As part of my street food adventures in London, I visited Pimp My Ramen (@ramenpimp), at Greenwich Market (@shopgreenwich)
My meal choice was Pulled pork ramen, and Delipar’s wines recommendations were:
I went with medium-dry German Riesling, £9.90 from Waitrose.
The meal served by Pimp My Ramen was an interesting take on the subject of burgers. Instead of a bread bun there is a fried ramen noodles bun to hold all of burger’s goodies: pulled pork Filipino-style, lettuce and fried egg. Whole package is warm, mellow and succulent, leaving you with a delicious, sweet aftertaste.
The wine I selected, guided by Delipair, was a medium-dry Riesling, which was in many ways similar to the ramen I had. Mellow and succulent on the front, with a nice crispness in the aftertaste. Being on the light side of alcohol content (10.5%) it fitted perfectly as lunchtime drink.
So there should be no surprise that both the wine and ramen played together nicely. The spiciness and sweetness of the ramen bonded strongly with the mellowness of Riesling, highlighting the wine’s crispness. That helped cut gently through the overflowing juices of the pulled pork and fried ramen, restoring the balance to my taste buds, whilst keeping that spicy, sweet aftertaste intact. Just as it should be.
However, although I write afterwards about those similarities, and the Riesling would therefore seem an obvious choice, it isn’t actually so (even with Delipair’s recommendations) because medium-dry Rieslings are quiet, delicate wines, and the ramen burger from Pimp My Ramen bursts with aromas. So my first choice would be to go with a bigger wine to withstand the ramen’s aromatic assault. But molecular wine-food pairing is not about confrontation, clash of the aromas, which often leaves you happy but bruised. It’s about achieving harmony, fitting wine into food, and vice versa. On the basis of a strong aromatic bridge, unique, delicate aromas of a wine can shine through, bringing us even more joy!
