So Its been a bit of a quest of mine to find beers that pair well with Japanese food. Last night I tried to find some beers to match with Nabe. Nabe really is one of the great things about Japan. Its basically a pot, usually cooked at the table, with veggies, shrooms, meat, tofu, and whatever you want boiled in a light broth of some kind. If you are unaware of this dish, or have not made it I encourage your to go find a recipe and make it. It is, like all good recipes, tasty, easy, and healthy. Wonderful in cold weather as well. Try it with a kotatsu for bonus points.
I made it with a soy sauce based broth, then hakusai ( cabbage), shitake, negi ( big ass green onions), and pork. Also made some yuzu ( sweetish lemon thing) dipping sauce, and sesame dipping sauce.
As shown above I tried a pilsner ( the original), Anchors Liberty Ale, Nests Pale Ale, De Rankes XX Bitter, and Fullers London Porter. Just some beers I happen to be able to grab. I was expecting big things from the Liberty Ale, I guess just because Anchors Steam Ale did well before with Temaki, another Japanese dish. It was good, but as it turned out a bit too big, the beer overwhelmed the dish, just a bit, in terms of malt, hops, and even carbonation. The looser of the night was the pilsner. I think this specific pilsner has a very delicate and slightly sour taste, which while probably amazing with other dishes clashed with this one. The london porter and XXX bitter we also satisfying in their own rights, but they both quite overwhelmed the dish, no meshing of flavor.
The winner of the night was Nests Pale Ale. I am not a fan of this beer, I have drunk it before and found it to be satisfying but not special. This time it worked though. Not 100% sure exactly how, but I think the light body and slight sweetness matched the impact of the dish well. Then I would say that the flavor of the hops worked well with the dish, but that is really to vague to be all that useful. I do remember distinctly that combined with the nabe, the beer tasted much sweeter, providing a nice balance to the foods general saltiness. So next time I think I will try a few more Pale Ales and see if I cant reach a clearer conclusion.
-Eric
