Dining with Asian Food and Wine—a few thoughts on matching Part II

By

Ronald Jan, M. D.

May 13, 2022

[In the Previous issue of wechineseinus.com we outlined a few general principles of serving wine with Asian Foods or foods, in general] These guidelines were NOT RULES but merely ideas to help select wines that will match well with the variety of aromas and flavors presented in Asian cuisine.

To illustrate the application of some of these principles let us create a possible scenario...

            You are sitting at a round table with 9 other people. A variety of foods      are brought to the table.   The menu of food might look like this…

MENU FOR A CHINESE DINNER

BIRDS’ NEST SOUP

CHINESE BROCOLLI with oyster sauce

SCALLOPS seared in a wok and then sauteed

DOH MIU with garlic

LOBSTER steamed and served with a butter sauce

BITTER MELON AND CHICKEN stir-fried in a wok

PEKING DUCK served with hoisin sauce and crepes

YEUNG LAHT ZHU, hot chili peppers stuffed with minced shrimp held together with a bit of pork fat fried in a wok and served with a brown sauce

RIBEYE BEEF STEAK WITH MUSHROOMS and green beans

STEAMED ROCK COD with oil shallots and soy sauce

…and rice….

Including these two dishes…

[Bitter Melon with chicken, photo courtesy of Ronald Jan, M.D]

[Yeung Laht Zhu, photo courtesy of Ronald Jan, M.D.]

You are anxious to eat all the items but are not fond of bitter melon and have a very low tolerance for hot, spicy foods. The host has placed 2 wines at the table—a very young California Cabernet Sauvignon and a German Riesling (Auslese).

[A very young California Cabernet Sauvignon photo courtesy of Ronald Jan, M.D.]

[German Riesling Auslese, photo courtesy of Ronald Jan, M.D.]

The bitter tannins in a young Cabernet Sauvignon would magnify the bitterness in the bitter melon and the high alcohol in the wine will magnify both the bitterness and the spicy, hot chili taste of the Yeung Laht Zhu. And so, you might choose the Riesling when eating these two dishes because the sweetness of the Riesling will soften some of bitterness of the bitter melon and the cool temperature of the wine will diminish some of the spicy hot flavors of the Yeung Laht Zhu without much alcohol effect since the German Riesling is low in alcohol (usually 8 to 12% ABV).

But you are anxious to drink the young California Cabernet and notice that there is served a rich, meaty dish--a sauteed rib eye steak with mixed mushrooms.

[Ribeye steak with mixed mushrooms, photo courtesy of Ronald Jan, M.D.]

The richness of the rib eye steak will soften the bitter tannins of the wine and the umami of the mushrooms will also lessen the tannins while the berry fruit of the wine will add flavor to this rib eye steak.

            The friend sitting next to you is from Sichuan Province, China and prefers the spicy dish to be even more spicy hot –he/she may find the higher alcohol in the California Sauvignon to be just what is needed to make the spicy dish more appealing.

I have tried to illustrate how different wines effect different Asian foods with a myriad of flavors and how you might prefer some wines over other wines with different foods. But please remember that you should DRINK THE WINES THAT YOU LIKE WITH THE FOOD THAT YOU LIKE. Please do not be bound by “rules.”

About the author: Dr. Ronald G. Jan who specializes in Vascular Surgery is a Clinical Professor of Surgery at the University of California at Davis School of Medicine. As a hobby, he holds WSET level 3 certification in wines and has been writing and publishing wine commentaries.

This website has a free subscription function, please enter your email address and name (any nickname) in the upper right corner of the page. After subscribing, you can receive timely updates of the website. I hope that new and old readers will actively subscribe, so that we have the opportunity to provide you with better services

Please click: Home (wechineseus.com) for more news and content on this website

Follow The Chinese Media's Twitter account: https://twitter.com/wechineseinus

Follow The Chinese Media's Facebook account: https://www.facebook.com/wechineseinamerica/