MATCHING CHINESE FOOD AND WINE, ONLINE

Author of the oldest continuous Chinese-language wine column in the world, Poh Tiong Chng of Singapore, was at last week’s Bordeaux MW Symposium and announced that he was just about to publish a major work on matching Chinese food and wine, 108 Great Chinese Dishes Paired. Apparently, in printed form it is, like Jeannie Cho Lee MW’s Asian Palate, a particularly handsome tome.

But the great thing for us – and for the planet, obviating the need to ship substantial fractions of whole trees thousands of miles – is that it has also just been published, free, online at www.108chinesepairings.com.

Poh Tiong explains that it was inspired by the same number of outlaws in the Song Dynasty (960-1279 AD) literary classic, Water Margin, and the dishes have been selected from throughout China. He promises the following discoveries:

China’s greatest dish, named for a calligrapher, poet, painter and twice-exiled beloved scholar official (page 18)
Which wines pair best with Peking Duck (page 34)
Whether Fujian Province invented the sandwich before the Earl of Sandwich came up with the idea (page 66)
Why dried abalones are measured in ‘heads’ and why this precious delicacy deserves a creamy Chardonnay (page 90)
Why a dish called Two Face Yellow means no offence at all (page 100)
The visual beauty of Huaiyang cuisine’s cold and warm starters (page 140)
That the most famous fried-rice dish in the world is a fraud perpetuated daily across our planet (page 152)
The Englishman who created China’s first foreign joint-venture winery and who is buried behind the vineyard (page 186)
Why the Chinese government abuses chickens every day (page 202)

Authorized to published by Jancis Robinson MW
Original link: http://www.jancisrobinson.com/articles/a201006301.html