For this month's Whacky Wine Lunch, I decided to head back to part of my roots to pair wines with traditional Penang nyonya food...just like how my grandmother used to cook it...
The venue chosen was The Wok Cafe, which brings back memories of the antique interiors of my grandparents house in Penang.
The menu:
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Appetisers
Loh bak
Wok Taufu
Whacky wine match:
Spanish Viura 2010 by Beronia
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Main course
Assam Big Prawns
Inche Kabin
Gulai Tumis Snapper
Jiu Hoo Char
Rice
Whacky wine match:
German Riesling QbA 2010 by DrLoosen
Whacky wine match:
Italian Nero d’Avola (Nira 2007) by Terreliade
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Dessert
Penang Ice Kacang
assam prawns (tamarind fried prawn) - whacky wine pairing: Dr Loosen QbA 2010
gulai tumis (spicy tamarind fish curry) - whacky wine pairing: Terreliade Nira Nero d'Avola
The Beronia Viura 2010 was a great pre-lunch type of wine - fresh with citrus notes and fairly aromatic...and it also paired pretty decently with the loh bak (five spice pork rolled with bean curd skin).
Dr Loosen QbA 2010 was probably the most versatile wine as it could go with the spicy, the sour, and the delicate. I personally liked this with the gulai tumis (spicy tamarind fish curry), the assam prawns (tamarind fried prawn), the inche kabin (nyonya fried chicken) and the jiu hoo char (fried jicama/yambean) wrapped with fresh lettuce leaves.
The Terreliade Nira Nero d'Avola 2007 from Sicily, Italy was the only red - it was difficult finding a red wine to go with nyonya food because nyonya food has pretty high acidity and after a lot of contemplation, the Nero d'Avola did a decent job even with the spicy tamarind fish curry - it's not ideal but it did not clash due to comparable acidity levels and the jammy notes of the wine balanced off the spicy curry. The wine was not too tannic which helped or else it would have pretty much clashed with the fish.
All in all, it was in the name of good fun, some whacky laughter and experimentation between people passionate about eating and drinking....
Join us for the next in this series (email us at rsvp @ ronkhoo.com) to be put on the mailing list.
