Watching a pair of dancers twirl and leap their way through a performance is enthralling. To be at their peak, dancers must have great chemistry, be in sync, and bring just the right amount of strength to the partnership. The same applies to pairing wine with food. If a wine is too light, a rich dish will throw it off its feet; too heavy and it will weigh down the whole meal, like a ballerina failing to achieve lift. Asian cuisines, with their complex and varied flavour combinations, dazzle our palates with fancy footwork. Unlike European wine matching traditions, where pairing is based on the key protein of the meal, such as meat or fish, sauce flavours take the lead in Asia. The “white wine with fish, red wine with meat” rules do not always apply, making pairing a challenge, but not impossible – a shoe-slapping Beaujolais can certainly hold its own against a quick-stepping chilli crab. Five places in Hong Kong that match food with beer The best wine pairings add another dimension to the meal and leave no component waiting in the wings.

This judging criteria, applied at Hong Kong’s very own Asian food and wine pairing awards (part of the Cathay Pacific Hong Kong International Wine and Spirit Competition), creates intelligent pairs beyond well-known labels. At the 2016 awards announced recently, tod man pla (Thai curried fishcakes with sweet chilli sauce) found its perfect match in Thailand’s Monsoon Valley Blended Rosé 2014. Wine writer and judge at the HKIWSC, Tersina Shieh, says the combination of the wine, fishcake and sauce created a new sensation. “The wine’s stone fruit and red fruit aromas exploded when tasted with the fishcake.” This pairing also proves that, in many cases, local wine pairs best with local cuisine – even in Asia. The water sommelier helping firms in China sell fine water to wary middle class In the case of wagyu beef teppanyaki, it was the wine – Eden Hall Shiraz 2015 (South Australia) - not the sauce – that brought spice to the meal. Describing the pairing, judge Chris So from winelist.hk says, “This cool climate shiraz adds spice to the dish, while the fruit and tannin match the richness of the teppanyaki sauce.”

Sweetness and char – the principal flavours in honey-glazed char siu – were balanced by the freshness and complexity of Yealands Estate Single Vineyard Pinot Noir 2015 from New Zealand. top 100 wine china“The char on the barbecue pork adds another dimension to the dish. best wine served with turkeyYealands Estate is a nicely knitted wine that elevated the meal,” Timothy Goh, director of wines at Les Amis Group in Singapore, explains, after his panel judged this combination.food and wine 30 best fast recipes New World wines, with their simple fruit and uncomplicated appeal, shimmy nicely alongside Asian cuisine, but there are some dishes that find their groove with old-world classics. best company to ship wine

Grilled unagi (freshwater eel) paired best with Porão Velho 2014, a touriga nacional blend. where to buy greek wine onlineAgain, it was the sauce that drove the match. man o war wine for saleShieh says, “The sweet sauce is intense and would overpower most white wines. Porão Velho is a smooth red and its vibrant acidity livened up the unagi.” How to choose the right wine glass - experts' advice The subtle flavours of Japanese sashimi require a more elegant partner. Tamanohikari Junmai Ginjo Shukon 2015 helps sweep the palate between bites. “It is difficult to find a harmonious pairing for a sashimi dish with three different types of fish,” Chris So points out, adding, “This ginjo sake provides a clean, dry finish so you can enjoy one piece of sashimi after another.” Palate cleansing powers often make sparkling wine a favourite pairing partner.

The style came close to winning best pairing with both Indian dishes this year. Judge Subhash Arora, founder and president of Indian Wine Academy and Delhi Wine Club, says the light fizz in FIOL Prosecco DOC helps bring out the flavours of mushroom and pea masala. Why Hong Kong restaurants are pairing whisky, not just wine, with food “The slight sweetness of the extra-dry prosecco handles the mild chilli heat of the dish well.” When it came to murg makhani (butter chicken), however, sparkling wine was out-danced by South African shiraz blend, Black Countess 2013. “Murg makhani needs a textured wine. The shiraz in this blend adds spiciness to the dish and grenache and mourvedre provide weight and spice without harsh tannins. Pinotage completes the balancing act,” Arora says. Every good performance deserves an encore. Audition these duos for a spot at your next Asian banquet. Debra Meiburg is a Hong Kong-based Master of WineStory of the day The Week in Bites 30 April 2017

Find out what happened this week at Fine Dining LoversChina and Southeast Asia are home to some of the world’s greatest culinary delights, but these world-class cuisines have not grown up symbiotically with local wines to match their culinary fireworks. Consequently, the historical relationship that exists, for example, between northern Italian cuisine and the great wines of Piemonte does not have a parallel in an Asian context. However, while the great cuisines of this part of Asia have not evolved organically with local wines, this does not mean that finding the right wine match with the flavorful dishes of these cultures is an insurmountable challenge, as there are indeed a great many wines that work magically with such preparations. And finding them is relatively simple, once one discovers the key to fine wine pairing with Asian cuisine. The key equation to take into account when searching for the right wine to pair with these cuisines is the balance between the heat element of the dish and the alcohol level of the accompanying wine.

In general, the more heat a dish packs, the lower the alcohol level should be in the wine. With Thai chilies, Chinese peppers, and a myriad of beautifully complex and intensely flavored spices playing such an important role in Asian haute cuisine, the best approach to matching wines with these dishes is to opt for the lowest levels of alcohol available. These days, the best areas to search out lower alcohol wines continue to be Germany, Champagne, and some sections of the Loire Valley. While the majority of wines from these regions will be white wines, there are also several red wine options that also deliver lower alcohol levels and work nicely with Asian red meat preparations. As much of Chinese, Thai and Vietnamese cuisine is based on fish, vegetables and poultry, white wines can handle a wide variety of Asian dishes. My favorites to serve with many of these dishes are traditionally vinified, off-dry German rieslings, which will routinely hover between seven and nine percent alcohol and marry brilliantly with these cuisines.

The lower levels of alcohol help to keep the heat of spicy dishes in check, while the small amounts of residual sugar serve as a lovely counterpoint to the intensity of flavors in many of these culinary preparations. Amongst the German wines, I love the balance that is struck between Asian dishes and rieslings at the Spätlese level of ripeness, which are German wines that have fairly small amounts of residual sugar left in them, but also have wonderful synergy between their fruit, their great base of minerality and almost snappy acidities. These are wines that can emphatically handle the heat, and the fruity profiles of these wines marry beautifully with coconut milk or the fresh fruits that are so often incorporated into savory Asian dishes. While heat and fruit elements are amongst the most common challenges in matching Asian cuisine, many dishes from these cultures (particularly in Vietnamese cooking) also incorporate a distinctly sour component which can play havoc with wine.

When this is the case, the wines I tend to reach for most often are Champagne, Muscadet or other Loire Valley whites. Sauvignon Blancs from appellations such as Sancerre and Pouilly-Fumé work well, but also do not ignore wines made from this grape from the less well-known Touraine region. Muscadet may work even better with dishes that incorporate a sour element, and from great producers such as Luneau-Papin and Marc Ollivier, the wines can offer world class complexity. However, Champagne works the best of all with these preparations, and it also adds the benefit of a more up-scale reputation which can be important in business settings. And Champagne is routinely under twelve percent in alcohol, which allows it to also work well if there happens to be a heat element in the dish as well. If red wines are desired, Loire Valley reds, Cru Beaujolais and Rosé Champagne are my favorite options to go with Asian red meat dishes. From the Loire, I prefer the lighter reds from Saumur-Champigny or the Touraine, as their red fruity profile tends to work better with the spice elements of the cuisines.