Ep 248: Ideas for Asian Food and Wine Pairing (Test Kitchen ep)

We couldn't hit every food, or every wine, but this sampling was done at our kitchen table -- as an experiment with Chinese, Thai, Japanese, and Indian foods. We had some great pairing moments and some colossally bad ones (I didn't realize things could go SO wrong with wine and Asian food, but here's your warning)! Enjoy! Use the flavors/pairing ideas to apply pairings to things with similar sauces and wines with similar flavors:   Chinese Fried rice: Off-Dry German Riesling, Arneis, Pinot Grigio (Fuller style, ours was German but a Pinot Gris from Alsace, France or Alto Adige, Italy will work too) Spring roll: Absolutely nothing. This was an epic fail. Lo Mein: MVP was Dry German Riesling , Pinot Grigio (Fuller style) or Pinot Gris was good Chicken and broccoli in a brown sauce: MVP was DRY German Riesling, also Arneis, off-dry German Riesling Beef and broccoli in a brown sauce: Pinot Grigio (fuller style) was the only thing that worked ok. You need a heavier white that isn't too aromatic to work here. Pinot Noir was a disaster.    Thai Eggplant in a basil sauce: MVP was Chablis -- it magnified the basil and made the dish sing, Roero Arneis wasn't bad either Yellow Curry and Vegetables: MVP was Dry Riesling -- it cut the spice but didn't detract from the flavor. Our full Pinot Grigio was good and made the spice taste smooth too.  Pad Thai: We forgot to mention this in the show because it was forgettable. The off-dry Riesling was just BARELY ok. Nothing goes well with Pad Thai that we had on our table. Let me know if you find something different! Scallion pancake: Off-dry Riesling, Gewurztraminer   Sushi/Japanese (small sample set here) Spicy tuna roll: Dry and off-dry Riesling were best Yellowtail with jalapeño: NOTHING Avocado/Vegetable roll: Off-dry Riesling   Indian Masalas: Off-dry Riesling Curry/Korma: Off-dry Riesling Lentil dishes (dal): Gewurztraminer Saag Paneer (Spinach): Off-dry Riesling, some richer dry Rieslings Pretty much everything: Off-dry Riesling, some dry Rieslings   As I said, this is just a small focus group of two, but we wanted to provide some guardrails on pairing for you. There were some really terrible moments, but the stuff we found was actually delicious!   Thanks to our sponsors this week:  YOU! The podcast supporters on Patreon, who are helping us to make the podcast possible and who we give goodies in return for their help! Check it out today: https://www.patreon.com/winefornormalpeople     Last Bottle I love this service!! Last Bottle Wines finds great wines and offers them at a one time discount. Last Bottle Wines: Is a fun way to discover the best wines at the lowest prices Maintains relationships with producers in the most prestigious wine regions around the world and traveling to Europe several times each year to eat with, stay with, drink with, walk the vineyards with the people who make the wines. Offer a range of prices from low end to high end $9 to $99 and the wines range from the lesser known kinds like Albariño and Bläufrankish to Cabernet, Merlot and Chardonnay. Visit: http://lastbottlewines.com/normal and join to get a $10 instant credit to use toward your first order. Invite your wine drinking pals and they’ll get $10 instantly and you get $30 when they make their first buy.   The Great Courses Plus  Who doesn't want to learn!? The Great Courses Plus makes you smarter and more well rounded. With thousands of outstanding video lectures that you can watch or listen to any time and anywhere, The Great Courses Plus is an easy way to stimulate your brain and make you smarter! For a free trial, support the show and go to my special URL www.thegreatcoursesplus.com/wine        Get the back catalog on Patreon! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.