Delicious Food Pairings with Fresh Orange Juice: A Guide from Belmont Kebab's blog

It is not only a natural thirst quencher, but also can make your meal even better when it is combined properly. Orange juice has a unique ability to enhance the flavor of the meal and at the same time, the sweetness, a little tartness and citrusy notes blend well with most meals. In this guide, we’ll learn about some tasty combinations which should turn even a simple meal into a feast for your taste buds.

Every time we hear the word orange juice, probably the first thing that strikes the mind is breakfast and there are many reasons behind this. It has a bright and zesty taste, which makes it suitable for most of the morning products.

• Pancakes or Waffles with Maple Syrup: Although, orange and maple syrup have a natural synergy because of the tartness of oranges and the sticky, sweet flavors of maple but the buttery arising out of the pancakes or waffles complements the juicy and slightly bitter tang in oranges. It also antedips the butter and stops it from being overpowering thereby providing a sharp contrast.

• Eggs Benedict:Although the core component of this dish – the creamy hollandaise – may make it heavy, there is orange juice when eating it – making every mouthful seem like a light experience.

• Omelets: For any kind of cheese, ham or vegetable-stuffed omelet, a glass of orange juice deems both sweet and sour, blend well with the rich and sharp notes of the omelet. Its bright, crisp flavor also aids in palate cleansing making it possible to be taken in the breakfast.

Orange juice, for example, which is perfect, if not preferred, to drink during brunch. These combinations will enhance your brunch procedures both when you are cooking for your friends or when you decide to enjoy your Sunday brunch lazily.

Smoked Salmon and Bagels:The salmon is ever so slightly smoked, which complements orange juice’s brightness well, and helps relieve some of the fattiness of the fish. Stir some cream cheese, capers, and red onions into it and you have yourself a taste sensation of dairy, salt, and crunch.

Avocado Toast with Feta: This is, of course, a brunch dish and adding the freshly squeezed orange juice, brings something new into avocado toast. Because avocado has a creamy texture, along with the addition of feta juice which makes the meal much more zestful than if plain feta was used.

Quiche Lorraine: Quiche that has a butter based crust and eggy material may be best served together with ice cold orange juice. This joyous juice is tart and semi-sweet, which well-balances the density of the quiche and adds a little twang to each flavorful bite.

Orange juice in its natural state is ideal for breakfast but it also compliments lighter meals in the middle of the day. The following pairings complement the food and the juice as presented below.

• Grilled Chicken Salad:Orange juice goes well more with salads that contain grilled chicken among other proteins. This brightness also hides and accentuates the savory, charred taste of grilled chicken, and enhances the natural taste of greens, cucumbers, tomatoes. In case your salad has the citrus in the dressing, the orange juice acts as an extra enhancement of the salad’s taste.

• Fish Tacos with Salsa: Fish tacos owe their mild to the beautifully tangy and sweet taste of the orange juice. It cuts through the fattiness of cod or through the flakiness of mahi-mahi and also reduces the spiciness of any salsa or seasoning used on it.

• Caprese Salad: Fresh tomatoes, creamy mozzarella cheese, and fresh basil get a boost from orange juice which is also used here. This particular recipe is quite simple to prepare but it brings out the best of the tomatoes; it even tames down the bluntness of the cheese while at the same time giving the tangy taste of the juice, to balance the overall meal.

If you believe that orange juice can only be consumed as breakfast or in the middle of the day, then set your calendar. However, the proper combinations with it would effectively make it to go along with flavored proteins in dinner as well.

• Grilled Pork Chops:In fact, the taste of pork and citrus are perfectly complementary to each other and I can just imagine how delicious it would be if the two would be cooked together. Orange juice is sweet to the taste to balance the slightly salty and smoky taste of grilled pork chops. These recipes may be served with rice or accompanied with roasted vegetables or a crisp salad on the side.

• Roast Duck:The richness of roast duck, especially that which comes with a fruity sauce, is balanced by the sharpness of orange juice. The juice is sour and also sweet to taste and it lowers the flavor profile of the duck as its sweetness helps to cleanse one’s palate owing to the richness of the fat content.

• Stir-fried Shrimp:Orange juice is a natural juice and compliments nicely with the natural sweetness of shrimp. The juice’s acidity balances a small amount of oiliness in the stir-fry; sweetness complements the tastes of soy sauce, ginger, and garlic in the dish.

Drinking desserts with orange juice can be rather unusual, but the correct combination makes it possible to reveal the merits of each component.

• Dark Chocolate Cake: Dark chocolate bitterness complements the natural sweetness and sourness of orange juice perfectly for the combination. They complement each other with the tangy juice culminating each rich bite in the mouth making it even more enjoyable.

• Cheesecake: This is even better when the flour is served with a tangy lemon or a New York style cheesecake accompanied by orange juice. The nature of the juice makes it complement the tangy taste in the cheesecake while-thin out its richness.

Regardless of whether it is breakfast, brunch, lunch, or dinner, fresh orange juice is a very handy addition that complements a meal. Its taste can be described more as zesty sweet and slightly tangy, which makes it ideal to complement both red meat or grilled chicken, and exquisite desserts. If the next time you are savoring a glass of fresh orange juice you do not know what to pair with, try these recommended pairings and guarantee you will have an amazing culinary adventure as your palate is taken through a culinary ride as the food and the juice are boosted to another level.

Don’t eat alone! Have your meal and orange juice together.