Achieving interesting and harmonious pairings of food and wine is one of Jeannie Cho Lee's major areas of focus in her new capacity as head of education at The Fine Wine School, a joint venture she has established in partnership with Berry Bros & Rudd, one of the world's oldest wine merchants with more than 300 years of history behind it. Cho Lee recently passed the famously difficult examination to become accredited as a Master ofWine. She will be allowed to use the title later this year, after being formally inducted as one of only 265 Masters ofWine in the world. Korean born Cho Lee is also a gourmet, so it comes as something of a surprise when she says: 'Talking about which wine matches with exactly which dish actually makes absolutely no sense 99 per cent of the time for an Asian consumer.' The traditional way to serve food throughout most of Asia involves presenting many dishes at once to be shared by a group of diners, making course-to-course wine pairing impractical, so Cho Lee advocates versatile wines that will partner several different dishes reasonably well. We asked her to consider 10 Hong Kong favourites and give her recommendations. Sushi and Sashimi Champagne and Japanese raw fish (left) is a classic pairing. Substitute coarse-grained sea salt for wasabi - as some Japanese gourmets do - and elegant chablis works well. For kaiseki meals, top Japanese chefs are recommending both red and white Burgundies, but especially ones with age. Once you have a Burgundy that's about 15 or 20 years old the tannins have softened and you get a much more soft interwoven profile. Korean Barbecue Koreans reserve barbecued meat for special occasions, and serve it with lettuce leaves and a strong soy and chilli-based dipping sauce. If you add those together, the dominating factor is the salt so you should try to avoid a wine that's too tannic. You would think normally 'It's a big dish so I have to have something equally big and heavy' like a cabernet sauvignon or shiraz-based wine, but only if the tannins are not that high, because the salt exaggerates the tannins. If you're choosing a softer tannin profile such as an Australian rather than a young Bordeaux cabernet, it works better. Syrah or shiraz is often slightly lower in tannins. Pinot noir goes well. It has to be a red wine - any of those wines with age on them. Chilling the wines slightly, to about 12 to 14 degrees, is advisable if serving the barbecue with its usual accompaniment - kimchee. Thai Green Curry Chicken The 'back palate spiciness' of Thai green curry (right) suggests a sparkling wine or a chilled New World pinot noir with low tannins. Not pinot from Central Otago, for example, but more probably Australian or Californian pinot. Grenache-based wines have soft tannins and a certain spiciness that can work well. Braised Preserved Abalone Delicately flavoured dishes should not be served with overchilled wines which will diminish textural sensations in the mouth. Instead choose whites that can be offered at a higher temperature. For abalone I'm looking for something with minerals, elegance and no oak. Old World wines with good acidity such as unoaked chablis, the best Italian Soave, or a Puligny-Montrachet. Chiu Chow Soy Goose For this dish (below), offer wines with a relatively soft tannin profile and explore Old World options. Bordeaux can work because the salt content may not be that high. Don't choose New World cabernet or shiraz because the fruit will dominate, and you need crispness and acidity for something that's that rich. Try elegant New World pinot noir or aged Bordeaux. Typhoon Shelter-style Chilli Crab For this incendiary favourite, numb the mouth with something cold. Here the chilli is the key consideration. It's something that's really spicy, so select a wine with good acidity and a refreshing character - something very crisp. It could be an aromatic white, or a New World sparkling, rather than champagne. Try a simple New World sparkling or cava. Lobster with E-fu Noodles Complement this dish with a broad range of chardonnays, originating from Burgundy or the New World, providing they are not too heavily oaked. E-fu is fried and there is a richness to lobster, so you need something with good acidity, and if you choose a rich, oaky, buttery chardonnay from Napa Valley it's not going to work well because it doesn't offer a contrast to the oiliness and richness of the dish. Quite a lot of very good Burgundies would work, or a Macon or New World Chardonnay that hasn't been heavily oaked. Hainan Chicken Selecting a wine to accompany this Hong Kong classic (below), depends very much on whether you intend to use the soy dipping sauce with which it is usually served. Because you have a choice here and you can decide how salty you want it, this could be served with a wine that has more delicate flavours. A range of Burgundies would work pretty well. The chicken is chewy but very flavourful so what you're looking for is a wine with a savoury flavourful character - not a New World pinot noir but a red Burgundy. Beef Vindaloo Put the accent on refreshing the mouth. Here the choices could range from a Moscato d'Asti to just a generic New World sparkling. Not champagne. The only other thing I feel might work well is a light red, such as a Valpolicella. For people who enjoy sparkling shiraz, that could work, but it's not easily found. A light, savoury, low tannin red, or a generic sparkling wine would be good. Mutton Rendang This slow-cooked Indonesian, Malaysian and Singaporean favourite calls for something fairly hearty. It's salty, it's savoury, it's rich so if you have a wine such as a Tuscan or a Bordeaux with some age, that will work. Although it's salty, that's not the key flavour - the mutton is also quite strong, and you need something savoury, rich and full-bodied to go with that.