How to elevate your CNY cuisine experience | A Wine Paring Guide

Monday January 25, 2021

Thinking about how to elevate your Chinese New Year cuisine experience? In this exclusive Wine Connection Guide to Wine Pairing, we are going to show you how! We have selected some of your favourite CNY dishes and snacks and paired them with our CNY wines to elevate the flavours.

1. Steamboats

What better way to start this series off than the meal that brings your loved ones together? Steamboat dinners are traditionally prepared as the Chinese New Year Eve's reunion dinner. A steamboat symbolises a family reunion because the steamboat pot, which is normally round in shape, represents family “reunion” (團圓Tuányuán) in Mandarin.

Of course, the base of the steamboat is very important therefore, we have paired them with wines to suit your favourite base with the aim to bring out the flavours of the ingredients.

For meat-based steamboat, we recommend fruity red wines with grape varietals such as Grenache or Merlot:

For seafood-bases, we recommend a dry Riesling or Gewurztraminer:

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For the spicy/mala lover, we recommend a sweet or off-dry Riesling:

2. CNY Snacks

One of the most enjoyable parts of gatherings is definitely catching up with loved ones over a table-full of delicious CNY snacks! Here are some wine pairings to give you the perfect sip-and-munch combination!

Spicy Shrimp Rolls

To pair with the HIGHLY addictive spicy shrimp rolls, we recommend off-dry, sweet or white wines and light-bodied fruity Pinot Noirs to balance out the saltiness of the shrimp paste and spiciness of the Hae Be Hiam!

Pineapple Tarts

We have selected some sweet and sparkling wines to definitely add more tartness in the pineapple jam and creaminess to the buttery taste of the pastry crumble.

Bak Kwa

To pair with this CNY succulent pork jerky, we have selected these full-bodied smokey red wines to bring out the meaty, sweet, salty, charcoal flavours that are sunk into these meat slices!

3. Lo Hei

Lastly, no CNY celebration is complete without this traditional salad. The tossing of the Lo Hei symbolises good luck & fortune and we have selected this limited edition champagne to not only go along with the fresh ingredients but also symbolises a celebration and the year of the Ox!