Examples of Chinese food
Sichuan cuisine, roast duck, barbecue, roast chicken, mushrooms, ham and smoked food with sauce.
Examples of western dishes
Red wine, cheese, ham, eggs, beef and mutton, poultry, animals, game and internal organs.
1) wine can't pretend to be the owner. It has always been said that "wine goes with dishes", but I have never heard of "dishes go with wine". Therefore, the taste of wine should not be drowned by the taste of food. Put a mouthful of food in your mouth and a sip of wine. If you can't feel the taste of food, then the choice of this wine needs to be reconsidered. The key to wine and vegetables is to complement each other.
2) Do not combine irreconcilable factors. For example, tough red wine with fish is not suitable, and light and subtle red wine with Sichuan pepper or coriander fried beef is also poor. However, finding a complementary way, such as dried coarse fiber chicken slices with round and rich white wine, throat-clearing dishes with rich and fragrant peach wine, is a good match.
It may be a little obscure below. But I believe that if you carefully study the collocation of Chinese food and wine in this way, you will find it more and more interesting.
To combine wine and Chinese food effectively, we must first understand their respective characteristics.
Before side dishes, we must first determine the various components and different characteristics of wine.
Alcohol is the carrier of most smells; Bring heat and mellow feeling; Enhance sweetness; Weaken the feeling of acid and bitterness.
The astringency is caused by tannins contained in grapes, which will dry the mouth and gums, but it is an essential component of three-dimensional sense and structure. It makes the taste dry and rough to build the skeleton of wine, which is the most important standard. If the astringency is too strong, there will be persistent discomfort. Just the right astringency can increase the sour feeling and balance the sweet feeling.
Sweet sugar is the comfortable feeling of wine, which comes from the metabolism of yeast or residual sugar and stays in wine to complete fermentation. It brings "thick", "soft" and "round" structures in the mouth; Enhance the thermal sensation of alcohol; Reduce bitterness, inhibit astringency and neutralize freshness.
Sour taste comes from grapes, which is necessary to stimulate the three-dimensional sense of wine. Acidity helps to secrete saliva and ensure the quality of wine. It provides vitality and enhances the three-dimensional sense and freshness of wine; If it is too strong, it will be "corrosive"; If the acidity is not enough, it will feel "tasteless"; It can enhance structure and integrity, enhance convergence and neutralize excessive alcohol roundness.
The degree of flavor depends on the breadth and depth of various flavors, which makes the wine very rich. It makes wine rich and full; Leave a lasting fragrance in the mouth and reduce acidity.
The characteristics of different foods determine the balanced collocation of dishes and wine.
Color the color of dishes can stimulate appetite more or less; The elegant color shows that it tastes sweet and melts well; The color is dark, indicating that the dishes are rich.
The perception of temperature on the temperature of dishes determines the temperature of wine. The tactile perception of temperature is independent of taste, but temperature participates in the balance of taste in the mouth, so the temperature of food and wine should be respected; Low temperature makes the organs feel numb, and too high temperature will burn the sensory taste buds.
The texture of dishes is another key criterion for the collocation of dishes and wines. Fiber meat and boiled fish need different wines to match; The degree of raw and cooked food is also important for coordination. Raw fish and fried meat need different wines.
Greasy degree is the best ingredient to preserve fragrance, and dishes with heavy oil and water are more delicious; Fat meat can keep its fragrance longer; Oily soup or ingredients have the same effect.
Flavor ingredients have their own flavors, some are bland and some are fragrant; Whether the soup processed with this dish (poured on the dish) or the soup made separately to improve the aroma (placed on the side of the dish), if its aroma is stronger than the main raw material, then the wine to match is determined by the aroma of the soup.
The characteristics of dishes are different, and the wine with them is naturally different. Usually, the texture, flavor and greasy degree of dishes are the most important, followed by color and temperature. When the food fiber is coarse, it should be accompanied by alcohol, and when the food is soft and greasy, it should be accompanied by astringent wine. According to the above analysis, try to find a balance between wine and vegetables.