Vegetarian Stir Fry and Wine Pairings
Vegetarianism is increasingly becoming popular for health and ethical reasons and fortunately there are enough of the brightly coloured foods out there to keep your diet exciting and fresh. Depending on what veggies, seasonings and sauces you toss into your dish, there are also plenty of wine choices.If you are doing a classic soy sauce and rice stir fry with mushrooms, slivers of carrots and onions, select an oaky Chardonnay. The oak used often gives Chardonnay a toasty or nutty flavour will go well with the smokiness that soy sauce imparts on this dish. Chardonnay also loves onions, garlic and mushrooms of all types, which might be major components of your dish. For a stir fry that has a lot of sharper vegetables, such as zucchini, asparagus, leeks and broccoli, choose an unoaked Chardonnay, or a Sauvignon Blanc.
If your stir fry is hot and spicy, Chardonnay will not pair well with your dish. The explosion of hot spices will destroy any subtle flavour of the wine, leaving you with nothing but the taste of oak and alcohol. So if your stir fry is packed with chili powder, select a Riesling. A semi-dry Riesling will put out that fire in your mouth although it won’t go very well with most green vegetables. If you go this route, choose sweeter veggies like snap peas, or use a sweeter sauce like fruit chutney.
If you’re only into red wine, Pinot Noir is your best bet, especially if the vegetables are earthy. Cooked greens, fennel, lentils, onion, garlic and mushrooms will all go great with this red. Pinot Noir tends to be a touch earthy, and sweet. It’s also a lighter red, so it won’t overpower any of the more delicate vegetable flavours.
Written by: Joel Baxter
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