Nothing is simple in life. There has to be some snag or obstacle thrown in; the proverbial monkey wrench, the fly in the ointment. But if other people’s stories have taught us, at the end of the ordeal, the taste of victory tastes much sweeter than the bitterness of the trials preceding it. Or in Larry Peh’s case, it is his first-ever brewed sake with his creative collective, NORMAT.

Co-founded by the two-time President’s Design Award winner, NORMAT is about “marrying traditional craftsmanship with contemporary design in a truly unique way”. The collective name—NORMAT—is cribbed from “normative”; with the “ive” taken out to adhere to the “out-of-the-box” thinking.

For Peh, he wanted to create a sake that could “harmonise with the diverse range of local and international culinary experiences”. A bold jumping-off point as it took years to persuade a Japanese brewery to work with him. The result is three sakes that are versatile, that can pair effortlessly with a gamut of Asian cuisines. (The third sake, the Nakadori Junmai Daiginjo is a premium sake that’s made from the “middle press” method—a portion of the sake is collected after the first flow of the sake mash. This middle cut is considered as the “heart of the pressing process” and the Nakadori Junmai Daiginjo is limited to 120 bottles.)

It’s a bold claim, so we sampled the Tokubetsu Junmai and Junmai Daiginjo bottles with dishes from The Coconut Club. Brewed with a unique blend of Gohyakumangoku and Tsukiakaririce, tasted alone, the Tokubetsu Junmai is light on the palate with a refined finish. It goes great with the Gohu Ikan starter, which is a coconut dressing and kermagi oil drizzled over Hamachicrudo. The heavier body of the Junmai Daiginjo (brewed with Koshitanrei rice and Niigata mountain water) fits with the nasi lemak (ayam goreng berempah; chilli) and quite frankly, this writer was draining the glass of Junmai Daiginjo more quickly than the Tokubetsu Junmai.

So, yes. The tasting proves the compatibility of the Tokubetsu Junmai and Junmai Daiginjo and the menu at The Coconut Club. We can’t speak for other cuisines like chicken rice or char kway teow; dishes with wok hey or with the headiness of chicken curry. But we leave that conclusion to you. Experiment, do your own critical studies. Even without the pairing of dishes, the drinks stand on their own.

NORMAT’s “Against the Grain” sakes are sold online