If you had it and hate it (a lot of people do, even some of my Chinese friends), it is ok. The worst food for my wife is white truffle, whose flavor she describes as pig feet soaked in gasoline, and the second worst for er is burgundy black truffle.
After all, crab is just a giant sea spider and shrimp is not too much different from cockroach.
I usually keep an open minding regarding foods and respect other culture.
I had the following wines with the dish
2011 Giacomo Conterno Barbera DâAlba Cascina Francia
1999 Domaine Jean Grivot Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru Les Boudots
2010 Georges Duboeuf Moulin-Ă -Vent
The winner is the Conterno Barbera. The bright acidity and dark cherry/ anise note brighten the rather heavy dish, while it did not overwhelm the mild fishy taste and earthy mushroom.
The Grivot Boudots is not bad. Just there is no synergy between the food and wine. I enjoyed the wine just by itself. But with the food, the heavy texture of the dish overwhelmed the silky texture of the wine. And the sweetness of the oyster sauce made the tannin a bit too coarse.
The Moulin-Ă -Vent is a looser. The grapy fruitiness of the wine killed the complex flavor of the dish and made it too fishy to my taste.
After all, it is really fun experience for me to play with these non-traditional food-wine pair.
Nothing to be sorry forâŚ
A bad pair is as educational as a good pairâŚ
You need some fruitiness to go with a braised dishâŚbut at the same time it overwhelms the subtle flavor of the foodâŚ
Barbera was my intuitive pick. Sea cucumber is often used in Shanghai style dish, which is sweet sour with a touch of spice (often star anise and cinnamon). The wine is reminiscent of that style.
Me too! Food is a great way to access a culture. Easier than learning the language. Even if a food isnât my favorite, Iâm fascinated by the experience, just like a wine.
This has nothing to do with culture. I have eaten some pretty weird stuff in Hong Kong and at a few dubiously legal NY Chinese restaurants with Chinese clients and not only did I have no problems, but I thought much of it was delicious. Sea Cucumber is another story and is objectively awful. Itâs like eating rubber cement with some kind of furry scotch bonnet pepper flavor at the back end that makes my throat feel like it is being assaulted by an army of grunts with trench toe.
Jay,
I agree this has nothing to do with the culture if you tried and hated it.
BTW, the texture and flavor of sea cucumber can be very different depending on where it grows. Or can we say âterroirâ. It sounds like the one you had is from north China. It tends to be firmer and stronger in flavor. The japanese variety is meatier and softer. Those from Canada can be very soft / gelatenous.
I have probably had sea cucumber at least six times, always in the US except for once in Hong Kong. I never considered it as having a terroir-driven flavor profile. I suppose if there is a difference between grass fed and grain fed beef, there could be a difference between Atlantic and Pacific, or South China Sea vs. Japanese coast sea cucumbers. The ones I saw in situ were in the Bahamas about 30 feet down in the sand.
Jay
The price of sea cucumbers can be very different. So is the taste. The ones from Canada and south China cost less then $10 a pound. Those from North China can go as high as $2000. The ones from Japan and south America are in between. The difference in taste is very big. Anyone can tell in a blind tasting. Personally I really dislike the expensive north China variety but enjoy the cheaper ones from Canada (braised in soy sauce with grape fruit juice and serve with shaved botargo)
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