Therefore, for the sake of natural, quality drink making, the type that would be found in a respectable bar, I am hijacking the name and using it for my own. Why the need for purple? Seeing a big bin of cactus pears (also known as prickly pears, being the fruit of any cactus of the genus Opuntia) at H-Mart, I instantly thought of using them in a cocktail. They are bad for eating straight because they have large, hard seeds within which can either be swallowed whole or spit out. They also have a very thick skin. Here they are whole.
To prepare them, slice off both ends, just under 1/4 inch from the edge.
Make a shallow slit down the longitude of the fruit.
Peel away the skin to reveal the fruit within.
Dice and puree the fruit, then strain out the seeds and fibers. The resulting puree is thick, full flavored, and richly colored.
So here it is, the Purple Haze
- 1/2 oz sake or soju (I actually used sake and my galangal infused soju)
- 3/4 oz cactus pear puree
- 1 oz clear rum (as you'll recall, cruzan is my choice of the mainstream brands
- Combine ingredients in a shaker full of (cubed, not disk) ice and shake vigorously until you can barely handle the cold
- Pour into a rocks glass of fresh ice or a chilled cocktail (read: martini for the less-informed) glass
If you felt inclined, and lack any knowledge of mixology, you could call it a -tini, Opuntini, perhaps. But that wouldn't sell well. And it's not a martini, despite its pretty color...
The flavor was quite interesting. Reminiscent of a warmer-climate, chardonnay. It had the tropical fruit flavors such as banana and pineapple from the cactus pear and the butteriness from the sake, aside from other characteristics which are too many to detail. This was paired with the sushi appetizer I made tonight. Prost (or should I say Kampai?)
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