White Wine Food Pairing: GFF Chardonnay & Shrimp Tempura Bowl
Hey girl!
I recently came across one of my absolute favorite dishes for summer from HelloFresh — Sweet Heat Shrimp Tempura Bowls. This dish boasts simple ingredients: shrimp, broccoli, rice, cucumbers, and scallions. But despite its simplicity, it comes with a kick of flavor, boasting white wine vinegar and sriracha. And IDK about you, but this girl loves a nice sprinkling of sesame seeds to top off a dish. I also had to drizzle my fave sesame chili oil that balances well with an already sesame-filled flavor palate.
Recipe Recommendation
Before you jump right into this one, full disclaimer — this recipe can be as easy or as hard as you’re willing to settle for. Basically, making the actual shrimp tempura calls for a couple steps where you make a pancake-like batter to roll the shrimp in. And well, on me and my boyfriend’s first attempt at this, somehow we couldn’t seem to get the consistency right. When we went to fry the battered shrimp, all the batter drizzled off and just stuck to the pan!
It could have been that it was watered down, or that the oil in the pan wasn’t hot enough… Who knows. Either way, the batter-less shrimp topped off a divine dish regardless. So if you’re not feeling up for it, ditch the batter. (It’ll save you the headache.) Plus, getting rid of that will save you a few extra calories to make this dish perfect for a light, low-calorie summer meal.
Because this was a lighter dish with shrimp and cool refreshing flavors like cucumber, it only seemed fitting for this to be a white wine food pairing.
Wine of Choice
Made in Lodi, California, this award-winning and elegant Chardonnay comes from the Kapiniaris family, who are originally from Greece. Using only the best Chardonnay grapes, the family crafted a refreshing medium-bodied wine style. This is a wine made to quench thirst with aromas of ripe peach, mango and white flower notes.
Fun fact: This dry blondie won a gold medal at the San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition.
Did You know?
I may not be federally recognized as a vino expert, but know that I’ve been around the block and sipped a thing or two in my 26 years. For the last five of those, I’ve been getting my wine delivered in a convenient 12-bottle case from the Wall Street Journal Wine Club. Providing international beauties that are impossible to find anywhere else as well as seasonal favorites, WSJwine has the wine you’re looking for (and BONUS — the ones you didn’t know you needed). Plus, it’s totally customizable!
Ready to throw back a glass?
The Top 12 wines you need to try—ONLY $69.99 + bonus giftsMy Pairing Notes
A light dish with seafood and lots of veggies and a crisp white wine make a fantastic white wine food pairing, especially to be enjoyed in summertime. Succulent flavors of fresh fruit provides a tangy, delicious clash when meeting the light spices in this dish. Not to mention the coolness of the cucumber helps to mellow out that tang for a smooth finish.
And don’t forget when drinking a white wine to always chill first! I recommend putting this baby in the freezer for roughly half an hour to an hour so that its ready just before your meal.
Still prefer a red wine for the summer? That’s cool — I for one love to drink any wine during any time of the year. Check out these red wines in my other Food and Wine Pairing blogs for “Grand Fleur & Steelhead Trout“ and “Chateau Grand Bourry & Pesto Rigatoni.”
Sincerely,
