Chinese Takeout In Grenada?
Written By: Dylan York on Fri, Mar 21st 2008
No matter where I have lived or visited in the past, I have never had decent Chinese take-out, at least as decent as Chinese take-out can be. I have pretty much stopped eating it completely unless I have too many cocktails and it was the only thing that could be delivered after 2:00 am. Of all the places in the world, the last place I thought I would find great Chinese take-out was Grenada. Since I moved here I have dined out a few times here and there at simple Caribbean restaurants, but frankly the best food has been from our kitchen. Most of the restaurants here produce a similar menu unless you go to the over-priced resort restaurants and even they are hit or miss. The sushi here is decent, but until the other night I had not dared to try the Chinese.
Anh, my girlfriend, is from California, where I am convinced the best Asian food in the United States comes from, and she knows good Chinese food. Most of the dishes we make at home are Vietnamese and Thai based so we love Asian cuisine, but we don't get the chance to eat Chinese food very often. We opted for take out one night and took a risk at the local Chinese restaurant on the island called Choo Light. I figured it was best to keep it safe and not stray too far on the menu so we ordered shrimp and vegetable egg rolls, chicken chow mein, sweet and sour pork, and fried rice. When we arrived home with more bags than we expected, we opened everything to inspect. After a few bites we were quite surprised. This was actually good enough to eat on our own plates!
Most Chinese food I have eaten has had a coat of grease so thick on it that no wine in the world could cut through. For instance, I know that you all are familiar with the bright red, almost glow in the dark sweet and sour sauce that most restaurants use. Our pork had this nice light glaze of flavorful sauce that actually let you taste the pork. The chow mien was my favorite. The noodles were not all stuck together, they were light and flavorful and you could taste the sear of the wok in every bite. I immediately opened the fridge and popped a bottle of Torres Vina Esmeralda, a blend of 85% Moscatel and 15% Gewürztraminer. This wine is made for Asian food, and it was perfect with our feast. The fresh, crisp wine had aromas of citrus and flowers along with notes of nectarine and passion fruit on the palate. The wine finished with a crisp, stone minerality. I buy it here by the case because it is so refreshing and is a great everyday wine for the house. When the weather in the United States finally warms up I recommend you do the same. Here when its 80 degrees everyday, we crave wines like this, plus they work great with food.
Pairing wine with Asian cuisine is one of my favorite things because it allows me to enjoy more white wines that I love to drink. Riesling Spatlese with spicy Thai red curries, Gruner Veltliner with Vietnamese spring rolls, Viognier with Chinese sweet and sour, Vermintino with sushi. I could go on and on. How about you guys, what are your favorite wine pairings for Asian cuisine?
