Sake and East Asian Cuisine (Let’s Pair Them!)

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Today, we’d like to explore some of the best sake pairings for popular dishes from Southeast Asia! We hope to show you the versatility of sake and open up some options for you if you’re getting into it. Let’s dive in!

Green Curry

A fragrant and creamy Thai green curry calls for a sake that can stand up to its bold flavors while also giving a refreshing contrast. For this, we’d like something with fruity and floral aromas like melon, pear, and banana. A smooth, rounded mouthfeel won’t hurt, and a little hint of sweetness to cut through the spice would be nice. We don’t want it to be too high in acidity.

We would recommend Amabuki’s (天吹) Koi Suru Banana Junmai Ginjo (恋するバナナ 純米吟醸). Its basically the banana facet of the profile we wrote above.

Ryujin (龍神) is also a great brand choice if you want a sake with pronounced melon notes to complement the curry.

You can check out the bottle of Amabuki here!

Pad Thai

Pad Thai contains a balance of sweet, sour, salty, and savory flavors, requiring a sake that doesn’t overpower the dish. Perhaps you could go for something with light and fruity notes such as apple and citrus. You could also look for a sake on the nuttier end of things, like an aged sake. Either way, we tend to prefer the former, so we would recommend something like Daishinshu’s (大信州) “Gold Coast,” which has a refreshing apple-like fruitiness and a bit of acidity.

Here’s one of Daishinshu’s bottles for your reference!

Pho

We love pho. It’s light, yet flavorful, and it has a gorgeous aromatic broth with fresh herbs. It tends to pair beautifully with a sake that is light, floral, and slightly fruity. You might want to look for something with lychee, white peach, or light tropical fruit notes in it. Not too much depth is needed, and we don’t want anything too sharp. We would recommend Kamokoro (嘉美心) as many of its bottles are loved for their peachy flavors, which should pair wonderfully with pho.

Here’s a bottle from Kamokoro for your reference!

Hainanese Chicken Rice

This stuff is simple yet deeply flavorful, and we think it shines when paired with a sake that isn’t too in your face. We want something middle of the road, versatile, and delicious. As always, that bottle is Dassai 45: the old reliable.

You can see the Dassai 45 here!

Mango Sticky Rice

This beloved Thai dessert, with its luscious mango slices and creamy coconut-infused rice, pairs best with a sake that can stand up to its richness. We want something with notes like mango, lychee, or pineapple and a creamy, rich texture. We’re thinking that something in the nigorizake category would work well, like Sanuki Cloudy (讃岐くらうでぃ), a delightful choice known for its tropical fruit flavors.

Here’s the bottle of Sanuki Cloudy here!