Hire-zake (ひれ酒, toasted fin sake)

Hire-zake has a fearsome little reputation, mostly because the fin comes from fugu. That makes people stiffen their shoulders. Don't. You are not preparing the fish, and you should not try to. Buy dried fugu fins from a licensed seller, already cleaned and dried for this purpose, and the hard part has been handled by the people who are meant to handle it.

The first secret is the toast. A pale fin gives you almost nothing. A scorched one tastes bitter and rude, which is a small crime in a cup this simple. Toast it slowly until the edges curl, the surface freckles brown, and the smell turns nutty and marine. That dry heat wakes the oils and gives the sake its smoke.

Then the sake must be hot, but not boiled into harshness. Warm it until it feels almost too hot to sip, steep the fin under a lid, and briefly light the surface if the sake is strong enough to catch. The flame is not theatre, though people do wave it around as if it were. It softens the alcohol edge and leaves the cup drier, rounder, and easier to drink.

This is winter drinking, the kind we keep for cold evenings and quiet tables. One cup, one fin, nothing hidden. Use honmono fugu fin when you can; tai, sea bream, is a sensible stand-in, but say plainly what it is.