Szechuan feast with (mostly) Rieslings

Chez moi
Tasted Saturday, June 18, 2011 by Rani with 511 views

Introduction

Since I like a good challenge, I decided to invite the guys over to a meal based entirely on a Szechuan (or Sichuan) cookbook that I've been drooling over for months now. The challenge here isn't so much the cooking as it is getting all the ingredients, like Szechuan pepper which for some reason is impossible to get in Israel, as well as Shaoxing wine (rice wine), chilli bean paste etc. etc.
I decided to make this a Riesling night and the grape did not disappoint - seems it can hold up to anything, though I confess the dishes were not as spicy as I thought they'd be. They had some kick. My plan was to progress with the level of sugar in the wines as we progress in the level of spiciness, and it seems to be a solid strategy. Since pretty much all of us have a decent stock of German Rieslings, I was spoiled for choice on this one.

Flight 1 - Assorted cold appetizers (1 Note)

We started with a traditional Szechuan dish of assorted hors d'oevres that included marinated sweet red peppers, fine green beans in ginger sauce, steamed eggplant and "strange flavor" chicken, so called because it mixes sweet, sour, salty and spicy flavors - delicious btw...

Flight 2 - Steamed seabass with ginger and shitake Mushrooms (1 Note)

With the absence of Chinese mushrooms I went for Shitake, which is a close enough substitute. This is a mild dish, though the ginger provides a bit of a kick. Flavors also come from chicken stock, pieces of cooked ham and Shaoxing wine that the fish is marinated in before being steamed.

  • 2001 Dönnhoff Norheimer Kirschheck Riesling Spätlese 93 Points

    Germany, Nahe

    Donnhoff delivers again (does he ever miss?) with a great nose of quince, pineapple and a slight hint of petrol. The elegant, racy acidity is in perfect balance with the minerals and sweetness, which is at what you would expect from a Spatlese. Still young, but this is one six-pack I completely rushed through. Delectable.

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Flight 3 - Kung Pow (or Gong Bao) Chicken (1 Note)

A classic, in which I substituted the peanuts with slightly more wine-friendly cashews.

Flight 4 - Dry-fried slivers of beef (1 Note)

I used sirloin for this and it worked well for this technique, in which you sautee the meat in a wok with plenty of oil (the book said groundnut oil, I used pistachio oil...) - the juices run from the meat and combine with oil and a splash of Shaoxing wine and let it cook until it is almost dry, at which point you add the spring onions, celery sticks and ginger, finishing off with the chilli bean paste and some chilli oil to give it a nice kick and gloss :)

Flight 5 - Exotic fruit tarte (1 Note)

My friend Yair made this one - the only non-Chinese item on the menu. Classic French tarte pastry and creme patissiere topped with fresh figs, carambola, banana, papaya and grapes. The guests were kind enough to leave me a small slice as leftover for breakfast.

Closing

Looks like something I'll be repeating, with 30% more spice next time :)

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