Jia wei Chinese Restaurant III: Wine pairing

October 28, 2009 | 15 Comments

Time really flies, the last time I was back here it was during Christmas and look, it’s almost Yule soon. Before we start getting emotional and reflect on the activities for the past year, lets have some wine shall we?

The idea of pairing wine with food is not new for western cuisine, and there’s an increasing demand for wine appreciation with our Chinese cuisine too.

We started with the Jia Wei Deluxe combination which consisted of scallop dumpling, smoked duck, wasabi prawn, lobster paste roll and marinated octopus from top left clockwise. The ordinary-looking scallop dumpling was given a make-over with the touch of roe but otherwise it’s pretty much run-of-the-mill. And while I could never say no to smoking duck, I was actually eying the wasabi prawns that I had pleasant memories of, but unfortunately Jia Wei’s take of the famous dish had a choking sensation which I didn’t really take to. And I love the lobster paste roll simply because of the fact that it’s lobster paste roll.

The last time we were here, the superior shark’s fin soup in hot stone pot was fabulous. So I was rather skeptical when the shark’s fin arrived in normal bowl this time round. I mean, hot stone pot is like the best thing to keep the soup warm and nice, so how are you going to beat that? Well, they upped the stakes by throwing in a gigantic crab pincer and I had to admit – it was good. Well personally I would prefer it to be served in a hot stone pot, but stone pot or not, it’s not going to stop me from finishing the Braised Shark’s Fin with crabmeat in golden stock.

My, my, what a gorgeous photo. I’m so glad that the picture does justice to the Steamed cod fish with special sauce. Sometimes I get real irritated when a restaurant or chef says it’s top secret, it’s secret recipe – you know that kind of stuff. I mean even if you tell me what’s the secret ingredient, I wouldn’t be able to replicate it. But anyway, I figured that it’s of no importance to me since I rather enjoyed the food than to crack my brains over what the ingredients are. The special sauce, was all in all, rather special. It’s kind of sticky, yet tangy and sweet, and it actually blended well to give a refreshing change to the cod.

I’m just a pretty face. And I’m superficial. Whatever.

If there’s a dish to describe the line, this would be it. As much as the Broccoli with scallop and dry conpoy in oyster sauce looked pleasing to the eyes, it’s just another pretty face. There wasn’t anything special about it, but still, I appreciated the effort by the chef to make this thing so delicate.

Don’t ever, underestimate this thing you see here. I call this the Upper East side goreng pisang. The fried fritters retained the distinct banana taste, but with the addition of kiwi fruits and scallops – it just gets better and better.

We had five different wines to pair with the different dishes. There was the Famille Castel Sauvignon Blanc to go with the Deluxe platter, with the light acidity of the Sauvignon to enhance the intensity of the dish. And the Bascand Pinot Noir from New Zealand which you see in the picture here goes well with the braised shark’s fin. I was under the impression that in general you will have white wine with fish, but instead we had another red (Les Hauts De Goelane) with the steamed cod. The Terra Andina Cabernet Sauv was recommended for the Broccoli with scallop, and lastly I liked the Bascand Riesling for the fried rice wrapped in lotus leaf.

I’ll like to thank Keane from Grand Mercure for the invitation to the food tasting session. All the five wines together with a few other selections are available at Jia Wei restaurant, so if you ever want some wine to go along with Chinese food, this will be the place.

Jia Wei Chinese restaurant
Level 2 Grand Mercure Roxy Hotel
50 East Coast road, Roxy Square
(Opp parkway parade)
Tel: 6340 5678

Comments

15 Responses to “Jia wei Chinese Restaurant III: Wine pairing”

caramel
October 28th, 2009 @ 12:07 pm

I love the way you took all the photos. They always make the food look so appetizing! Awesome!
noobcook
October 28th, 2009 @ 4:47 pm

wahhhh your photos are soooo nice! pro pro hehe I’m drooling over everything =D~
emily
October 28th, 2009 @ 8:31 pm

hurray for chinese food porn
Shirin
October 29th, 2009 @ 2:23 am

your pictures just gets better and better! (or maybe i get hungrier and hungrier ) ?
ladyironchef
October 29th, 2009 @ 7:40 am

Caramel: Hello there! thank you, hope you are hungry now

noobcook: oh dear, all yr saliva dripping down HAHA don’t drool, go eat!

emily: hurray for Chinese food porn! YAY

Shirin: Oh yes, i think you are definitely getting hungrier and hungrier! hehe
Gary
October 29th, 2009 @ 3:46 pm

I thought you are a lady. Why you call your website ladyironchef?
Siqi
October 29th, 2009 @ 10:50 pm

hello brad, i know this is random but any idea where has good zi char? (: and prolly somewhere tt’s not too inaccessible.

and and, any good places to chill too? perhaps some place with a good band/music too.
ladyironchef
October 30th, 2009 @ 12:11 am

Gary: you can read http://www.ladyironchef.com/about/ to find out more : )

Hello siqi! zichar, my fav is the one at tiong bahru, just opposite link hotel. And i been wanting to try pu tien too! nice chilling places, timbre? but it’s always so crowded! haha KPO is pretty nice to chill out, but no band/music.
siqi/sikiee
October 30th, 2009 @ 4:02 pm

thanks brad! what do u think about two chef’s eating place or something?
ladyironchef
October 30th, 2009 @ 5:07 pm

siqi: hahah i blog abt it before http://www.ladyironchef.com/2009/06/10/two-chefs-the-new-overlord-of-commonwealth-drive/ it’s not bad la, but i won’t go all the way there just for zichar. haha if u go, must try the butter pork ribs
shayna
October 31st, 2009 @ 3:16 pm

L love wine with great food, but pairing it with chinese food is something i haven’t tried before..
Ought to try it one day. ( :
ladyironchef
October 31st, 2009 @ 11:44 pm

shayna: yep, with Chinese food quite rare! hehe
thehungrycow
November 3rd, 2009 @ 10:20 pm

Oh yes, local zi char dishes and wine actually do pair well! The fun part is in the experimenting and trial & error.
ladyironchef
November 4th, 2009 @ 7:08 am

thehungrycow: yeah you are the wine expert! so how to pair eh? stick with the white-to-fish, and red-with-meat rule eh?
thehungrycow
November 5th, 2009 @ 11:32 am

Im far from being an expert! Still lots to learn and experience. My advice would be to use white-with-white-meat and red-with-red-meat as a guide but dont let them stop you from crossing the lines.

It’s only after trying that one discovers one’s preference. Come to the makansutra outings to experience wine with zi char dishes. It’s a good ground to start on.

Jia wei Chinese Restaurant III: Wine pairing

Related posts

Comments