South African wines at the Amari

by Miss Terry Diner

A small charcoal fire serves a duel purpose - it’s easy
 to look at whilst warming up some finger food.

The Amari Resort held another of their monthly wine tastings last week. Held on the last Friday of each month, these events have built up a strong following amongst the ‘wine appreciation group’ in Pattaya.

This month it was a South African evening, with wines from Hildenbrand Estate, Eikendal, Voorspoed and Long Neck, covering several reds, whites and an interesting rose.

Wine tasters line up to sample some white wine.

To go with the wines, the Amari’s top chef Jens Heier supplied an assortment of South African finger food including some spherical mouthfuls by the name of ‘rice and offal balls’. Despite the name, these were rather more-ish, eaten with a dash of chilli sauce and (for me) washed down with the Hildenbrand Estate Cabernet Sauvignon Rose, a wine that even the vineyard admitted happened by accident.

A straw poll taken during the two hour event revealed that the Eikendal Rouge Red Blend of Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Shiraz seemed to be universally popular, the complexity of the grapes producing an interesting wine with plenty of body and soft tannins and a very nice long finish.

The next wine appreciation evening should be Friday July 30 in the garden lounge of the Amari Resort. It costs B. 750 and the glasses are bottomless!

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Larb Gai

Larb originates from North Eastern Thailand (Isaan). It can tend to be a very fiery dish, as most Isaan dishes are, but this recipe is “mai pet” (not hot). Larb may be prepared as beef, chicken or fish. The recipe presented here is for chicken and is noteworthy in the fact that the “crunchiness” and tartness of traditional Larb were still present despite the lack of fire.

Ingredients              Serves 2-3 Minced Chicken (chopped fine) 200 gm Onion diced small                            1 Shallots chopped                    1 tbspn Dry-fried rice                         2 tbspns Lemongrass                           1 tbspn Fish sauce                             1 tbspn Lemon juice                             1 tspn Chilli powder                           1 pinch Coriander finely chopped          1 tbspn Mint leaves chopped              4 tbspns Water                                   3 tbspns

Cooking method

Dry-fry rice in a pan or roast in oven till golden brown. Grind it or pound it coarsely with mortar and pestle.

Cook the chopped chicken in a non-stick pan over a low heat with the fish sauce and lemon grass and water, stirring to separate the chicken meat.

Add lemon juice, onion, shallots, coriander and mint leaves and toss gently. Sprinkle in ground rice and toss again. Check the seasoning, adding more fish sauce or lemon juice to suit and serve. Garnish with coriander and dill on the top. Serve with steamed jasmine rice.