Japchae

Sweet potato glass noodles (dangmyeon) stir-fried with thinly sliced beef, spinach, carrot, onion, mushroom, and spring onion, dressed with soy sauce, sesame oil, sugar, and toasted sesame seeds. Served warm or at room temperature as a side, banchan, or main. The signature is the unique slippery-chewy texture of the sweet potato noodles set against the sweet-savoury soy-sesame dressing — gentle, balanced, distinct from the rest of the Korean canon for being neither spicy nor fermented.

Pairs Perfectly

Pinot Noir from Marlborough, New Zealand. The Asian cuisine New World answer at its most precise — Marlborough's lighter red-fruit profile and high acid meet the soy-sesame dressing without overwhelming, the supple structure handles the beef where one is included, and the moderate alcohol keeps the dish balanced. A Pinot Noir from the Yarra Valley, Victoria offers the same New World logic with slightly more savoury-Burgundian character at a similar price point.

Pairs Well

Riesling sec from Alsace, France. Dry Alsace Riesling brings high-acid mineral structure and gentle aromatic lift that meets the sesame oil and soy in a single sweep, and the textural weight handles the noodles where leaner whites would feel thin.

Grüner Veltliner Federspiel from the Wachau, Austria. White-pepper aromatics nod to the sesame, the herbaceous green spine meets spinach and spring onion, and the dry mineral profile cuts through the sesame oil cleanly without competing with the gentle dish.

Worth Seeking Out

Pinot Noir from Hemel-en-Aarde, Walker Bay, South Africa. Cool-climate ocean-influenced Cape Pinot with supple tannin, red-fruit transparency, and savoury earth — the rare Cape Pinot that genuinely competes with Burgundy and Marlborough for analytical fidelity on gentle Asian food. Producers worth knowing: Hamilton Russell, Storm, Crystallum.

Avoid

Oaked wines — react badly with sesame oil; tannic reds — clash with the gentle dish entirely; wines above 13% alcohol — overwhelm the balanced register; sweet wines — fight the savoury soy.

Failing That

A Pinot Blanc from Alsace.

If All Else Fails

Pinot Grigio, Alto Adige.

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