Dear Lychee Martini Lovers…
This one is for you.
Something that has emerged as a cornerstone of my unemployment era is that between the hours of 12:00 - 15:00 on most days, I careen over to my bar cart and prepare myself a delicious Lychee Martini to be enjoyed at home.
This chic and timeless elixir has long been my favourite cocktail, and historically is the first drink I order at a bar when out. Sadly, I am rarely wowed with the Lychee Martinis I drink in the wild. Therefore, I set forth on a mission to perfect my own recipe and rock my own world.
I’m delighted to report after some trial and error, I have now landed on a recipe that caters to my palate. My not-so secret ingredient is to add a tiny bit of vanilla essence/syrup, because who knew that adding more sugar to something could make it even better?!?! But I digress, because the purpose of this blog post is not to share this recipe, but rather to address the bind that my fellow Lychee Martini enthusiasts might find themselves in when making drinks at home: what do I do with an entire can of lychees?
As you may know, the recipe for a Lychee Martini calls for the juice from a can of lychees, but what do you do when you’ve used up all of said juice and now you’re left with an opened can of the fruit? [ignoring the few you’ve set aside for garnish]; I’m here to tell you that the answer should be to make a small batch of jam!
I appreciate that the prospect of making a jam sounds like something that only unemployed people have the bandwidth to do, but I promise you that despite an abundance of time on my hands, I am still a very lazy chef and would not be promoting this if it was too taxing.
The next question you might ask yourself once the juice from the can is finished is: what other drinks can I make with lychee liqueur? Scroll down to find my recipe for a sweet and refreshing lychee tonic that is great to serve after-dinner or to any of your friends who do not like the taste of alcohol.
Enjoy! x
P.s. I’ve noticed that it’s becoming increasingly difficult to find canned lychees, even in East-Asian grocery shops. Apparently, this is due to dwindling lychee harvests over the past few years :(. If you’ve noticed the same and you’re in London, I recently got some cans from Raya in Borough Market and they looked like they had plenty of stock, so it might be worth checking out.
Lychee Jam
Ingredients
Drained can of lychees (there’s approximately 20 in a can)
2 large limes
60g white granulated sugar
Method
Step 1: Add your lychees to a blender along with the juice of 2 large limes* and blend until smooth.
*Pectin is an essential ingredient when making jam and since lychees are very low in pectin, we need to supplement this with limes which have lots of it.
Step 2: Once smooth, add the mixture to a small saucepan along with the granulated sugar.
Step 3: Cook on a low to medium heat for 20-25 minutes stirring occasionally at first and more frequently as it thickens. If you have a kitchen or confectionery thermometer, the temperature of the jam should reach 105 degrees celsius/220 degrees Fahrenheit before removing it from heat. You’ll notice the colour of the jam transitions from a light pink to a maroon.
Step 4: Transfer the jam from the pan to a sterilised jar and use for spreading, baking or whatever you fancy! The jam is beautifully tart, so even though this recipe does not yield much, a little of it goes a long way.
Lychee Tonic
Ingredients | 1 serving
25ml Vermouth Bianco
25ml Lychee Liqueur
Juice of half a lime (1 tbsp of lime juice if you don’t have fresh limes)
1 tsp of vanilla syrup
Tonic water (I usually use Slimline Tonic but you can use Indian Tonic if you prefer)
Method
Step 1: Add the vermouth, lychee liqueur, lime and vanilla syrup to a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake well.
Step 2: Pour into a martini glass and top up with tonic water till full.
Cheers! xo
