WOLFING down a serving of stinky tofu at a street stall or chomping on potato chips in front of the TV can be thirsty work. Fear not, says John H. Isacs, there's a wine to complement even the most humble snack.

One of the beautiful things about wine is that it can be enjoyed at almost any time and with almost every kind of food - including the snacks we love to munch on. In fact, many of the snacks we most cherish become considerably more delicious when accompanied by the proper wine. Of course, snacks are inherently simple and affordable and so should be the wines we enjoy with them. Here are some of wonderfully satiating snacks that also happen to be ideal companions to a glass of wine.

The humble potato chip

Complicated is not always a good thing in the gourmet world. Simple pleasures like a good potato chip can be some of the most pleasing epicurean experiences. The globally beloved chip seems to have been around forever, but in fact they are a relatively recent addition to our diet. On a hot summer evening in 1853 at the elegant Moon Lake Lodge in Saratoga Springs, New York, Native American chef George Crum was becoming quite upset with one of the guests.

An order of standard-sized French-style potato fries was sent back by the guest for being too thick.

To put the guest in his place, chef Crum decided to slice the potatoes so thin that the guest would surely see the wrongs of his ways. But the plan backfired as the guest fell in love with the paper thin fried potatoes and soon other guests were requesting this potato novelty.

Now the potato chip is arguably the most popular snack in the world.

These tasty treats are so alluring that's its virtually impossible to eat just one. But as your mouth fills up with oil and salt it starts begging for the right wine to freshen the palate.

A style of wine that admirably serves this purpose while also helping distinguish the original flavor of potato is an Australian Riesling.

Unlike many popular German Rieslings, the good Ausi Riesling tends to be quite dry and fresh with good minerality, in other words a perfect foil for the greasiness and saltiness of potato chips.

While some of the top Rieslings from Claire Valley and Eden Valley can be somewhat pricey, less expensive wines are also available in Shanghai.

When chomping on chips I recommend the Wolf Blass Yellow Label Riesling or Penfolds Rawson Retreat Riesling as they provide lots of fresh fruit flavors for about the same cost as a few big bags of imported chips. And as all these Ausi Rieslings have Stelvin Seal screw caps, there's just as easy to open as a bag of your favorite chips.

Stinky tofu

I have written about pairing this classic Chinese dish with wines on numerous occasions and the topic never gets old. Wong Ziwo, a tofu street vendor during the Qing Dynasty (1368-1644), is credited with discovering stinky tofu by accident.

Whatever the truth, this fermented treat has become a signature Chinese snack. The key to success when picking a wine to pair with stinky tofu is to choose something that contrasts or offsets the pungent stinky qualities of the tofu.

The tried and true solution is to pick a sweet wine, just as we do in the West when pairing wines with stinky cheeses.

For tofu snacks with less pungency, I suggest a delicate and perfumed Moscato d'Asti from northern Italy. Two of the nicest Moscato wines that are available in Shanghai are the Michele Chiarlo Moscato d'Asti Nivole DOCG and Pio Cesare Moscato d'Asti DOCG.

The aromas and flavors of honey and sweet fruit also with the light bubbles in these wines work wonders to assuage your palate and prepare the palate for the next delectable bite.

Hard core stinky tofu snacks that have heady aromas that completely envelope a room need to be paired with equally hearty wines.

Sweet port or sherry fortified wines are ideal accompaniments.

The Dow's Fine Tawny Port and Taylor's Special Ruby Port are two consistently good ports that won't cost you an arm and a leg.

Similarly, the Lustau Deluxe Cream Capataz Andres Solera Reserva, Gonzalez Byass Solera 1847 Oloroso Dulce and Fernando de Castilla Classic Sweet Moscatel are a trio of succulently sweet sherries that offer plenty of intriguing flavors and textures at reasonable prices.

These hearty sweet wines also offset the spiciness of the chili sauce that's sometimes served with stinky bean curd.

Street chicken nuggets

One of the "must dos" in Taiwan is to eat the street foods. One of the beloved Taiwanese snacks is deep-fried chicken nuggets. Everything from spiced chicken nuggets, chicken skin, giblets, cauliflower, sausages and my personal favorite, chicken asses on a skewer, are available.

Pick your desired treats and then they are plopped in the wok often with a little mountain basil and in a few minutes your deep-fried delights are ready to eat. A little salt and pepper, minced garlic and chili powder are added to spice things up.

Because of the greasiness of these delights, they are best enjoyed with a glass of wine. A young Tuscan Sangiovese red is a great choice. The sweet, salty and fatty qualities of the deep-fried chicken morsels meet a perfect partner in fruity yet fresh Sangiovese wines with moderate tannins. The wine washes the mouth of all grease while good acidity in the wines highlights the natural flavors of the chicken. Affordable Italian Sangiovese wines abound in Shanghai. Three of the best are Tenuta Sette Ponti Vigna Pallino IGT, Ruffino Sangiovese di Tuscana Fonte al Sole IGT and Carpineto Chianti Castaldo DOCG.

There comes a time in every afternoon or late night snacker's life when the appetite for salty or drier snacks is satiated and one's desires turn to sweetness. China offers numerous sweet snacks, but two of my favorites when sipping on a nice wine are peanut crisps and pineapple cakes.

Pineapple cake

I travel between Shanghai and Taipei at least once a month and every time before I depart the island and fly back home to Shanghai one absolutely essential action is to pack my bag full of Taiwan pineapple cakes. My friends in Shanghai and elsewhere in China absolutely adore these small individually wrapped cakes. Once the world's second largest producer of pineapples, Taiwan's pineapple industry has long since been overtaken by larger scale production operations in countries like Brazil, the Philippines and other Latin American and Southeast Asian countries. But the small naturally sweet pineapples of Taiwan are still among the best in the world and when used to make pineapple cake morph into something truly unique and irresistible.

The special distinguishing factor of Taiwan pineapple cakes are their deliciously balanced combination of sweet and sour flavors as well as the moist, savory butter-flavored pastry. Varying textures and sensations of smoothness and creaminess envelop the mouth while the natural acidity of the pineapple keeps the palate fresh. Pairing a wine with a sweet snack that also features tartness can be a challenge but one style of wine that amply meets this challenge is a semi-sweet German Spatlese or even Auslese Riesling. The luscious ripe yellow fruit flavors match up nicely with the ripe pineapple fruit flavors and the good acidic backbone of the wines blends harmoniously with the tart qualities of the pineapple cake. The acidity of the wine also ensures a good cleansing of all the creamy and baked pasty elements of the cake. In Shanghai, some of the most affordable, yet good, German producers of Riesling are Valckenberg, Shales and Herrnsheim Estate.

Peanut crisp

Though many regions of China claim this delectable peanut sweet as their own, the history of the peanut in China is relatively short.

Native to the valley regions of Peru and cultivated by native cultures for over 7,000 years, the peanut was introduced to China by Portuguese traders and missionaries in 17th century. Popular in dishes, snacks and candies, the peanut spread like wildfire and today China produces and consumes more than twice as many peanuts as the second largest producer and consumer, India.

It's difficult to discern what city or region first used peanuts to make a peanut crisp but we do know that during the period of the Japanese occupation of Taiwan, the Showa Emperor visited the island and was served a peanut crisp that was known as local specialty of Xinchu.

Now popular throughout China the classic peanut crisp made with malt sugar offers appealing sweet nutty flavors with a crispy outside and soft, pleasantly chewy middle. Mouth-wateringly good, the peanut crisp is yet another example of the Chinese genius of incorporating ingredients from around the world and making them thoroughly delicious local specialties.

But there's one drawback to this delectable sweetie, successive mouthfuls of peanut crisps leave the palate overly sweet and somewhat sticky. Fret not; the solution is only a glass of semi sweet sparkling wine away. Two generously fruity sparklers that will perfectly mitigate the sweetness and stickiness of peanut crisps while the acidity of the wines accentuates the pleasant earthy peanut flavors are the elegant Antech Cuvee Elegance Demi-Sec from Limoux in the south of France and the charming Spanish CAVA Freixenet Carta Nevada Semi Seco. For a more weighty and heady pour that also does beautiful justice to peanut crisps, I suggest a fruity Spanish brandy like Torres 5 brandy or Williams & Humbert brandy.