Thai Chili Lychee Margarita

Wow, I cannot believe it’s been almost 8 months since I’ve last posted on the blog! Long story short, life got really hectic with a new job and other challenges that came upon me- making it really difficult to find the motivation to research & develop recipes as well as setting up the shots and making the dish itself. Despite the long hiatus, I am back with new ideas, recipes, and knowledge that I’m ready to share with you all! Starting off with this refreshing Thai Chili Lychee Margarita!

The idea came to mind when I was texting a dear friend of mine from college, talking about doing a virtual happy hour since we’re currently in a pandemic. We talked about Ramos Gin Fizz, and then eventually the idea of margarita came into play. However, I wanted to really get creative and come up with a recipe that incorporated some heat and natural sweetness from a fruit itself. I decided to go with lychee and make a simple syrup from the juice of the fruit itself. Next thing I knew, the kitchen smelled like a tropical island full of ripe citrus and lychee aroma all around.

The recipe itself is fairly simple, however the flavor is not; if you really crave a kick in your cocktail, this is right up your alley. If you’re not a lychee fan, you can definitely substitute the fruit with any berries or stone fruits 🙂

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Ingredients:

Thai Chili Lychee Simple Syrup:

• 2 cans of Shirakiku canned whole seedless lychee
• 2 cups of granulated sugar
• zest of 1 navel orange
• 3-4 whole thai chili peppers
• 1 sweet lime, quartered (tastes like a cross between a clementine and a lime- light and sweet!)

*NOTE: You can definitely cut this recipe by half! I made a large batch as I knew I was going to consume it all within 48 hours*

Cocktail:

• 1 1/2 oz tequila (blanco or reposado can be used, I prefer reposado- if you like your cocktails stronger, bump the tequila to 2 oz)
• 1 oz lime juice, freshly squeezed
• 1 oz orange liqueur
• 1/2-1 oz lychee simple (can add less/more depending on how sweet/spicy you like your cocktails)

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Garnish:

• Salt
• Lime wedges or slices
• Optional: dried habanero pepper flakes

Directions:

• In a blender, puree the lychee with the juice until it resembles orange juice with pulp.
• bring the lychee puree, thai chilis, granulated sugar, orange zest, and sweet lime to a simmering boil in a pot for 15 minutes for the oils in the citrus to open up; with a cheese cloth or a wired strainer, pour the syrup into a different dish to allow it to cool down for 30-45 minutes. (for maximum heat, go ahead and squeeze out the peppers)
• in a shallow dish, mix your salt and habanero pepper flakes together for the salt rim (ideal ratio: 1/2 cup salt to 1/4 tsp habanero)
• Take your glass (preferably a rocks class or stemware if you’re drinking it up) and coat the rim with lime and dip the glass into the salt dish (salt garnish should be no more than 1/4-1/8inch)
• With your prepared glass set aside, bring your cocktail ingredients together in a tin shaker with ice and shake for a good 10-15 seconds (if you don’t have bar tools, you can use a measuring spoon to portion out the ingredients in replace for a jigger and a protein shake bottle for the tin shaker 😉 )
• Strain the mixed cocktail over ice into your garnished glassware add lime to finish it off!