CleverRoot

s u m m e r 2 0 1 8 | 7 The duo's second pairing featured Chef de Cuisine Phillip Leng's bo luc lac shaking beef with a 2015 Grenache-based Côtes du Rhône Villages from Laudun Chusclan Vignerons. The wine offered up round tannins, bright acid- ity, and a profile of wild blueberries, plums, licorice, and black pepper. "There's so much umami from these wines with all the smoky, meaty, peppery flavors that are also pre- dominant in our cooking, so they highlight and elevate each other," Labuda says. Leng sources "super-tender" Akaushi beef wagyu sirloin from a Texas-based vendor for the dish, cutting the meat into cubes and wok-sear- ing it with brandy, butter, Thai light soy sauce, caramelized onions, mushrooms, and cracked black pepper. "We usually accompany proteins with fresh salads—in this case, a salad composed of watercress, tomatoes, cucumbers, cilantro, lime juice, and fish sauce," Leng says. "Keep in mind Vietnam was colonized by the French, so the use of ingredients like butter and black pepper, as well as the introduction of meat-heavy dishes, have been around since the 17th century. A dish like this one is typically reserved for spe- cial occasions like weddings and parties." Labuda notes that because the next wine, a Côtes du Rhône Les Dauphins Réserve 2015, was "even more red-fruited than the previous one, but much more structured and powerful," they needed a dish with a higher fat content to "hold up to it." They opted for a Cantonese- style hoisin-glazed Australian lamb chop to complement the higher tannin levels in the wine, as well as its distinctly earthy-cherry core. "We broke the lamb down piece by piece and marinated them overnight in honey, Sichuan salt, and brandy," Labuda says. "We finished them on the grill with a hoisin glaze of ginger, scallions, chili oil, peanuts, and a sprinkling of shaved coconut flakes. This is the heavier side of the Asian palate—here pickled carrots and daikon help to cut the fat." The culinary team at Wild Ginger makes everything from scratch, from fragrant curries mixed and ground with a mortar and pestle to the tender egg noodles featured in their Mongolian dishes. "Our ideal is that we don't want to stray from the traditional," Labuda explains. "We're taking old dishes and elevating them, using high- quality ingredients to improve them. Chef Phil is willing to adjust the recipes to make them work with the wines. Sometimes we toss some of the wine into the wok, too—there's so much sweetness and spice that finishing them on the grill creates a kind of synergy." PHOTO: RACHEL COWARD PHOTO: RACHEL COWARD PHOTO: RACHEL COWARD PHOTO: RACHEL COWARD At Wild Ginger in Bellevue, WA, the Côtes du Rhône Les Dauphins Réserve 2015 is paired with a Cantonese-style hoisin-glazed Australian lamb chop that complements the tannin levels in the wine. Chef de Cuisine Phillip Leng of Wild Ginger in Bellevue, WA. Chef de Cuisine Phillip Leng 's bo luc lac shaking beef with the Côtes du Rhône Villages Laundun Chusclan Vignerons Les Dolia 2015. Brian Labuda serves as Wild Ginger's Beverage Director.

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