OVERSEA RESTAURANT,
Lot-28, Ground Floor,
Lorong Utara C, Petaling Jaya.
Tel: 03-7956 1029
Business hours: 11.30am-2.30pm (lunch),
5.30pm-10.30pm (dinner).
Non-halal.
MALAYSIA has a wide variety of sumptuous Chinese food that is best paired with wine from around the world.
“Chinese food has a variety of flavours — sweet and sour, fresh and herbal, savoury and rich, or even mild and spicy.
“Therefore, a good understanding of wine will enable guests to enjoy their Chinese food with the best pairing,” he said.
Cheah was sharing his expertise with some 200 guests at a Chinese food and wine pairing session, called “A Journey of Taste”, at Oversea Restaurant in Petaling Jaya recently.
Wine expert Jonathan Cheah (standing) briefing guests on the dos and don’ts of pairing Chinese food with wine at Overseas Restaurant.
He paired five dishes with a range of imported wine – Dominique Portet Fontaine Rose from Australia, Marques De Caceras Gran Reserva from Spain, Dr Loosen BernKasteler Lay Riesling Kabinett from Germa-ny, Wirra Wirra Church Block from Australia and Barone Ricasoli Rocca Guicciarda Chianti Classico Riserva from Italy.
Cheah shared that the best way to find the most suitable wine for a dish was by looking for the bold flavour in that dish.
He paired the sweet and crispy roast suckling pig with the strong-flavoured red wine, Marques De Caceres Gran Reserva from Spain.
“This wine goes well with char siew, pork ribs and meat that tastes sweet,
“As for the wine, it is rare as it was made in 2004/2005,” he said.
The Pan Fried Cod Fish (top pic) and other forms of fried seafood went well with the Dr Loosen BernKasteler Lay Riesling Kabinett, a golden white sparkling wine from Germany.
This turned out to be a personal favourite as the wine was light, sweet and slightly sour.
Cheah said Dr Loosen was among the best wines to bring along to a Chinese dinner as it went well with most types of food, especially seafood.
Glutinous rice with salted egg yolk is best paired with red wine Barone Ricasoli Rocca Guicciarda Chianti year 2010 from Italy.
Guests were told that white wine often paired well with spicy dishes, too.
This was evident when the Braised Goose Web served with broccoli was harmoniously paired with the red wine, Wirra Wirra Church Block from Australia.
“This wine is known as the ‘bully wine’ because of its overpowering taste.
“It is, therefore, best paired with steak,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Barone Ricasoli Rocca Guicciarda Chianti from Italy is another strong-flavoured red wine that goes well with glutinous rice and salted egg yolk.
Oversea Enterprise Bhd marketing manager Lee Ying Hoe said guests could seek advice from the restaurant for the best food and wine pairing.
“We advise customers to call and book their selections in advance,” he said.
The Chinese food and wine pairing is available at all five Oversea restaurants in the country.
This is the writer’s personal observation and not an endorsement by StarMetro.