1. Multi alcoholic beverages dinner pairing
Hong Kong has a rich culture in food basically due to the majority of descendants from Guangdong. Cantonese Cuisine is regarded as one of the most diversified and sophisticated cuisine among all Chinese Cuisine. Over the years, Hong Kong has earned the reputation of “Food Paradise”. Visitors from all over the world come visit Hong Kong for its food. Back in 2008, the Hong Kong Government first waived liquor duties on alcoholic beverages with an alcoholic content of under 30 degrees, this policy resulted in the boost of wine trading in Hong Kong. Since then, the wine culture in the city started to kick off ….. the number of wine lovers increased steadily over the years and we see an increase in wine tasting, wine pairing dinner events and etc . In recent years, a larger diversity of alcoholic beverages were introduced , such as Craft beer, Craft Gin and Sake. Hong Kong people are very diversified in taste, always eager to to try accept new taste and style…

Here, we encourage our friends to taste and enjoy different kinds of alcoholic beverages. Below are some of our suggestions on some common HK food with alcoholic beverages pairing:

Pan-fried Steak
– Full body red wine (eg. Barossa Valley Shiraz)
– American Whiskey (eg. Rye whiskey)

Pan-fried Lamb chop
– GSM based red wine (eg. Chateauneuf du Pape GSM)
– Spirit (eg. Crafted Gin)

Gongdong Siu Mei
– Medium body Pinot Noir (eg. Bourgogne Cote de Nuits red)
– Light body sake (eg. Junmai 純米酒)

Sashimi (Red meat)
– Medium body white wine (eg. Alsace Gewurztraminer)
– High Umami Content Sake (eg. Genshu 原酒)

Sashimi (White meat)
– Light to medium body white wine (eg. New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc)
– Light body sake (eg. Junmai Ginjo 純米吟釀)

Sushi
– Light to medium body white wine (eg. Alsace noble blend white)
– Light body sake (eg. Junmai Ginjo 純米吟釀)

Hairy crab (大閘蟹)
– Fortified wine (eg. Fino sherry)
– Matured sake (eg. Matured Junmai Daiginjo 熟成的純米大吟釀)

Stir-fried crab with chili sauce
– Sparking wine (eg. Cava sparkling)
– Full body Sake (eg. Junmai Daiginjo 純米大吟釀)

Steamed Grouper
– Light to medium body white wine (eg. Alsace white)
– Light body sake (eg. Junmai Ginjo 純米吟釀)

Pan-fried Seabass
– Medium body white wine (eg. Australian Chardonnay)
– Medium body Sake (eg. Junmai Daiginjo 純米大吟釀)

Foie gras
– Dessert wine (eg. Sauternes dessert white)
– Matured sake (eg. Matured Junmai Daiginjo 熟成的純米大吟釀)

Creamy oyster
– Medium body white wine (eg. American Chardonnay)
– Full body with high Umami Sake (eg. Junmai Daiginjo 純米大吟釀)

Crispy oyster
– Light to medium body white wine (eg. Chablis white)
– Light body & refreshing sake (eg. Namazake 生酒)
– Spirit (eg. Shouchu)

Stir-fried clams with black bean sauce (豉椒炒蜆)
– Medium body off dry white wine (eg. Germany Kabinett white)
– Full body with high Umami Sake (eg. Junmai Daiginjo 純米大吟釀)

2. How to find a sweet wine in an easy way
One thing we have to know… (Wine is sugar + yeast = alcohol + sugar + flavor) Therefore, we can check the alcoholic to have a brief idea to know how sweet it is. The standard alcohol level is 12.5%. If you find there is a wine with 12% or 11.5%, it has a large probability to be sweet in general. Of course, it is not always correct if the original sugar level is very high. For example, Sauternes dessert wine has a minimum 13% alcohol level. Anyway, it can help you for many cases.

3. Making a cocktail at HOME
Cocktail is a mixture of spirit, liqueur and some other ingredients such as fruit juice, syrup & etc. But the basic one can easily be made by yourselves. Imagine when an alcoholic guy want some easy drinks, he/ she can just use simple ingredients with the help of ice and mix a cocktail. It can be sweet, sour, bitter and spicy suiting his/ her own taste preference. This is the power of Cocktail. I raise some simple example with 2 ingredients for your reference. 1) Gin & Tonic (London Dry gin, tonic water), 2) Martini (Gin or Vodka + Dry Vermouth + bitters) & 3) Gimlet (Gin or Vodka + lime juice).