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What’s the perfect wine to match popular Korean dishes such as kimchi and bulgogi? Ed Soon has the answer.
Unique ingredients – doen-jang (soybean paste), gochu-jang (red chilli paste), gan-jang (soy sauce), as well as various combinations of sesame oil, garlic and chilli (fresh, flaked or powdered) – hint at the robust seasoning of many Korean dishes. And since no Korean meal would be complete without kimchi, the spicy-sour fermented condiment, you’ll need a wine that can hold its own in the company of such strong flavours.
Consider bulgogi, a staple dish marinated in soy, garlic, brown sugar, wine, and barbecued at the table. The sliced beef can be eaten wrapped in a lettuce leaf filled with raw chilli and garlic. The taste is sharp, savoury and smoky, so reach for a generic cabernet merlot, or better yet, a southern Italian Primitivo, noted for its light tannins and concentrated berry flavours.
Bimbimbap, the delicious mixture of rice, beef, vegetables, garlic, sweet soy and sesame, augmented with pepper and chilli paste, should be served with a characterful, fruity, full-bodied Carménère (planted in the Médoc region of Bordeaux), or a chilled Viognier. Domi, a dish of thinly sliced fish served raw with a spicy Gochu-jang, goes well with a lightly sweet Vouvray Moelleux or moscato. If pan-fried with salt or in batter (Chonyu), it finds its match with a creamy, vanilla-tasting chardonnay.
Japchae is a serving of vermicelli noodles with beef and vegetables including multiple condiments: dried black mushrooms, onions, carrots, spring onions, peppers, garlic, sesame oil and soy. The taste is nutty, savoury and sweet at the same time. Pair this mouthful with a chilled sweet wine such as Muscat de Beaumes de Venise, a late-harvest wine.
Bosintang or nureongi dog meat (yes, the Koreans eat Fido too), slowly simmered with vegetables and then seasoned in a doen-jang soup with garlic, ginger, onion, herbs, perilla seed oil and hot pepper, is complex tasting. When substitutes of lamb, goat, donkey or ox are used, the dish is best tasted with a fruity yet strong-tasting wine such as Grand Cru Bordeaux – which incidentally is the favourite vino of Kim Jong Il.
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LOL!!! :p
Posted on Tue 19 May 2009 08:53:27
Dude... It's not a restaurant lah.
Posted on Tue 19 May 2009 08:50:03
any idea where;s the restaurant located?
Posted on Mon 18 May 2009 12:13:33