What is sake?
Alcohol made from fermented rice. It is sometimes referred to as rice wine in English.

What does it look like?
Clear and colourless, like vodka or water.

Is it easy to get hold of?
It is available in Asian food stores, online and in some supermarkets.

Can it be substituted?
You can use Chinese rice wine (Shaoxing wine) – but the chances are if you can find that, you will be able to find sake. For some recipes, you can use mirin instead of sake but mirin is sweeter.

Can you drink sake?
Of course! Although you would probably want to buy a cheaper sake for cooking and a better quality one for drinking.