Have been asked to bring an “oriental” dish for a wine group tasting that is very red heavy CdP, Pomerol, Barbera. I haven’t the slightest idea what would really go with those wines as I find most Asian food to go poorly with heavy red wines. Any thought?
I’ve found richer lamb/duck/beef dishes, particularly when braised or in a thick stew, go decently well with the heavy wines you describe. CdP wouldn’t be an awful pairing for a rich curried lamb dish so long as it’s not too spicy. Tea-smoked duck and aged barolo can be delicious as well. I can’t comment on Pomerol as I’ve never tried pairing Bordeaux with asian foods. The general advice I can give would just be to pair bigger dishes with big wines.
I"m not sure how expansive “oriental” is meant to be but a japanese breaded pork cutlet (tonkatsu) would be very good with CdP as well. Then again, I doubt it will travel all that well unless you have access to a kitchen at the tasting to flash reheat.
maybe for example ,gives this older “publication”;
http://www.108chinesepairings.com/ebook/
Well the obvious answer for CdP is sushi of course.
But the fail here is an ‘oriental’ dish. What the hell does that mean?
That’s why I put it in quotes. It was sent to me with the list of wines. There is a Champagne and a Grüner but dishes matching those were already taken. “Oriental” could even include Indian and Indonesian, maybe even Filipino.
Lamb shank braised with things like cumin and turmeric works great with Rhones.
Have been asked to bring an “oriental” dish for a wine group tasting that is very red heavy CdP, Pomerol, Barbera
Easy: tell them politely that maybe they should reconsider and bring some food that actually matches the wines that they like. There’s so much good food out there that will make a better match and very few foods that will make a worse match. Or you can bring the requested food and a wine that fits the food. Serve a heavy hitter with the food as a second option and maybe one or two will learn something new.
/Ulrich
That’s a fantastic idea. When someone assigns me a problem like this I like to pull something unexpected, and I don’t think south Asian is quite what they had in mind. Has the significant added benefit of being something you can assemble well in advance and reheat, so you can hang out and enjoy yourself instead of woking individual plates at the last minute.
Roast Pork. Chinese restaurants usually have roast pork or perhaps duck.
I would watch the heat level and acidity. Spices should not include things that are too “hot.” More leaning towards garlic, ginger, onion, cinnamon, clove, anise, soy etc. Anything too sour would probably clash with those wines also. If it might be something I typically note in the wine, it’s usually okay to have in the food as well.
Lamb, roast pork and duck would be great. Chinese greens and mushrooms should also go pretty well. I’ve enjoyed dim sum with Rhone-style wines & Piemonte rossos, so there are lots of Asian foods that go with red wine.
There are non spicey Sichuan dishes with flavors like these. Also Cambodian dishes
Great ideas so far. Weirdly, this is at the home of a Japanese family but my Japanese recipes are definitely a no go. I’m trying to avoid too much soy so the braised lamb shank sounds like a good bet.
Here is what I think you should make: very slow baked pork belly with hoisin, cumin, coriander and onion powder rub.
I am making something like this right now and think it pairs well with CdP.
Just careful with the hoisin as it can get too sweet very easily.
Japchae?
Say what?
What about a wild mushroom stuffed Egg Role?
There’s so much good food out there that will make a better match and very few foods that will make a worse match.
I agree.
OTOH, I do it all the time because I want some particular dish and I want some particular wine so perfect pairing be damned.
But why not go in a different direction? Don’t go with big meats and heavy sauces. Instead get something based on mushrooms and cabbage and bean sprouts and vegetables.
And then you can also do like a Korean BBQ type thing.
This just seems like a terrible idea. Round peg, square hole.