Wine at the restaurant: Japanese specialities

Our tour of the world’s restaurants continues after our forays into Lebanon. Today we’re tackling a culinary giant that has conquered the whole world: Japanese specialities. We’ve landed a big fish, and we’re going to serve it to you on a silver platter, every which way.

And if you’re unsure what to drink, let your humble guide lead you through the twists and turns of restaurant wine lists, which can be deceptive. Whether you’re eating in or taking away, you’ll know how to choose a wine to accompany a typically Japanese menu!

Starter

The starter: gyoza galore

Let’s start on a high note with the traditional but no less delicious gyoza. A little dumpling with a big heart, generously filled and lovingly fried, it makes a warm, satisfying start to the meal. The filling of tender, fatty pork and cabbage provides a soft contrast to the crisp wrapper. Seasoned with ginger and Chinese chives, it can be served with or without a soy and vinegar dipping sauce.

The wine: red alert for Pinot Noir

Let’s put a stop to that idea right away: red wine won’t be joining us, even if your love of meat pies is telling you that meat-filled dumplings call for a robust, tannic red. The first reason alone settles it: ginger is seriously bad news for red wine, causing acute aromatic confusion. Then there’s the garlic and cabbage, among other things. Have you ever seen sauerkraut served with a Saint-Émilion?

White wines that hit the spot

Instead, we suggest an aromatic white that can balance the bold flavours of the gyoza and bring a lovely minerality, such as a white Côtes-du-Rhône. Try one from Domaine de la Janasse or a white Cairanne from Marcel Richaud, which is richer and fuller-bodied. To venture further east — much further east — you could also treat yourself to an Austrian Grüner Veltliner from Weingut Emmerich Knoll that the archduke himself would have approved of: floral and spicy, with a finish whose bitterness stands up beautifully to the ginger.

Main course

The main course: the art of sushi

Next, we suggest an assortment of sushi to honour Japanese tradition in its purest form. Originally a way of preserving fish using fermented rice, sushi has become an art with an international following, inspiring its share of culinary adaptations and fusions.

Let’s stick to the fundamentals, if you don’t mind: no California rolls here, nor any bland cheese wedged between the tuna and avocado. Traditional sushi-making, as practised by master taisho, calls for a precision and subtlety bordering on alchemy, and we owe it that respect. We’ll keep things simple, though: while a taisho can prepare virtually anything that lives in the ocean, from eel and squid to whale, we like to explore the aromatic complexity of simplicity here.

Nigiri, maki, let’s go

Let’s go for an assortment of salmon and tuna nigiri (a raw slice of fish, or sashimi, simply laid over an oblong mound of rice) and maki made with the same fish, tataki-style — raw in the centre and seared around the edges (a real revelation on the palate).

Let’s not forget the essentials: salty soy sauce (dip only the fish side, not the vinegared rice!), wasabi to give each bite a kick, and pickled ginger (which, incidentally, can counteract the effects of wasabi if you’ve added too much).

The wine: white, always white

As for drinks, let’s stick to familiar ground: between the fish and the ginger, you’ll have gathered that red wine is out of the question (and the more tannic it is, the worse the pairing because of acidity, as with cheese, remember?). Traditionally, sushi can be accompanied by green tea, with its wide range of subtle aromas.

For our part, let’s choose a fresh, dry white wine with enough aromatic character to stand up to the ginger and wasabi. Since we’re suggesting only oily fish, let’s turn to a spicy, mineral wine: an Alsatian Riesling such as a Schlossberg grand cru, perfect for bringing out the best in the salmon. Let’s head down to Burgundy to find a Chablis whose richness will highlight the full flavour of a bite of tataki, such as a Louis Fusain Chablis premier cru. A Pouilly-Fuissé such as one from Olivier Merlin, also from Burgundy, will bring a lovely freshness to your shogun’s banquet.

Dessert

Dorayaki: from pancake to bean filling

It’s time to round off a meal full of discoveries with a few lovely, soft dorayaki. Dorayaki is a popular dessert, and it’s easy to see why: it’s essentially a pancake, and pancakes in all their forms are undeniably a universal language of sweet comfort. What makes dorayaki special is its anko filling, a paste made from sweetened red beans. It may seem surprising to Westerners at first, but for anyone with a sweet tooth, it’s an absolute delight.

The end of our spirits journey is just the beginning

Pairing dorayaki with wine is certainly not common practice anywhere in the world. So I suggest we turn instead to Japanese spirits to end this journey of flavours on a note from the Land of the Rising Sun.

Let’s turn to shochu, a spirit made from rice, barley and buckwheat — but that’s not all: sweet potato, too! Its subtle aromas will undoubtedly resonate with the flavours and textures of the sweetened red beans (a reminder of the importance of texture in wine and tasting more generally). A plum liqueur such as umeshu, made by steeping Japanese plums in shochu, would also bring our menu to a delightful close.

Dozo Omeshiagari Kudasai!