Pairing Wine With Japanese-Influenced Cuisine

Pairing Wine with Japanese-Influenced Cuisine

Japanese food has such a rich and structured history that you rarely see chefs going out on a limb to mix European influences in with their food. However, Chef Tomohiro Urata of New York City’s MIFUNE Restaurant, is not afraid to unite European and Asian flavors. It should then come as no surprise that he also prefers wine as a pairing, over sake, with many of his dishes.

Curious about his pairing synergies I sat down with chef recently to learn more about how he pairs food and wine (and sometimes sake!). All responses have been edited and condensed for clarity.

Liza B. Zimmerman (L.B.Z.): Are foods that have so many layers of umami—such as miso, ponzu and mushrooms—easy or challenging to pair with wines and sakes?

Tomohiro Urata (T.U.): Once you clarify the type of umami by ingredients and know the cooking method, it is not difficult to pair the dish accordingly with wine.

For wine, tannic red wines can go well with umami flavors.

L.B.Z.: Do these umami flavors in your food overpower the beverage choices?

T.U.: One of the characteristics of umami in ingredients and dishes is that it is a persistent flavor and the taste can be felt throughout the tongue. If you combine the flavor with a wine that is not compatible with it, it can be overpowered. However, depending on the pairing, I think the wine actually has the potential to bring out the umami synergy.

L.B.Z.: How does the pairing game evolve when you start introducing more European flavors and preparations to Japanese base ingredients?

T.U.: Until recently, wine was the only pairing available in France and many other countries. Japanese sake has been introduced as a pairing option to balance umami flavors: an evolution caused by the spreading of Japanese ingredients around the world

L.B.Z.: Can sake pair well with standard French and European dishes?

T.U.: Sake has a higher umami component and lower acidity generally than wine, so it can be paired with a wide range of French cuisine.

L.B.Z.: Any hints on how to best do that in terms of choosing sake styles and making them work with the food?

T.U.: The most important thing in sake pairing is to serve each sake at the appropriate temperature at the right time during the meal.

L.B.Z.: How do Japanese chefs make their imprint felt when cooking modern European food? Is it in the ingredients or the preparation?

T.U.: The key is choosing the right ingredients while respecting basic Western cooking methods. For example, when using kelp, which is an umami ingredient unique to Japan, you have to make sure that the flavor does not overpower the dish and make sure that it harmonizes with the other ingredients.

L.B.Z.: Can umami flavors be translated into Western dishes?

T.U.: The Japanese discovered the umami component, but in the West, there have long been aging and fermentation techniques to bring out umami flavors since ancient times.

L.B.Z.: Any advice for wine pairings with umami flavors?

T.U.: I think it’s best to pair the food with wine from the same country. This is because it is easier to pair umami ingredients with strong flavors than it is to pair them with drinks from other regions with different characteristics.

For example, I think it makes more sense to pair Japanese food with Japanese wines grown in the same climatic conditions.

L.B.Z.: What does the future of Japanese food and wine pairing hold?

T.U.: The growing interest Japanese wines that go well with Japanese food will expand the range of wine pairings that work with Japanese-influenced dishes.