How to Pair Wine With Chicken Stir-Fry
As with most chicken dishes, the sauce and the other ingredients in the stir-fry dictate the pairing. Here are three ways to approach it.
When you're making chicken stir-fry, the key to a successful wine pairing lies in considering the sauce as well as the other ingredients you're bringing into the mix. To find the perfect wine to accompany chicken, it's important to adhere to basic wine pairing principles: Analyze the fundamental components of the dish (sweet, salty, sour, rich) and opt for a wine that enhances or complements these characteristics. Here are three approaches to pairing chicken stir-fry with the best wine, no matter what budget you're working with.
How to pair wine with savory, gingery stir-fries
Many chicken stir-fries rely on umami-rich condiments like oyster sauce and soy sauce, and often have a slight heat thanks to the addition of ginger. The complex flavors in these dishes really let fruity reds and whites shine. For white wines, try Pinot Blanc or unoaked styles of Chardonnay. For reds, go for juicy, low-tannin wines, like Beaujolais from France or California Pinot Noir.
How to pair wine with green, vegetable-rich stir-fries
The exception to the above rule is when your stir-fry includes a lot of green vegetables, including asparagus or green bell peppers. The veggies can overpower the rest of the dish and clash with most reds so you'll want to match the wine to them. Look for whites that have a similar type of green or herbal flavor, including Sauvignon Blanc (offerings from New Zealand are especially good, here) as well as inexpensive versions of Austrian Grüner Veltliner.
How to pair wine with spicy or sweet-sour stir-fries
Spicy and/or sweet flavors in food tend to work best with sweeter wines. Off-dry German Riesling is always a delicious choice; it has both the sweetness to quell the heat, and the acidity to mesh with tangy flavors. If the dish is quite savory but especially fiery and you're open to something unique, you could try Brachetto d'Acqu, a sweet, lightly sparkling red from Italy.
Related: Fantastic Stir-Fry Recipes
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