Guide to Pairing Whisky with Asian Street Food
Whisky Food Pairings
Asia is known for its colourful and intoxicating street food culture. There’s just something about being able to savour fresh, authentic and delicious local food with your friends. And whether you decide to dine under the stars or do takeaway, there are no worries about extravagant dining bills and dress codes.
When it comes to hawker fare, there’s a mind-boggling variety of dishes to suit different tastes – from sweet to savoury and smoky to spicy — which makes street food ideal to pair with good single malt whisky. Here are some all-time favourite foods that compliment scotch found along the streets of Malaysia, Philippines and Thailand that you may want to try.
Malay Street Food
Satay is a perennial favourite in Malaysia — succulent slivers of marinated chicken, beef and lamb are skewered on wooden sticks, grilled over a charcoal fire, and is one of the best foods for whiskey. The meat’s smoky flavour is accompanied by a sweet peanut sauce – perfectly paired to go with The Glenlivet’s 15 year old scotch whisky, which does a great job highlighting the earthy-charcoal flavours of Satay, while the nutty palate pairs with the peanut dip perfectly for a mildly spicy finish — power (amazing)!
And, if you prefer to enjoy something light and refreshing in the comfort of home, how about trying Malaysian Rojak paired with The Glenlivet’s Founder’s Reserve? This uniquely asian fruit salad with sweet pineapple chunks pairs beautifully with the whisky’s fruity notes of apple, pear and orange. Yums!
Filipino Street Food
In the Philippines, Lechon or roast pig is a popular full-flavoured meat dish best enjoyed with the smell of BBQ-ed meat wafting in the air. Enhance the whole experience with your favourite scotch, to complement the char-flavours in every mouth-watering bite of crispy pork-skin drenched in melted fat.
Filipino comfort food Kare Kare oxtail stew is best enjoyed indoors and beautifully paired with a scotch that goes well with the meaty flavours in the stew, and complements the ground nuts that are mixed in with tender beef stew cuts and pork tripe, cooked to tender-perfection over many hours.
Thai Street Food
Scotch also works a treat when paired with an all-time favourite Thai dish – Poo Aob Woonsen – crab cooked in a rich seafood broth, served with springy rice vermicelli. Best enjoyed with a squeeze of lime and a scotch to accentuate each spoonful of this extraordinary dish.
The Glenlivet Lemongrass Cocktail
The Glenlivet whisky highball paired with the Thai seafood dish Poo Aob Woonsen (rice vermicelli with crab)
If you're in the mood for Thai Mookata, enhance the whole DIY BBQ experience with your own DIY lemongrass whisky cocktail. The clean and fresh notes of The Glenlivet Founder’s Reserve mixed with fragrant lemongrass provides a refreshing respite between mouthfuls of grilled meats sizzling in a rich spicy broth. Best enjoyed with friends, the more the merrier!
Ingredients:
- 2oz The Glenlivet Founder’s Reserve
- 1oz lemongrass simple syrup
- 1oz freshly squeezed orange juice (about 1/2 of an orange)
Directions:
Add ingredients to a cocktail shaker filled with ice and shake until the shaker is frosty. Pour into a glass filled with ice. Garnish with fresh lemongrass.
Experiment and Uncover Your Favorite Whisky-Food Pairings
So the next time you’re in the mood for street food, don’t be afraid to try something different with a few drams of whisky. An evening of new tastes and adventure awaits, when you hit the streets with a group of buddies and your favourite scotch whisky. For other Asian delicacies you didn't know you could pair with whisky, head on to SOUTHEAST ASIAN SNACKS YOU DID NOT KNOW YOU COULD PAIR WITH WHISKY.
