Malaysian stir-fried hawker noodles with shrimp

An Australian Semillon and Malaysian Noodles

April 11, 2020 Posted by Robin Renken Shoalhaven, Australia, New South Wales No Comments

While following our #stayathome orders, we are grateful that there are meal kit delivery services out there, so that we can prepare a delicious fresh meal. We give thanks to those people picking the produce and gathering ingredients to put these kits together and the people who are out there delivering them to us.

We had tried these meal kits earlier this year, thanks to a neighbor who was out of town and asked us to make use of her delivery while she was gone.

I like the idea of having no food waste with the meals. The first that we started with was Malaysian stir fried Hawker Noodles with shrimp. It makes 2 servings and comes with all the ingredients needed with the exception of salt, pepper and oil.

So what to pair with a dish like this? We chose a Semillon from Australia, although many white wines or even a light rosé would work. Perhaps a Torrontes or a Gruner Veltliner or a New Zealand Sav Blanc (which will pull out the vegetable notes). If you choose to use the sambal oelek hot sauce with it, you might want to choose a sweeter wine to tone down the heat, something like a German riesling or maybe a sparkling wine that is demi-sec or a sweeter style of rosé. Most sparkling wine would actually work nicely with this also, Cava, Prosecco, Crémant or Champagne…

Semillon

We happened to have an older Semillon from our trip to Australia. Semillon is a wine grape you may not have heard of. In France it is a white wine of Bordeaux and is used to make the sweet wines of Sauternes in the southern part of the Bordeaux region. As a still wine you sometimes see it in the Entre Deux Mers, the central part of Bordeaux where the wines are not as fancy and pricey as those Left and Right Bank Bordeaux wines that you hear more about.

As a still wine is it often blended with Sauvignon Blanc. Outside of France there is not alot of Semillon grown, except for one region in New South Wales Australia, the Hunter Valley, where Semillon has come into it’s own.

We visited Australia back in October and tasted many Semillon’s in the Hunter Valley. This particular Semillon came from a littler further afield. Before heading to the Hunter, we visited another wine region which is south of Sydney, but still in New South Wales. This beautiful region is the Shoalhaven Coast.

Coolangatta Estate

We booked at stay at Coolangatta Estate on the Shoalhaven Coast. This place was awarded a 5 red star rating by the Halliday Wine Companion in 2019. The vineyard surrounds the historic grounds of the convict built village that house the cellar door, their restaurant and the resort. While there we had a chance to speak the owner Greg Bishop about the place and the wines.

The stable building at Coolangatta Estate

Spring Vines at Coolangatta Estate in the Shoalhaven Coast New South Wales Australia

Coolangatta Estate Originally opened in 1822, renovated and reopened in 1972. Shoalhaven Coast New South Wales Australia

Mt. Coolangatta in the morning mist. New South Wales

Rolling vineyard in the shadow of Mt. Coolangatta, Coolangatta Estate Shoalhaven Coast New South Wales Australia

Greg’s parents purchased the dilapidated village of buildings and the land around them in 1947 with the dream of one day fixing up the historic buildings and creating a resort. Greg re-established the vineyards in the 1980’s.

Wollstonecraft Semillon 2011

Malaysian stir-fried hawker noodles with shrimp with Coolangatta Semillion

This wine is an award winning wine. Grown and harvested from the Wollstonecraft vineyard on the estate and vinified by Tyrrell’s in the Hunter Valley. Their Semillon’s are award winning here and this is one that is note worthy with multiple gold silver and bronze awards and with a trophy for best Australian Semillon in 2020. The thing is, this wine will just keep getting trophies. Semillons just get better with age. We actually have a bottle of their 2005 which has won 12 trophies.

So what makes this wine special? It is bright, but round, it has great citrus notes without too much acid. You get subtle notes of lanoline (which is typical of a semillon) and then meyer lemon and citrus zest. It is perfect for pairing with this dish with the stir fried noodles. It’s refreshing and it sits at 11% abv, so you don’t have to worry about getting shnockered too quickly. This wine is not on their current range lineup, so you will have to check with the winery to see if they are currently offering it with their museum collection of wines. If they are, you can expect it to run around $60 Aus.

For more info

If you want more information on this region, you can read another piece we wrote on the Shoalhaven Coast that included Coolangatta. I’ll also include some links for information on the area as well as a link to Sunbasket in case you might be interested in that.

We will be back with another #pantrypairing soon!

As always be sure to follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and sign up for our monthly newsletter to keep up to date on all of our posts.

Robin Bell Renken I have always loved people’s stories. I spent a career in Theatre helping to tell stories, as a Stage Manager. Daily enabling artists to freely and safely tell stories through their art. Then I fell in love with wine. There are so many details, so many nuances, not just in the glass, but in the vineyard, the region and the people. As I met winemakers and vineyard owners and even the people in the tasting room excited to pour me a glass and tell me the story of this wine, I knew these were stories I wanted to share. I completed my study and became a Certified Specialist of Wine and continue learning daily as I meet and interview people in this industry.

Robin Renken is a wine writer and Certified Specialist of Wine. She and her husband Michael travel to wine regions interviewing vineyard owners and winemakers and learning the stories behind the glass.

When not traveling they indulge in cooking and pairing wines with food at home in Las Vegas.