MODERN ASIAN FOOD & GERMAN WINE

German wine and modern Asian food... a match made in heaven? Certainly, when we are talking about the dishes from Han, owner/chef from restaurant Han Ting Cuisine in The Hague. His dishes are an intriguing melange of French and Chinese products and techniques. We had previously tasted some dishes whilst making our book "Topchefs & Sake", but our expectations concerning his wine and food combinations during the Wine Professional 2011 in Amsterdam  surpassed our wildest expectations.

The first wine poured, as an introduction to the tasting, was a Riesling Kabinett feinherb (off dry) Rotlack from Schloss Johannisberg from the Rheingau. This was followed by the first dish; a thinly sliced hamachi with orange oil and soya, pomelo and orange jelly, fresh pomelo and orange, seaweed, frissé salad, tomato concassé, yuzu cream, hamachi and Ghanda ham spring roll, plus a vinaigrette.... are you keeping up?.... and that was just the first offering. Served with a Gewürztraminer Spätlese Sommeracher Katzenkopf from Winzerkeller Sommerach in Franken; a somewhat forgotten grape, harvested from the sunny, south-facing slate slopes along the river, which gives the impression of roses and lychee in a perfect harmony with the bitter of the pomelo and and the sweeter fruit tones in the complex food. I can't imagine a more perfect combination; nor can Han, I think.

Next, he surprised us again with a heavenly combination of scallops and Wagyu beef in a clear ox-tail bouillon with ginger and lemon leaf - I'll spare you the full list of ingredients.By chance this was "our"dish from the book mentioned above - served then with a glass of Daishichi sake. Nevertheless, the information bureau  for German wine, under the auspices of director Alain Jacobs, chose a selection of their top wines to find a seamless connection with the dishes conjured up from the complex brain of Han; especially the 2005 Riesling Spätlese halbtroken Leiwener Laurentiuslay 1. Lage from Weingut Sankt-Urbanshof in the Mosel made a deep impression. ( by coincidence, one of the house wines at The Fat Duck ).

The simple conclusion is that the sweet/sour of the Chinese kitchen can find an ideal match with a beautiful glass of German Riesling .... China isn't their biggest export market for nothing.... "matches made in heaven".

For more information: www.winesofgermany.co.uk