Japanese Dishes for Wine Lovers

Wine as westerners know it is a relatively new phenomenon in Japan, where more people drink sake or beer with meals. Because Japanese cuisine was not designed with Western wine in mind, it can be challenging for the sushi or yakitori aficionado to figure out what to uncork as an accompaniment. This book tries to respond to that challenge by offering several Japanese recipes paired with wine suggestions. According to the authors, Steamed Pork and Cabbage with Yuzu is best matched with a Riesling or a Sauvignon Blanc because ""the selection of fatty pork with cooked cabbage gives the dish sweetness."" They propose pairing a Malbec or Lambrusco with deliciously crunchy Beef and Orange Roast, and Chardonnay with a spare, elegant Lobster Dip. These suggestions are certainly satisfactory. But it's troubling that the authors provide no specific sources for foreign ingredients, nor do they consistently provide alternatives for difficult-to-find Japanese foodstuffs (kogomi ostrich ferns, anyone?). Further, the recipes' portion sizes are often ludicrously small-Steamed Scallops affords a single scallop per person-and while the authors suggest that several dishes could be considered appetizers, who would pop a bottle of bubbly for a single scallop? To make a meal of these dishes would require a king's ransom of wine; frankly, it might be easier to just open a bottle of sake.