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Shaoxing wine, Sherry make good foods great
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CLASSIC Chinese cooking relies on many special ingredients. One of the most important is yellow rice wine. Popularly known as huangjiu in Chinese these wines are essential ingredients in many of China’s most famous dishes. Outside of overseas Chinese communities, these wines are almost impossible to find in the West. However, living in China and discovering the treasures of Chinese cooking helped me appreciate the culture and beauty of these wines.
The history of rice wines in China dates back to the Neolithic Yangshao Culture 6,000 years ago. Many historians speculate even more ancient origins for the first fermented rice wine. Throughout the ages Chinese literature has sung the praise of this magical liquid enhancer. Today the most prized rice wines come from southern and eastern China and range from dry to very sweet. Arguably the most famous and best wines come from the town of Shaoxing in Zhejiang province. Prized for it’s ability to make foods more delicious, this is one of the most sought after rice wines in China.
Shaoxing and other quality rice wines are not only great cooking wines but they’re equally delicious as a drink. Usually consumed at room temperatures, or even warmed, these wines can also be enjoyed slightly chilled. Good Shaoxing wines are fragrant, soft on the palate and feature impressive complexity and length. Like other top wines, Shaoxing rice wines gain complexity and texture from aging with some of the best example 20 or more years old.
In the West, there’s a special wine that intriguingly shares many qualities with top rice wines. If Shaoxing wine truly has a kindred spirit elsewhere it can be found in Southwestern Spain.
Sherry is one of the world’s most inimitable wines. Wine experts often call it the world’s most affordable great wine. Like Shaoxing and other quality Chinese rice wines, Sherry is a great wine for cooking as well as drinking.
The Jerez-Xeres-Sherry D.O. wine region where true Sherries come from is located in the southernmost wine region in Europe. The sun-baked Albariza white soils of the Sherry Triangle, a wine growing area that is bordered by the three ancient city-towns of Jerez, Sanlucar and El Puerto, help provide this fortified wine with its distinctive character. The grapes and process of making Sherry are also unique. The most important grape used to make Sherry is Palomino, which is sometimes blended with Pedro Ximenez and Moscatel to make sweeter styles of Sherries.
The first stage of making Sherries is the same as making white wines, but when the special Solera aging process begins the wines take on their special qualities. Pale Sherries like Manzanilla and Fino undergo the entire aging process protected by a natural occurring yeast called flor that protects the wine from oxygen, while darker Sherries like Oloroso have higher amounts of alcohol added that kills the protective flor and the wines undergo oxidative aging. All Sherries must be aged three years in stacked rows of 600 liter American oak casks that are stored in Cathedral like buildings that feature ample aeration. Like Chinese rice wines Sherries have a broad spectrum of styles from bone dry to extremely sweet and can be found in an array of colors. Four of the best Sherry wine styles to enjoy with Chinese rice wine dishes are the Manzanilla, Fino, Amontillado and Oloroso.
Manzanilla is the most delicate style of Sherry that while aging is protected by a distinct type of flor that only grows in the town of Sanlucar de Barrameda near the ocean. This straw colored, fresh and slightly salty wine matches exceptionally well with drunken shrimp and crab appetizers. The zesty, bright qualities of the wine bring out the freshness and natural flavors of the shrimp and crab.
My favorite style of Sherry with drunken chicken is Fino. This pale golden colored wine that has more structure and weight than Manzanilla wines and stands up nicely to even the most heavily marinated drunken chicken dishes. The yeasty nature of many Fino Sherries also adds further flavor dimensions to the chicken.
When Shaoxing and other rice wines are used to simmer, braise or stew seafood and meat, I recommend pairing these dishes with oxidized styles of Sherry like Amontillado and Oloroso. Amontillado is a very special style of Sherry that starts its life as a Fino Sherry undergoing biological aging, and then goes through the oxidative aging process that bequeaths extra color, weight and complexity. The combination of a brilliant amber color and elegant aromas and flavors make Amontillado one of the most pleasing of styles of Sherries to enjoy with Chinese rice wine dishes like red braised pork and river eel.
The heartiest Chinese rice wine dishes meet their natural partner in Oloroso. This is perhaps the most macho of Sherry styles featuring a dark amber or mahogany color with concentrated nutty flavors. I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention that semi-sweet and sweet Sherries including Dry, Medium, Cream, Moscatel and Pedro Ximenez also have numerous synergistic pairings with Chinese dishes. The sweet Sherries are particularly nice with spicy dishes or pungent favorites like stinky bean curd.
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