Shoga Highball & Mugi-Mizu-Mochi

Inspired by trips to Japan, this dual part serve, of cocktail canape and classic highball, is part-British and part-Japanese.

Highballs – from simple Whisky Sodas all the way to perfectly prepared Mizuwari – are staples of Japanese bar patrons. Whether that’s in a local Izakaya (pub) or high end cocktail bar. Always cold, from fine and delicate chilled glassware, with crystal clear hand cut ice, stirred just the right amount of times.

Mochi – the ubiquitous Japanese dessert. My Mugi-Mochi is inspired by the unique Mizu-Mochi of Yamanashi Prefecture which uses only their local mineral water, showcasing its purity. You have to be very precise with the agar for this to work correctly; too little and it won’t set, too much and it turns to hard jelly. When correctly served it immediately forms a pool of liquid underneath, looking like a raindrop settling on a leaf, hence it’s western name as a “Rain Cake”.

FINAL SERVE:

Prepare a small wooden board/plate with a bamboo leaf

In a 13oz delicate highball, frozen:
3-4 good chunks of crystal clear ice
200ml of 100% carbonated Whisky & Homemade Ginger Ale
1 large lemon peel twist
Stir 3½ times, add to the board

On a Japanese china soup spoon:
1x Mugi-Mochi
1 teaspoon of Kuromitsu (black sugar syrup)
¼ teaspoon Kinako (roast soybean powder)
add to the board (if your spoon does not stand on its bowl end then use an upturned eggcup/espresso cup to support it)

Serve swiftly. Eat the mochi, then enjoy the highball.

Royal Barley Water for Mochi

Bring the water and barley to the boil, reduce to a slow simmer, put a lid on the pan and cook for 1 hour.
Keep the hot barley water by straining off the barley with a fine sieve.
Add the citrus peels to the hot mix, along with the sugar and stir until the sugar is dissolved.
Cover the mixture and let it stand until cooled to room temperature.
Remove the zests, pour the remaining barley water into a clean bottle and refrigerate.

(For a complete barley water for drinking add the juice of 2 oranges and one lemon, strained, to this mixture. This mixture will not work for the mochi however)

Mugi-Mizu-Mochi

Weigh your barley water – make sure it is 300g – add about a quarter of this then to a small sauce pan.
Weigh your Agar – 1.2g exactly (0.4% by weight) – add this to the pan
Bring the water and agar up to a hard boil and whisk together to dissolve the agar, turn off the heat and keep stirring
Add the rest of the cold barley water to the pan and combine well.
Pour the mixture back into a jug and then pour carefully into small hemisphere silicone moulds supported by a baking sheet
Put the mould into the fridge and chill for 30-45 mins.
As soon as it has set, but has a “jiggle”, remove and serve immediately following the plating instructions above.
NOTE: Handle with extreme care or the mochi will break. The mochi will also start to “melt” if left out of the fridge too long.

Kuromitsu (Black Sugar Syrup)

Mix together until dissolved, refrigerate in covered container/bottle.

Ginger Ale Base Mixture

Use teaspoon to scrape the ginger skin from the root thoroughly
Dice the ginger into small cubes/chunks and add to a small saucepan with the spring water
Bring to the boil, then reduce to a low simmer for 15 minutes
Remove the pan from the heat, add the lemon, put a lid on and let it steep for 1 hour
Strain the liquid from the ginger into a jug and add the strained lemon juice, stir well then let it cool down in a fridge
(Optional step: Strain the cooled liquid through a fine sieve lined with cheesecloth for perfectly clear ginger base)
Take half the ginger water, put it in a small pan with the sugar and heat gently until the sugar is completely dissolved.
Mix this back into the cooled ginger water, stir well to mix, and bottle for later use.

(To make plain ginger ale: add 1 part of ginger ale base to 4 parts soda water)

Shoga Highball Preparation

NOTE: For 100% Carbonation only a professional carbonation rig or Omnifizz Machine will work.

Add all to an Omnifizz bottle and swirl to mix well
Charge the bottle with CO2 – 4-5 longer presses on the Omnifizz – until the pressure relief starts to hiss a little
Remove and refrigerate until absolutely cold.
Depressurise following the Omnifizz intructions before capping with a standard bottle lid.
Keep in the fridge until ready for use.

Regency Negus

A wickedly simple and cold variant of the Negus, a Regency era drink using Port. Simple, tasty and quick to make, it makes a great dining cocktail.

RECIPE, serves 1:
Make a teapot with 500ml boiling water, 2 Rooibos teabags and 2 Berry teabags, infuse well for 7-8 minutes then remove the teabags.
While still hot, add honey to taste (or Agave if you’re vegan) until it is fairly sweet but not overly so.
Let the tea cool, bottle and keep in fridge until ready.

Add Port, lemon and tea mix to a shaker with lots of ice
Shake well and fine strain into a chilled cocktail glass.
Garnish with a small lemon wheel and tiny pinch of nutmeg