Eight great drink pairings for sushi

You might think sushi would be tricky to pair with wine but surprisingly that’s not the case. And there are other drinks that work too.

There are of course different toppings and fillings for sushi, some mild, some, like eel, quite strongly flavoured but I don’t think you can be chopping and changing with each bite you eat.

What you do have to bear in mind is that you’re not only dealing with raw fish: sushi has a touch of sweetness to take account of too. And it also depends how much soy and wasabi you add.

Here are eight drinks I think make good pairings:

Koshu and other crisp whites. If you haven’t come across koshu you will soon. It’s a crisp clean white wine that’s made in Japan from the koshu grape. Marks & Spencer even stocks one. Other crisp whites like Muscadet, Chablis, Gruner Veltliner, Gavi and even Pinot Grigio work well too.

Low dosage champagne and other dry sparkling wines such as drier styles of prosecco and Crémant d’Alsace. Delicious.

Sake Not traditional in Japan (you don’t drink sake with rice) but it’s a brilliant combo, as is fino sherry. Chilled rather than warm.

Dry riesling - very dry - so think Alsace, Austria and southern Germany rather than the Mosel or more fruity rieslings from Australia or New Zealand.

Oaked Portuguese white - can’t explain exactly why but it works especially with the more full-on flavours of modern sushi (especially if it involves sesame) See this post about a meal I had in Foz.

Young red burgundy - now this may come as a surprise. It was recommended to me by a Japanese sommelier. I still prefer a white or sparkling wine with sushi but if you prefer a red this is the type to go for. (And see this very successful pairing with red Sancerre.)

Japanese beer - not the most flavourful but it feels right. Or other light lagers. A big sweet hoppy craft beer would be too overpowering.

Genmaicha (roasted rice) tea - refreshingly nutty. Served warm rather than piping hot. Green tea (though not matcha) is nice too.

image by Natalia Lisovskaya at shutterstock.com

The best food pairings for Grüner Veltliner

Winemakers like to tell you that their wines go with everything but in the case of Grüner Veltliner, Austria’s best known white wine, it’s true.

Short of Sunday roasts and large juicy steaks you can pair it with practically anything.

There are of course different styles but the one you’re most likely to come across is the crisp, fresh young style that typifies most inexpensive Grüners. What makes them distinctive is a herbal note and a distinctive white peppery twist.

In Austria they would be widely drunk with cold meats, salads, light vegetable dishes and fish - think the sort of dishes you would serve with a sauvignon blanc or a riesling. Further afield they’re a great choice in Asian or Asian-fusion restaurants especially with Thai and Vietnamese food

Asparagus

Austrians love asparagus - there are whole asparagus menus in the spring and early summer. It’s mainly white asparagus served either in a salad or warm with hollandaise but you can equally well drink it with the green variety. See also this match with asparagus soup.

Artichokes

Not many wines pair well with artichokes. Young fresh dry Grüner is one of them

Smoked ham, especially cut wafer thin as the Austrians do it

Smoked fish like smoked salmon or trout. Even smoked eel though I think riesling is better

Raw fish such as sushi, sashimi, carpaccio and tartares - especially with Asian seasoning like ginger or wasabi as you can see from this post.

Salads

Especially seafood salads with an Asian twist and salads with apple, kohlrabi or cucumber

Dishes with herbs

Grüner has a herbal edge itself and pairs beautifully with dishes that contain herbs especially dill, tarragon, mint and parsley. So salads as above, or chicken with a herb crust for example.

Light vegetable dishes such as braised fennel a courgette/zucchini gratin or a vegetable-based quiche. (Like an asparagus one, obviously)

Leafy greens especially cabbage, sprouts and kale. Think 'green wine, green vegetables'

Spicy but not over-hot south-east Asian dishes with ginger or galangal and lemongrass. Like dim sum, light stir-fries and mild Thai curries. Grüner is especially good with Vietnamese food particularly summer rolls and noodle salads.

Fried foods, schnitzel being the obvious example but you could happily drink Grüner with fish and chips or even fried chicken.

Fresh cheeses like goats cheese, young pecorino or mozzarella.

You can also pair Gruner Veltliner with many seafood and vegetable-based pasta dishes or risottos though for preference I'd go for an Italian white and I don’t think Grüner works with cooked tomato sauces.

Richer styles match well with roast pork or veal especially with a creamy sauce but not with an intense meaty ‘jus’.

Image © Pixelot - Fotolia.com

Some unusual food pairings for tea

Most people wouldn’t think in terms of combining tea and food beyond the classic pairings of Indian teas with a traditional afternoon scone or sponge, or jasmine tea with Chinese food but there are many other possibilities to explore, says Signe Johansen in this post from our archives.

There are certainly parallels between tea tasting and wine tasting. Alex Probyn, Master Tea Blender and owner of bespoke tea blending business Blends for Friends told me that similar guidelines for wine and food matching apply to tea and food matching: white wine and white/green teas match with fish and lighter meats and foods that require some astringency to cut through their richness. Red (and to some extent ros) wine and black/oolong tea have higher tannins, thus match well with protein-rich meats and cheeses, and clash with oily fish.

Savoury matches
At TeaSmith, an excellent match is a savoury, umami-rich walnut and miso biscuit (above) that accompanies acidic green teas particularly well.

Yauatcha’s Dim Sum can be paired with jasmine tea, but I’d encourage you to be more adventurous and try their fine range of oolongs, green and white teas with their authentic food. The staff is trained to deal with tea and food matching requests.

Genmaicha (a Japanese green tea with roasted rice) makes a wonderful match with sushi – the rice flavour complementing the delicate sushi rice and green tea’s astringency cutting through the fattier fish such as salmon or tuna.

Staying with the Japanese theme, at Roka I sampled a Himalayan tea with their robata-grilled sea bream. The distinctive fennel character of the tea worked really well with fish.

One intriguing match is Stilton, particularly the well-aged, pungent crumbly variety, with smoky Lapsang. A powerful combination that may not be to everyone’s taste, but well worth a try!

A classic roast beef and horseradish sandwich is well served by a cup of straight Kenyan or even Assam – the high tannins in these teas are softened by the rareness of the beef.

One of my personal favourites is a smoked salmon salad, with beetroot, onion and horseradish and a cup of astringent green tea.

Sweet matches
Notoriously difficult to match with wine, chocolate is generally paired with coffee – an effective match, but I’m a sceptic. The coffee, depending on its strength, often overwhelms the aromatic qualities of chocolate.

Try dark chocolate with green tea – the tea enhances the robust flavour of chocolate in a surprising way, and is a much more complementary match than coffee and chocolate. Contentious, I know, but it works for me! Chocolate cake also goes spectacularly well with Assam

At TeaSmith their jasmine truffles are perfect with a cup of floral Oolong

Afternoon tea, such as that offered at The English Tea Room at Brown’s Hotel, is the perfect occasion for matching traditional black teas such as Darjeeling, Assam, or Ceylon with expertly made scones, slathered in fruit jam. There’s no explanation for it, but I can’t bring myself to have green, white, oolong or herbal tea with scones - or Victoria sponge for that matter!

Matcha (a vivid, chlorophyll-rich Japanese green tea) is used in Japan for flavouring and colouring pastries, ice cream and making frothy green tea-based cappuccinos. Obviously matcha-flavoured pastries work well with green teas, but at TeaSmith their matcha sponge worked with Oolong, highlighting the texture of the tea and accentuating its floral character.

Will Cartwright-Hignett of First Class Teas (now Iford Manor Teas suggested his spicy Chai tea to complement my own Blueberry and Oat Muffins (to which I add a dash of cinnamon) and the spice of tea and muffin was a fine match. Chai is also a good foil for the pronounced cinnamon character of carrot cake.

Aside from complementing food, tea can also be used as a base for sweet puddings and cakes. I remember one of my classmates at Leiths made a Chai Tea Créme Brulee for one of our creative cooking classes (it beat my coconut-raspberry créme brulee hands down!). Indeed, Earl Grey Ice Cream is often on the menu in Japan, whereas that classic bergamot-flavoured tea is used here as an ingredient in fruit loaf.

Finally, on a more virtuous, healthy note may I suggest you try sipping a cup of green tea with porridge? I pile my bowl with almonds, cranberries, an orange and often some coconut shreddings and it makes a perfect start to the day!

Signe Johansen is a food and drink writer and author of Spirited: how to create easy, fun drinks at home. This article was first published in 2007

Photo ©martinhosmat083 at Adobe Stock

The best pairings for fino and manzanilla sherry

Manzanilla, as you probably know, is a fino sherry made in the port of Sanlucar de Barrameda rather than in the cities of Jerez or Puerto de Santa Maria which gives it its characteristic salty tang.

Like fino it needs to be served chilled and drunk fresh so always buy from a shop or online retailer that has a good turnover of bottles

From a food point of view the two are very similar though I would tend to go more for manzanila with seafood and fino with meat and cheese. What both have in common is that they can handle strong flavours like garlic and chilli and tricky to pair ingredients such as asparagus and artichokes.

Both are obviously very good with Spanish cuisine (especially tapas) but lend themselves well to other dishes such as smoked salmon, fish and chips and sushi. Treat the suggestions below as just that - suggestions - and don’t be afraid to swop them around:

Food matches for manzanilla

All kinds of seafood including:

grilled and fried squid

octopus and octopus salad

mussels, especially with chorizo

anchovies

oysters

raw fish such as sashimi or tartares

fried fish (and chips)

fried soft-shell crab

fish soups

feta cheese (such as this dish of beetroot borani from Morito)

pickled fish such as mackerel en escabeche

grilled fish, especially oily fish like sardines

garlicky prawns or shrimp

smoked salmon

smoked mussels

smoked dried beef

Food pairings for fino

nuts, especially almonds

olives and olive pastes like tapenade

jamon/ham

grilled or preserved artichokes

hard sheeps’ cheeses such as Manchego

chorizo

tortilla

grilled asparagus or leeks with romesco sauce

white asparagus

pimientos de padron

clams cooked with sherry

cider-battered onions (from my good friends Dan and Elly of The Basement supper club

croquetas

tandoori salmon and teriyaki salmon

smoked eel

white gazpacho

sushi, sashimi, tempura and any kind of Japanese food where you would drink sake

Food matches for 'en rama' styles

These are unpasteurised versions of either fino or manzanilla which have a limited shelf-life but a more intense flavour and texture

richer, hot or sauced fish dishes

grilled tuna

black rice with cuttlefish arroz negro

deep-fried sweetbreads

hake with allioli (garlic mayonnaise)

Japanese food generally

 

More food and sherry matches:

• The best food pairings for dry oloroso sherry
• The best food pairings for amontillado and palo cortado sherry
• The best food pairings for sweet oloroso and PX sherry

 

 

Top photograph © delarue - Fotolia.com