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Chilli oil goes on everything – especially this zesty Martini.
About the cocktail
You either know a chilli addict, or you are one. And there are a lot of tell-tale signs. Like a permanent bowl of chilli flakes by the stove, an unintentional hot sauce display shelf, or a permanent spoon in a jar of chilli oil that barely makes it through a week’s worth of eggs. No doubt, they (or you) have likely talked about making chilli oil, too, but really just end up buying Lao Gan Ma instead. After all, this crispy chilli oil is top-tier. That’s why we put it in a cocktail and named the drink after it. This is the Lao Gan Martini. You are very much welcome. If you aren’t too crash hot on chilli, maybe your algorithm side-stepped Sichuan’s viral crispy chilli oil on soft serve. Or maybe you saw it and put it in the same basket as Pepsi and milk (that really did happen). But we wanted to throw our support behind the flavour and textures, so we turned it into a cocktail to let the balancing fire and ice speak for itself. For a brighter twist, we’ve swapped the soft-serve ice cream for a zingy, lemony sorbet and shaken it all together with zesty yuzu liqueur, ever-neutral vodka and honey to soften any spicy and sour edges. Then we leave it to you to top it with as much – or as little – Lao Gan Ma as your chilli addiction can handle. None of this should work, and yet it absolutely does.
Watch: How to make a Lao Gan Martini
Ingredients
20mL honey syrup (2:1 – see method below)
30mL vodka
30mL yuzu liqueur
20mL fresh lemon juice
2 scoops lemon sorbet (180g)
Pinch salt
Glass: coupe or martini
Garnish: Lao Gan Ma chilli sauce, or another chilli oil
Method
For the honey syrup, combine two parts quality honey with one part boiling water, and stir until fully combined. Refrigerate to chill – it will keep for up to a week
For the cocktail, add all ingredients to a shaker Shake until the outside of the tin is frosty and the sorbet is dissolved Strain into a chilled martini glass Drizzle Lao Gan Ma on top to taste
Dan’s top tips
Trust your palate when it comes to your chilli oil of choice. It’s a big part of this cocktail. We go for Lao Gan Ma Black Bean Chilli for its savoury tones. This comes from the fermented black beans that bring a uniquely ‘umami’ experience to the sauce. But shop around – there’s a shelf-load of options, from oils loaded with crunchy peanuts to others infused with shiitake. Go as wild as you want. To the great happiness of any empty ice trays in the freezer, this cocktail depends entirely on frozen sorbet to chill it down. But be sure to shake it well to dissolve it all. This is about getting the most bang from your sorbet buck, or else it will be lost to the strainer. Shaking the sorbet also brings an extra creaminess that ice just can’t. And if you’re after an even smoother result, don’t be afraid to trade a scoop (or two) of sorbet for a creamy vanilla ice cream. That combination went viral, remember, so you know it’s good. Want to keep things hot? So do we, and we’ve got more than this and a Spicy Marg. You might like to try the Spicy Bucherita, Summer in Seoul or Michelada to get you started, or filter our cocktail collection by the ‘spicy’ flavour profile for more recipes. We also have a few ideas on how to give your favourite cocktails a spicy kick using other ingredients, so take your pick when it comes to heating things up.
image credits: Shelley Horan (photographer), Bridget Wald (stylist), Raye Scerri (videographer), LSS (production).
