When you think of Sichuan cuisine, is it a red pepper with a head? Or the electric numbness on the tip of your tongue? Although in the eyes of most diners, the inherent impression of Sichuan cuisine is the aroma of red oil hot pot. But if you think about it, chili peppers were introduced to China at the end of the Ming Dynasty, and the history of Sichuan cuisine is much earlier than that.
Sichuan cuisine is a long-standing cuisine, ancient Baguo "soil planted five grains, livestock six livestock", Shu kingdom "mountain forest fish, garden melon fruit, four generations of ripening, jing is not yan", the land of Bashu has begun to brine, rock salt, Sichuan pepper, ginger as a condiment, Sichuan unearthed pottery utensils from the Warring States period revealed the buds of Sichuan cuisine.
In the Tang and Song dynasties, Sichuan cuisine became a faction of its own - Sichuan cuisine at that time had its own literati atmosphere, and Li Bai moved to Longchang, Jinzhou with his father at an early age, and later entered Beijing to worship Hanlin. He steamed duck with a Famous Dish of Shu and steamed duck with ingredients such as centuries-old flower carvings, goji berries, and sanchi, and then steamed them and presented them to Xuanzong. Emperor Xuanzong named it "Taibai Duck".
"Too White Duck"
This is to explain that the connotation of Sichuan cuisine is not only spicy, cooking techniques are of course not limited to cold dishes mixed with red oil, during the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty, Sichuan Luojiang literati Li Tiaoyuan summed up 38 kinds of Sichuan cuisine cooking techniques, such as stir-frying, slippery, bursting, simmering, simmering, simmering, boiling, stewing, etc., as well as cold vegetables mixing, brine, smoking, pickling, waxing, jelly, sauce, etc., which shows the essence of Sichuan cuisine cooking techniques.
As a Cantonese, I suddenly felt relieved that the first Michelin-starred restaurant in Guangzhou was actually a Sichuan restaurant.
I remember that every time I ate Song And sichuan cuisine, I was with different people, and the wine I brought was naturally different. Song's classic Sichuan cuisine is naturally quite delicious, such as spicy crab, mao blood Wang, spicy chicken are very provocative to the taste buds, but what makes me more memorable is the egg baked cake, camphor tea duck, salty roast white and so on that are permeated with the gentle side of Sichuan cuisine.
The combination of spicy and fragrant Sichuan cuisine is often accompanied by unexpected surprises when paired with wine. Last month, Sylvia Liu's series of champagne activities also came to Song Sichuan cuisine, taking us to explore the collision of champagne and Sichuan cuisine.
The 12 champagnes of the event include two champagnes of white and 10 champagnes of rosé.
Sylvia Liu picked a total of 12 champagnes and Sichuan dishes to match, and there are as many as 10 rosé champagnes in the wine list! The proportion of rosé champagne in the total champagne production is not high, and there is naturally less rosé champagne exported to the Chinese market, and Chinese consumers do not have many opportunities to contact rosé champagne on a daily basis. However, the peach champagne, which has a slight tannin and is more fruity than the average champagne, actually matches many classic dishes in Chinese food very well.
For example, many foodies who understand wine know that the pairing of rosé champagne and roast duck is unexpectedly in tune, so which dishes in Sichuan cuisine that win with spicy and fresh flavor have fun to match with rosé champagne? Let's count them one by one.
Sylvia Liu explains the combination of champagne and Sichuan cuisine
Table wine pairing:
1. 45 days Beijing fruit wood roast duck with Tai Ting Zhe preferential pink champagne / Dilong rosé champagne
Roasted Pekin Duck
Paired with Taittinger Prestige Rosé
Champagne Thiénot Rosé Brut NV
Don't be surprised why the Sichuan cuisine theme is matched, the first course is actually introduced is the Beijing fruit wood roast duck. This roast duck dish is a classic of Song's dishes, and it is quite a fun start to our research on pink champagne pairing. Beijing roast duck is developed from the basis of Nanjing roast duck, the Yuan, Ming, Qing and other periods have always been a court cuisine, natural raw materials and other methods are very exquisite.
There is a saying that the only way to make Peking duck is to use ducks that grow for 45 days, such ducks are not old and woody, and it is the most tender to taste. In recent years, with the change of people's tastes, most of the roast duck is used for more lean varieties, less fatty, accompanied by classic shredded onions, cucumbers, sweet noodle sauce, rolled up with pancakes to eat the taste is particularly positive!
Collocation: Thai TingZhe's Preferred Rosé Champagne is a classic blend of Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Monière, with a relatively balanced ratio. This champagne is also the usual delicate and elegant style of Tai Ting Zhe, of course, because it is a peach champagne, the black grape variety is relatively high, unlike Tai Ting Zhe to Chardonnay as the dominant, the fruit aroma is also more unrestrained than other Tai Ting Zhe champagne, full of roast duck delicious meat, and then a sip of champagne "delivery", each taste bud feels particularly comfortable.
Dillon's rosé champagne is based on a higher proportion of Chardonnay to bring a more rigid and crisp style, which is very advantageous to match with dishes with higher fat. Dillon champagne has always been quite suitable for catering in my impression, not to mention that it has become the designated wine for The Oscars for several consecutive years, and the fruity, fresh and exquisite style of Dillon regular wine is very compatible with many cuisines.
2. Spicy Chicken / Kung Pao Chicken with Fort Lin Jue Feng Nian 2004 Rosé Champagne / Tai Ting Zhe Nocturne Rosé Champagne
Spicy Sautéed Diced Chicken
& Kung-Pao Chicken Paired with
Ch. Bollinger La Grande Année Rosé Brut 2004
Ch. Taittinger Nocturne Rosé Sec NV
Spicy chicken and Kung Pao chicken are estimated to be the most well-known Sichuan cuisine representatives. Before I touched Sichuan cuisine, I often couldn't tell the difference between the two dishes. Spicy chicken is drier, while Kung Pao chicken is more abundant in sauce, but the ingredients seem to be quite close.
Later, I checked the information, spicy chicken is an authentic Sichuan dish, derived from bashu folk, the taste is mainly salty, spicy, fresh, of which the red pepper even has to cover the chicken to become the protagonist. The Kung Pao chicken is a dish included in both Sichuan cuisine and Lu cuisine, mainly spicy with sweetness, and it is said that it is a modification of the private dish "sauce fried chicken" in the home of Inspector Ding Baozhen of Shandong Province. Although the two are common, they are not easy to match.
Collocation: Sichuan cuisine with a salty and spicy taste usually needs Pinot Noir's proportion of champagne with a relatively high proportion and a sweet taste. However, using The Fort Lin Jue Fengnian 2004 Rosé Champagne to match it is a bit of a chicken with a cattle knife feeling. Fort liner's bountiful pink champagne, using a high proportion of Pinot Noir, also continues the tradition of the baolin jue feng nian series of consistent long aging, even more than ten years later, this champagne can still show a strong sense of strength, used to accompany the meal is indeed a bit a grievance, but this is also a rare experience right?
Another pairing that surprised me was the effect of the Tatinje Nocturne Rosé Champagne, a "sec" (dry) grade wine, which means that it has a higher amount of sugar than the champagne of the night. In fact, direct tasting will not feel "sweet", but with spicy chicken such a salty and spicy dish is very exciting. Champagne with a higher amount of sugar can balance the spiciness very well, and the fresh flavor is naturally more prominent.
3. Burnt white with Takrom Pink Champagne / Lan Song Rosé Champagne
Sichuan Braised Sliced Pork Belly Paired with
Champagne Delamotte Rosé Brut NV
Champagne Lanson Le Rosé Brut NV
Burning white, for Cantonese people like me just heard this name is quite confusing, but as soon as the dish comes up, I can't help but shout out: Isn't this the plum dish button meat? However, it is still not the same after tasting, and the roasted white is made of three-line meat, and the taste is also salty and umami with a little sweetness. Roasted white is also an indispensable dish in the "three steaming and nine buckles" in the Sichuan farmhouse banquet, because the method is time-consuming and labor-intensive, and it is also a common hard dish in important festivals.
Collocation: In fact, it does not feel particularly fatty to eat, but I still think that champagne will be more comfortable with champagne when it is less wet and fishy every day. I prefer two rosé champagnes from Télemont and Lan Song, two champagnes are also dominated by Pinot Noir, and the proportion of the three grapes in Delromon's rosé champagne is relatively balanced, which will be the elegant balance I like. Lan Song is dominated by a high proportion of Pinot Noir, and the overall style is more rigid, which will be a more debilitating choice for dishes with heavier fats such as roasted white.
4. Secret spicy crab with Lan Song white white champagne / Dloemon white white champagne
Spicy Crab Paired with
Champagne Lanson Le Blanc de Blancs Brut NV
Champagne Delamotte Blanc de Blancs Brut NV
Spicy crab is now a famous dish all over the country, Sichuan spicy crab usually uses a large green crab with full flesh, crab meat is tender and sweet, because there is more meat, and it is more satisfying to eat than ordinary crabs. The spicy crab method is not complicated, and it is the delicious meat crab that is eaten.
Collocation: Dishes such as crab, I personally prefer white grape varieties such as Chardonnay to match. Fortunately, Sylvia Liu also specially prepared two very good white and white champagnes. Although Lan Song Champagne is located in the Reims Mountains area, its home white and white champagne is remarkable, its unique feature is to insist on not doing malolactic fermentation, the overall style is more natural fruit taste, the skeleton is tough, very powerful.
Needless to say, as the sister brand of Salon Champagne, white and white champagne is naturally very strong. In addition, the cost performance of Delromon is also very high, as introduced by Sylvia Liu, because the two companies share grape resources, in the vintage when Salon Champagne does not launch wine, buying Delramon champagne often has unexpected surprises.
5. Red Oily Blood With Edward Honey Garden Rosé Champagne / Dulore Rosé Champagne
Boiled blood curd and with spicy sauce Paired with
Ch. Edouard Duval Saignée d'Eulalie Extra Brut NV
Ch. Duval-Leroy Lady Rosé Sec NV
Mao Blood Wang should belong to the famous dishes of the Yu school in Sichuan cuisine, and the Yu pai cuisine is generous and rugged, and is known for its rapid renovation of patterns, bold materials, and non-sticky materials. "Mao" is the Chongqing dialect, which means rough and sloppy. And there are hairy belly blinds and other offal as the main ingredient, so the name of the "Hairy Blood Wang" dish is widely circulated. Authentic hair and blood, the red oil in the basin will not be less than half, and the oil is smooth and translucent, not muddy or cloudy. The way to eat is also exquisite, you have to eat meat first and then eat vegetables, vermicelli, etc., otherwise the oiled dishes can be numb after eating the mouth.
Collocation: Here I want to pair it with two champagnes that are also made with saignée. Champagne brewed by the blood soaking method will have a slight tannin in taste due to the short maceration of the wine and grape skin, and the aroma of red fruits is particularly prominent. The two champagnes here are actually quite related, but the two styles are very different. Famous people in the White Hills region such as Dulor believe that many friends who like champagne are very fond of its exquisite and elegant style.
The owner of the EdwardIan garden, Edouard Duval, is also a member of the Duval Leroy family, and the vineyard was purchased by Edouard's grandfather in the 1950s in the Bal Hills area at the southern end of the Champagne region. The style of Edward Champagne is more typical of Bal Hill, dominated by Pinot Noir, with a thick body and red fruit aromas mixed with hints of honey. Two champagnes with fruity notes often have surprising collisions with the sichuan pepper flavor.
| Liang Tongzheng
Venue | Song Sichuan cuisine
Photography | L.S Commercial Photography | Paul Chen