Book: Asian Palate

Your guidebook to Asian food and wine pairing.

Asian Palate: Savouring Asian Cuisine and Wine
By Jeannie Cho Lee MW

Red wine goes well with meat, and white with seafood. And that, folks, basically sums up the wine pairing knowledge of many (this writer included). I love wine and although I’ve attended seminars and gone on tours (in Bordeaux, no less), I still feel lost as to what to drink with what I’ll eat. I always end up relying on any of those in my very short list of tried-and-trusted chateaus and grape variety. There may be sommeliers or in Manila’s case, informed waiters who can readily tip me on their recommended bottle but as I have learned on countless occasions, it boils down to personal preference.

Last month, I got a chance to meet the very first Asian to be awarded the Master of Wine (hence the MW after the name) title. She sure knows her wines as we got to pair her choices of reds and whites with the food sampler served to us. It was an undeniably enlightening experience, which unfortunately was lost on me as I forgot her tips and tricks soon as I exited the door (the wine I had earlier that day didn’t help). I wasn’t worried though as I got to take home with me Jeannie Cho Lee’s latest book, Asian Palate, which was given away as a raffle (it was my very last calling card; lucky me!)

It has everything I need to know when pairing wine with food, specifically Asian cuisine. And it took months-long of research, an extensive ten-city tour, and her experienced palate to figure out that sake isn’t the only thing you can drink to down sushi. The 208-page hardbound is quite an entertaining, educational, and extensive read as she carefully dissects the background, food and dining culture, and cuisine of key cities in Asia including Hong Kong, Beijing, Seoul, Tokyo, Bangkok, and Mumbai (Unfortunately, Manila is left out, as according to Lee, her publisher cut down her pages and the studies she did on three cities were taken out as a consequence). At the end of each chapter, she lists down her wine tips based on the general characteristics of a particular cuisine (I.e. stir-fried dishes with black bean sauce for HK, and hot pots or nabe for Tokyo) plus her top five wine recommendations.

There’s no question that a lot of work went into it and for someone who is clueless like me, I certainly appreciate the 411. The book even comes with a guide wheel, which instantly tells you which wine to pair a type of Asian cuisine (I.e. Shanghainese, Northern Indian, and Japanese Kaseki) with or which one to avoid. She doesn’t share any recipes here, but what she does share is a great and deep knowledge of not just wine but also of the food and culture that make up Asia's capital cities.

Asian Palate is available in www.amazon.com.

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