Germanic Wine and Thai Food? An Exotic Pairing At Home.

One of my favorite Thai dishes (that also shows up in some Viet restaurants) is chicken with basil. Being married to a woman who is absolutely crazy for basil gave me the incentive to make this simple dish in my own kitchen - she's happy to eat it twice a week in the hot weather, accompanied with a cucumber salad. Usually we drink beer with South Asian meals, since the flavors and hot pepper heat make for difficult wine pairing - it can be done, but it's not always a success. Enter Gewürztraminer, a Germanic grape used to make a wine that's often flamboyantly fruity, with a pronounced lychee flavor. While these wines can be made dry (particularly in Alsace) most examples one is likely to come across will fall along a continuum between off dry and downright sweet. Conventional wisdom is that a bit of residual sugar makes a wine pair better with spicy food, and Gewürztraminer is considered a good match for spicy Asian food. I figured I'd put that to the test, and it would indeed be a test for my wife, who has never found this wine to her liking and prefers dry to off dry in just about any wine. I figured making one of her favorite dishes would offset a challenging (for her) wine choice.

I wasn't completely right on that call.

To be fair, I'd warned her. When she asked for chicken and basil I told her I was going to pick up a bottle of Gewürztraminer to go with the meal. Unfortunately her ear isn't particularly attuned to German names, and she'd assumed I'd said Grüner Veltliner (her current favorite white daily drinker). When she asked for a glass before the meal I warned her that she might not like it on it's own. Confusion, then disappointment played across her face when I showed her the bottle. The disappointment only increased with her first taste. She actually said, "Yuck," proceeding to remind me that I KNEW she wasn't a fan of the Gewürztraminer grape. "It'll pair really well with the meal" I assured her. She remained skeptical, giving me a look that indicated my wine choice could be considered an ever so slight betrayal.

I put the bottle in the freezer to make sure it would be really cold. I'm of the opinion that the stronger the statement a white wine makes the colder it should be served, and Gewürztraminer makes a strong statement. Then I set about preparing the meal: Thai chicken and basil, a cucumber salad with hot pepper, onion, cilantro and chopped peanuts accompanied with jasmine rice. As an act of contrition I approached her with a handful of jalapeno peppers, figuring I'd let the heat of the dish be her call. "Two, three or four?" I asked her. "Two and a half," she replied thoughtfully. Just enough to feel some heat. Perfect.

So how did it go down at the table? I thought it was a great pairing. Truth be told, I'm not the biggest fan of Gewürztraminer either, but its flavor profile and slight sweetness fit well against the meal's spiciness and hint of sweetness. The lychee aroma wound itself around the basil's perfume, soothing the slight burn in the mouth. My wife agreed, drinking two glasses over the course of the meal. Success? Not quite. He final assessment: "I could go the rest of my life without drinking Gewürztraminer again." So for us it's back to beer with South Asian food. That doesn't undermine the effectiveness of this pairing, and I'd recommend anyone looking for an interesting change of pace to try it to see for themselves.

The Wine

I chose a California Gewürztraminer based on two criteria: I didn't want to spend much money on what I knew would be an experiment, and I wanted something between a dry Alsatian and the too-sweet-for-me German offerings in my local wine shop. New Gewurz 2006 North Coast Gewürztraminer from Alexander Valley Vineyards fit the bill. It was off dry, had just a bit of spritz in the glass and sold for $11 retail. The perfume quality of the grape is front and center in this wine, with a noticeable but not cloying hint of sweetness on the finish. I thought it was a good choice for testing the waters with this grape; it's straightforward and well made.


Thai Chicken with Basil

I've had several variations on this theme. Sometimes ground chicken is used, sometimes sliced chicken breast. Thai hot peppers are the norm, but jalapenos work well. Thai basil adds a nicer depth of flavor, but regular basil can be substituted without undermining the dish. Regardless of which choices you make the premise remains the same: garlic, hot pepper, onion and maybe some green bell pepper are stir-fried together with some chicken, seasoned with fish sauce and sugar, then hit with a large quantity of fresh basil leaves just before serving. That's all there is to it. This recipe will serve two people with possible leftovers, depending on how hungry they are.

3/4 lb sliced chicken breast or ground chicken
3-5 cloves garlic, chopped
3-6 Thai hot peppers or 2-3 jalapenos, sliced crosswise (with seeds)
1 onion, cut into crescents
1 green bell pepper, cut into strips
1 Tbs Thai fish sauce
1 tsp sugar (or more, to taste)
leaves from a large bunch of basil, washed and roughly chopped
oil for frying

Heat a wok (or large frying pan). Add enough oil to just cover the bottom and begin frying the garlic and hot pepper. Keep the moving for a minute and add the onion and green pepper. Add a little more oil if it starts to stick. When onion is about halfway to translucent add chicken and continue keeping things moving in the pan. Add fish sauce and sugar, continuing to stir until chicken is cooked trough. Turn off the heat and add basil, stirring to work it evenly through the dish. Serve immediately with basmati or jasmine rice.


Cucumber Salad with Peanuts

For the salad:
cucumber slices
thin slices of red onion (or shallot)
a couple fresh jalapeno peppers, seeded, deveined and roughly chopped

For the dressing:
tsp fish sauce
tsp sugar
juice of one lime
pinch white pepper

To garnish:
few sprigs cilantro
handful of finely chopped peanuts

Arrange salad ingredients attractively on a plate. Mix together dressing ingredients and pour over salad. Garnish and serve.

If you really want to get crazy you can rehydrate a few dried shrimp in warm water, chop them up and add them to the dressing. I don't always keep dried shrimp around, but they make a nice addition to this salad.

Photos by Cynthia Lamb