Friday Fix: ホットサワー

With 42 Below’s Cocktail World Cup just around the corner, I’ve been once again staring open eyed at drinks that show a level of commitment and creativity that frankly astonishes me. I’ve also been watching a lot of the Winter Olympic coverage, in stunning HD on Channel 9 here in Australia, and it was that coverage that led me to the Toronto View website, and this great article on the cocktail scene there.

I’ve got all the ingredients for this either at home or in one of the great Asian supermarkets downstairs from my office, so I’m off home to make one of these tonight. I’ve taken a small liberty in renaming the drink the Hottosawa in katakana, somehow I like it more than the Hot and Sour, which seems a little plain for such an amazing looking drink.

ホットサワー Hottosawa

½ oz Choya 23° plum liqueur (this is a umeshu-salt/sour/sweet liquer from Japan), 1 ½ oz Bulleit bourbon (I’m going to use Basil Hayden’s instead), 4 pieces nori seaweed, 4 or 5 drops of sriracha (this is a hot chili & vinegar paste from thailand. If you can’t find it, mash up chili, garlic, salt, sugar & vinegar. I’d start with equal amounts and go by taste), 1 pinch wasabi, 1 egg white, 1 ½ oz citrus (lemon and lime juice), 3 cilantro leaves (that’s Coriander to you and me), ½ oz maple syrup (this drink is from Canada, after all), ½ oz simple syrup. Combine all those over ice and shake hard to make a great foamy consistency for the drink. Stain it into an ice filled rocks glass

The one in the picture is rimmed with a mixture of powdered Miso, lime salt and nori (seaweed). Then further garnished with a sliver of nori, tobiko (flying fish roe) & ikura (salmon roe). You could probably use Masago (capelin roe) without anyone pulling you up. If someone does, take the drink back and pour them an eight ounce glass of  Blue Curacao.

Unusual Martinis #2

Sometimes just producing a more meaty martini doesn’t quite cut it. For those times, and probably only as a first drink, i give you the Curry Martini. This drink was invented by Rush, a Nepalese bartender at Opia at the Jia Hotel in Hong Kong for the 42 Below Regional finals.

The Curry Martini

Muddle red and green chilli, lemongrass, shallots, coriander, ginger and garlic in the bottom of a Boston Glass. Add 30 mls 42 Below Manuka Honey vodka, 15 mls ginger liqueur, 30mls pineapple juice. Add a dash of egg white for a silky consistency and a dash of simple syrup for balance. Top the glass with ice and shake vigorously. Double strain the drink into a martini glass to ensure none of those pesky chili seeds make it through to burn your mouth. Garnish with chili, onion and coriander and let the flavor explode on your palate.

You can even watch Rush make it himself on youtube.

Rush likes his with a reinvention of the Falling Water cocktail, but its great on its own as well.