Mapo Tofu

Mapo tofu is fierce Sichuan cooking: silken tofu and pork in a fermented chilli-bean sauce, slicked with chilli oil and dusted with numbing Sichuan pepper, so heat is the ruling challenge. Alcohol makes chilli burn worse, so the wine must be low in alcohol, off-dry and ideally sparkling, never a big red. Avoid high-alcohol and tannic reds.