DINING WITH ASIAN FOOD AND WINE
DINING WITH ASIAN FOOD AND WINE
Thailand’s Songkram (The Water Festival)
By
Ronald Jan, M. D.
April 15th may be Tax Day in the U.S.A. but in Thailand it is the 3rd day of a 3-day holiday—The Water Festival (April 13, 14, and 15). It is the day when the Thai people pay homage to ancestors and to elders and a day when they pour water upon each other and upon statues of Buddha to represent cleansing the house, the body, and the mind of bad thoughts thereby purifying to begin a fresh start in the New Year. The holiday is a religious holiday but also a playful one during which it is customary for people to be dowsed with water. (Thai Water Festival Image from Rhea Nath www.holidify.com › pages › festivals-in-thailand-873)
Of course, every festival is accompanied by wonderful food and Thai food has become increasingly popular worldwide. Here in Sacramento, we can enjoy wonderful Thai cuisine at Tee and Ann Devahasdin’s THAI (The House of Authentic Ingredients) Restaurant in Sacramento. Tee, a descendent of Thai Royalty met Ann at U.C. Davis as she was studying for her Ph.D. To present the best Thai cuisine, Tee recruited from Thailand Wong Jankheun, a rising star in culinary arts in Thailand.
[Thai dish Mu Krob Tod – Photo Courtesy of Ronald Jan, M.D.]
One of my two favorite dishes is Mu Krob Tod, Pork Belly boiled then marinated with salt and vinegar then pressed to flatten the skin and baked to make the skin crispy. The Pork Belly is then presented with a choice of 2 dipping sauces—one a sweet soy sauce and the other a seafood sauce with salt, lime juice, Thai chili, garlic, sugar, and cilantro. The result is a wonderfully flavored pork belly with a crispy skin and the flavors of the fat blending with the pork that is enhanced by dipping into either of the two sauces. My favorite is the seafood sauce with its multiplicity of flavors and a gentle spiciness.
[Thai dish Muu Tod – Photo Courtesy of Ronald Jan, M. D.]
The other favorite dish is Muu Tod, deep fried Pork Shoulder that was marinated in special spices. The dish is not spicy hot and has wonderful aromas / flavors of umami with enough fat to keep the meat moist and flavorful. Then sprinkled with finely ground parched rice. The dipping sauce is Nam Jim Jaew, a spicy tamarind sauce with herbs. The flavors of the sauce and spices complement the fat of the pork shoulder and the pork’s gentle umami flavors.
[2016 Yao Ming’s Cabernet Sauvignon Howell Mountain Reserve in Napa Valley’s AVA - Photo Courtesy of Ronald Jan, M. D.]
The ingredients of both of dishes work well with a wine with full body and rich tannins such as a Cabernet Sauvignon, one of the principal grapes of Bordeaux, France described on the two preceding wine articles in wechineseus.com. For this balance, complementary to the fat and umami flavors of the pork the 2016 Yao (Ming) Family Wine Howell Mountain Reserve from Napa Valley, AVA works well. Howell Mountain presents with excellent drainage favoring the growth of the Cabernet Sauvignon grape with excellent exposure to the sun while avoiding any morning fog from the San Pablo Bay that could seep onto the valley floor. The Cabernet Sauvignon’s tannin will blend well and soften with the fat associated with the meat’s umami flavors allowing the blackberry / black cherry fruit of the grape to express itself with the flavors of the Pork Belly and sauces leaving a long, pleasant finish.
Pairing a red wine with bold flavors and bold tannins with Asian food can be a challenge but with THAI Restaurant’s pork belly and deep-fried pork shoulder one does not need a Water Festival to enjoy this fine Thai cuisine paired with a California Cabernet Sauvignon with body, structure, and enough fruit like the 2016 Yao (Ming) Family Wine’s Howell Mountain Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon from Napa Valley AVA. More comments about flavors and aromas of foods and matching wines will be discussed in the next month’s Dining with Asian Food and Wine in wechineseus.com.
About the Author: Dr. Ronald G. Jan who specializes in Vascular Surgery is a Clinical Professor of Surgery at the University of California at Davis School of Medicine. As a hobby, he holds WSET level 3 certification in wines and has been writing and publishing wine commentaries.
