Growing up in my food-loving family, we ate everything from intestines and stomach (and many other bits and pieces not usually served outside restaurants) to lobster and giant green-lip abalone. What mattered to us the most was how delicious it was, not the price. One of my fondest memories was buying all kinds of things from the Chinese roast meat shops - my parents only bought what was fresh out of the oven. Two of my favourite items were the orange cuttlefish and orange pig's small intestine. The orange refers not to the seasoning, because no fruit is used in the preparation, but the colour, which comes from food colouring. The resistant texture of the intestine is a wonderful carrier for the marinade, which is savoury and sweet with a base note of sesame oil. The best wine with the intestine needs to be textured, delicious and complete on its own.
Casa Lapostolle Cuvee Alexandre Chardonnay 2005, Chile
Everyone talks about what good value for money Chilean wines are, but just by paying a little more the quality can be so much better. This Casa Lapostolle is such a wine - it retails for roughly the same price as a bottle of average Australian wine but it's immensely complex, fruit-driven and stylish (its red brother is an equally delicious merlot). The bright, textured chardonnay fruit is the perfect platform for the lively texture of the intestines. The subtle yet complex marinade links up closely with the wine's gentle oak and savoury yeast tone. Don't serve the Cuvee Alexandre too cold or its taste will be muted.
Available for HK$218 from Moet Hennessy Diageo (tel: 2976 1888)
De Bortoli Noble One 2003, New South Wales, Australia
This Nobel One is by far one of the most famous wines to come out of Australia. The first vintages from the early 1980s are still delicious. It is the wine's concentrated fruitiness rather than its sweetness that makes it the prefect match with small intestines. The marinade is complemented by the immensely complex fruit tones.
