Allison is looking for beer and wine recommendations for her favorite fast, cheap dinner. Can you help?
In keeping with trying to keep dinners light, healthy and cheap, I've found myself making vegetable stir-fry a couple times a week. It's really cutting down on costs because I can just buy whatever veggies are on sale that week at the store. I've been pairing the stir-fry with chicken or beef and I sometimes have veggie pot-stickers too.
My question is: what kinds of wine and beer pair well with stir-fry?
Mary is still away in France, so we thought we've give everyone a chance to answer this one! Allison, I have a limited set of recommendations for you, but I am sure the readers will give you lots of ideas!
Also, before we go any further, that delicious-looking stir-fry above is from Pithy & Cleaver, and it's a Thai-style stir-fry. Yum! Also, stir-fry is a great thing to spotlight during Meat/Un-Meat Month. It's easily all-veg and even vegan, and if you have a meat-eater to please, you can quickly fry in a few slices of pork or beef at the last minute.
• Get the recipe: Green Curry Stir Fry
OK, back to the question! Allison, for stir-fry, especially spicy stir-fry like the curry above, we usually recommend beer. We like light Japanese and Thai beers in this case, like Thai Singha lager. It's rather pale and crisp, and very good with spicy food. Also try the Japanese Sapporo.
For wine, we'll direct you to Mary's post on wines for spicy foods. Even though your stir-fries may not all be spicy, a lot of similar flavors carry over, and there are some good ideas in there.
• Wines for Hot and Spicy Foods
Related: Wine: What Are You Drinking?
(Image: Flickr member maggiephotos licensed for use under Creative Commons)
I, personally, like Czech and Eastern European beers with spicy food. Staropramen is probably my favorite with spicy food. It's crisp and clean, but has enough body to cut through some of the spiciness.
view cranefinn's profile
I think that hoppy pale ales make a great pairing for spicy foods.
Garrett Oliver recommends: Weissbiers, witbiers, pilsners, American pale ales and Belgian saisons (from http://www.garrettoliver.com/article01.html)
view briandickens's profile
I agree with the posters above...hoppy ales or crisp lagers go quite nicely with stir-fry. IPAs or Pale Ales like Deschutes, Lagunitas, Sierra Nevada, and Oskar Blues Dale's Pale would all go nicely.
view 733's profile
My wine fiend friends have many pairing books, and evidently a bottle of bubbly goes very well with Asian food, especially the spicy stuff (according to several books). We've tested it out, and I must say, it's a surprisingly lovely combination!
view Laura (hell's kitchen)'s profile
Everything Garret Oliver recommends is great, the man is a genius.
If going for the saison, I'd skip Saison Dupont and look for a more dynamic saison. What you want to pair on the pale ales (both APAs and IPAs) is the hop flavor to the spices/herbs in the dish. Most American versions of these will have a citrusy hop character, so if you think your stir fry would go well with a little citrus, do it.
Pilsener is more of a "safe choice." Pretty much any one you pull off the shelf will be fine, and you won't upset your dinner, but you won't get anything dramatically interesting, either. If you just want a beer go with a pilsener. If you want a dining experience, try to find the right APAs or IPA for it.
view The Blow Leprechaun's profile
For stir-fry, especially with spicy seafood, I always serve Bonny Doon "Pacific Rim" Dry Riesling. It's fruity but the acidity really helps cut through fried (or stir-fried) foods. And it's only $10!
view MyLastBite's profile
With spicy thai food nothing is better than a German Gewurtraminer or Dry Riesling! Yum!
view nyc_via_pdx's profile
Thanks MyLastBite, I think I'm going to hunt down the Bonny Doon. My boyfriend loves Riesling so that's a perfect suggestion.
Thanks to everyone for your recommendations!
view allijean's profile