Pay attention to the weight of the wine when considering matches for this light dish, as well as looking for a bit of sweetness to balance the chili sauce heat.
The food: Chicken Stir-Fry with Cashews
In a bowl, combine 1/2 cup chicken broth, 1/4 cup hoisin sauce, 2 tablespoons soy sauce, 2 teaspoons Sriracha and 1 teaspoon sugar; add 1 pound chicken, cut into 1-inch pieces. Marinate, 30 minutes. Heat 1 tablespoon vegetable oil in a wok over high heat. Drain chicken, reserving marinade. Stir-fry chicken until browned and cooked through. Remove from wok. Stir-fry 1 sweet onion, sliced, 3 minutes. Add 3 cloves garlic, minced, and 2 tablespoons freshly grated ginger; stir-fry, 2 minutes. Add 8 ounces snow peas, 1/2 cup cashews, reserved marinade and chicken. Simmer until snow peas are tender. Serve over rice. Makes: 4 servings
Recipe by Lisa Schumacher
The wines
By sommelier Ryan Arnold, divisional wine director for Lettuce Entertain You restaurants, as told to Michael Austin:
2013 Weingut Von Winning Riesling, Pfalz, Germany: This delicious riesling has aromas of peach, lemon, even fried herbs. It also has just a touch of sweetness, which will help mitigate the moderate heat from the Sriracha. Rieslings from high-quality producers like Von Winning have small amounts of residual sugar, and deceiving texture, often masked by high acidity. The hoisin sauce will add a subtle umami character that this wine will also complement beautifully.
NV Bereche et Fils Champagne, France: Champagne typically pairs well with everything. As with riesling, it can have weight and texture without being cloying, thanks to high acidity. This wine is composed of all three grapes in Champagne — pinot noir, chardonnay and pinot meunier — and allows the variety of ingredients in the dish, especially the vegetables, to really shine. To get the full effect, throw out the flutes and drink from a white wine glass to better enjoy the aromatics.
2013 Weingut Stadt KremsGruner Veltliner, Kremstal, Austria: From this winery, founded in 1452, comes this amazing wine, always ready as a secret weapon for more difficult pairings. This veltliner is unoaked — as most commonly are — and presents aromas of lime, lemon and white pepper, with some herbal undertones. Veltliners tend to have medium weight and texture, and are never high on sweetness. They also play well with al dente vegetables, like the snow peas.
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