Chinese Food Wine Pairing Suggestions

[Markus_S]

Kung pao has spice? Lol.

+1

[Kris_Patten]

Lambrusco, acid should cut sweet, and off dry/frizzante should pair with heat.

[Keith_Levenberg]

Kung pao has spice? Lol.

+1

Not sure why this is a laughing point. I’ve never seen a recipe for kung pao chicken that doesn’t call for chilis and Sichuan peppercorns. It’s not thermonuclear heat but nor is it without spice.
The pic is definitely a westernized version, but an excellent wine match for the traditional recipe (like this one - Recipes | Fuchsia Dunlop) is a Jura white, preferably with at least some oxidative notes, but no need to go beyond whatever your taste allows. Sherry works too. For westernized takeout-joint style dishes I’d just go with pink Champagne - because it tastes kinda like Coca Cola, C-O-L-A cola…

[KenL]

Kung pao has spice? Lol.

+1

Authentic Kung Pao Chicken should have some numbing spice. The only ingredients besides chicken and peanuts are dried chiles, green onion and garlic, and never zucchini. At least as far as I know.

[Chris_Seiber]

Kung pao has spice? Lol.

+1

Not sure why this is a laughing point. I’ve never seen a recipe for kung pao chicken that doesn’t call for chilis and Sichuan peppercorns. It’s not thermonuclear heat but nor is it without spice.
The pic is definitely a westernized version, but an excellent wine match for the traditional recipe (like this one - Recipes | Fuchsia Dunlop) is a Jura white, preferably with at least some oxidative notes, but no need to go beyond whatever your taste allows. Sherry works too. For westernized takeout-joint style dishes I’d just go with pink Champagne - because it tastes kinda like Coca Cola, C-O-L-A cola…

Keith, great to see you posting. I hope you’ll have time to contribute more in the future here.

All the best to you.

[Andrew_A_r_n_t_f_i_e_l_d]

Veuve Cliquot Demi sec. killer with Chinese food. Loves the salt and the sweet and the bubbles just add the finishing touch.

While not necessarily this bottle, a slightly sweeter champagne was my first intuition and recommendation. Riesling as a second idea. I can’t think of any red that I would drink.

+1

A Brut Champagne or an off-dry Riesling.

[Greg_Xu]

Gamay goes well with Gong-Bao or any sweet soy source based Chinese dish

[Tony_Toto]

Thank you for submitting this question. I always wondered this myself. I think I might be ordering a ton of Chinese food over the next several months and pair it with everyone’s suggestions.