Lucy Saunders, a contributing writer to Asian Restaurant News, talks beer pairing with Asian food

Hot Asian food meets its match in a cold brew
By Greg Kitsock
Special to The Washington Post
Article Last Updated: 08/26/2008 08:36:53 PM MDT


Don't hand me a wine list when I'm dining on Sichuan or Indian or Thai cuisine. For me, wine tends to lock in the heat of the heavily seasoned dishes of South and East Asia and fares poorly itself. ''Spices distort wine flavors, turning white wines hot and red wines bitter,'' writes Garrett Oliver in his book ''The Brewmaster's Table.''
But beer works hand in glove with those cuisines. ''Curry's main ingredients - garlic, chilies, lemon grass, coriander, turmeric, cinnamon, ginger - all those warming spices meld wonderfully with the toasty flavors of malted barley,'' says Lucy Saunders, author of ''The Best of American Beer & Food'' and a contributing writer to Asian Restaurant News. ''The richness of coconut milk and palm oil can't knock out the crisp texture of carbonation. . . .Plus, a beer is often served chilled, which in itself is a refreshing contrast.''
India pale ale was originally brewed for export to India and is not a native Indian style. It has higher alcohol content and extra hopping.
German hefeweizen, with its fruity flavors and lively carbonation, pairs well with Chinese food. It refreshes the palate like a mini-dish of sherbet, recalibrating your taste buds for the next course. Try it with a pu-pu platter or when you're sharing dishes with a party of friends.
Coriander is a spice native to the Mediterranean that has worked its way into Asian cooking. It's also an integral
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ingredient, along with crushed orange peel, in Belgian-style witbiers. Hitachino Nest White Ale, from a Japanese sake maker that branched into microbrewing, contains orange juice and nutmeg in addition to the traditional ingredients.
Witbier complements many seafood dishes, including various sushi. If you're a fan of wasabi horseradish, you might choose a more aggressive version of the style, such as Southampton Double White Ale (6.8 percent alcohol by volume) from Southampton Ales & Lagers in Southampton, N.Y.
However, to sample such combinations, you'll often have to opt for takeout and buy the beer separately. Most ethnic restaurants are unimaginative in their beer selections: The imports they serve are usually slight variations on the ubiquitous European pilsner style.
Indeed, some are actually made in North America for the U.S. market. Read the fine print on the label: The Kingfisher served in Indian restaurants is brewed by Olde Saratoga Brewing in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. The Japanese import Kirin comes from the Anheuser-Busch plant in Los Angeles. Two other Japanese brands, Sapporo Reserve and Asahi Super Dry, are made in Canada.
Other Asian countries make interesting beers; we just don't see them here. In the Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan, the Bumthang Brewery makes an unfiltered wheat beer called Red Panda.
Now that American craft breweries are selling their wares in Asia we can hope that Asia's best brewers will reciprocate.