise Gee.
鈥淲e drink French wines and Italian wines with different kinds of food, and the same thing can apply to sake,鈥� she said. 鈥淲hy would we want to pair it exclusively with Japanese food?鈥�
Gee said Shiroki鈥檚 brewery is among three craft sake breweries in Canada. In B.C. there are about seven sake importers and distributors, said to Shiroki, who is the first president of the newly created Sake Association of B.C., which was incorporated on Oct. 1.
The beverage is also experiencing a worldwide surge in popularity, along with Japanese cuisine, although in Japan itself, sake鈥檚 stock has plummeted.
鈥淚t鈥檚 become known as a grandfather鈥檚 drink,鈥� said Gee.
The sake educator calls Shiroki an innovator and credits him with some of sake鈥檚 success in 91原创.
鈥淗e鈥檚 not afraid to try different things,鈥� she said. 鈥淕rowing the rice here is a really big deal. If we could eventually grow table rice in B.C. that could have the potential to really change the way we eat.鈥�
It鈥檚 something Shiroki isn鈥檛 ruling out. He planted several varieties of table rice in his field as a test this year, and he dreams of someday establishing a rice-growing cooperative in the Fraser Valley.
But one venture at a time. For now, his focus is brewing the best local sake possible.
The rice needs the winter to harden before he transforms it into Fraser Valley Junmai, to be released in spring, around the same time he returns to the rice fields for planting season.
