Thai Market Banger

Two drink recipes in a row?! You're wondering what is going on and you're kind of excited at the same time. I actually made this drink the same night that I made the recipe I'm posting next week, so I figured I would go ahead and post this one first and let you settle in with the flavors. This drink is setting the stage for more Asian-inspired food to come...

Let's not get too ahead of ourselves though. This drink is awesome on its own and should get all the credit it's due! I was planning, researching, and obsessing over next week's recipe for some time and when I realized that a trip to my local Thai market was necessary, I decided to make an occasion out of it and also get some ingredients for a drink. It was Friday night after all - a drink was mandatory! I racked my brain trying to come up with an Asian-inspired drink recipe while I was making my grocery list, but wasn't coming up with much. Then I had a brilliant idea: treat it like my old Farmers' Market recipes, where I would go to the FM with no idea of what I wanted to make and let the produce speak to me and come up with a recipe on the spot.

As I meandered through the market looking for my dinner ingredients, a few things jumped out at me from the refrigerated section: lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves, Thai sweet basil, and ginger root. I have cooked with these ingredients many a time before, so I was already familiar with them and know that every single one of those things has really amazing, strong scents and flavors. I was becoming inspired so into my shopping basket they went. While I was in the prepared foods section (looking for mochi ice cream - a must on any trip to the Thai market), I noticed a fridge full of juices and sodas. I took a peek and saw some "lychee drink." I wasn't sure exactly what "drink" meant - was it juice, was it nectar, was it soda? - but I grabbed it anyways! Can't go wrong with lychee, I figured. Last but not least, I grabbed a can of coconut cream. I've been dying to make a drink with coconut cream so here was my chance!

I had some lime, agave, and rum at home, so I decided to add those as well. The drink turned out to be really good and was pretty simple to make considering all of the ingredients I bought! My favorite part was that the coconut cream gave the drink a frothy texture similar to what you would get on a pisco sour from the egg whites, and this girl LOVES a pisco sour!

Now that you know my thought process behind this drink, I feel like I should give you some substitutes in case you don't have all of these fabulous Asian ingredients readily available to you. I think fresh ginger, coconut cream (use coconut milk if you can't find the cream), and agave are probably pretty easy to find, so we'll skip those.  You can substitute regular sweet basil for the Thai basil, lime and lemon peel (just one piece each) for the lemongrass and kaffir lime leaves, and for the lychee drink, well there aren't any exact substitutes for that. If you are able to find canned lychee in syrup, just use the syrup and add the agave to taste after mixing. You may not need the agave at all because the syrup will be pretty sweet already. If you can't find canned lychee, look in your south/central America foods section for some papaya nectar and use that instead.

Now, let's get drinkin'! And don't forget to check back in next week for a really scrumptious Asian-inspired recipe that you can make to go along with this drink!

Thai Market Banger
Servings: 1 small tumbler-sized drink
Prep time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: n/a

Ingredients:
3 small kaffir lime leaves
1 large Thai sweet basil leaf
1 slice of fresh ginger
1 sliver of lemongrass
1/2 cup lychee drink/juice
1 shot of light rum
1/2 lime, juiced
2 tablespoons of coconut cream
1 tablespoon of agave nectar
Slice of lime, fresh ginger, and an extra basil leaf for garnish

Start by placing the lime leaves, Thai sweet basil leaf, fresh ginger, and lemongrass into the bottom of your glass.

Use a wooden spoon or an actual muddler if you have one, to grind the ingredients together for about five - ten seconds. You don't want everything crushed and falling apart, just broken up enough so that they are all releasing their oils and flavors.

Add the muddled ingredients to your cocktail shaker.

Place a handful of ice cubes in the shaker, as well as fill your cocktail glass with ice cubes.

Add the lychee drink, rum, lime juice, coconut cream, and agave to your shaker.

Shake vigorously for about fifteen seconds.

Remove the lid of the shaker and strain the liquid into your cocktail glass, over the ice. You may have to stop and shake the solid ingredients that are inside the shaker to get them out of the strainer so you can get all of the liquid out. Make sure you don't get any of the pieces of the solid ingredients in your drink.

Garnish the rim of your glass with a lime wedge, a slice of fresh ginger, and add a basil leaf to the top.

Serve as soon as humanly possible because this drink is delicious and you won't want to wait any longer! Salute!