My aunt sent me home from New Jersey this weekend with calamansi fruits. I was thrilled just to get a whiff of it. I was so excited to bring some home with me. Calamansi is a small citrus fruit native to the Philppines and other south east Asian countries. It's the Philippine lemon, a citrus fruit. I'm more acquainted with the variety with the green skin but these smell and taste just like the green ones. If I were to describe the flavour and smell, it's as though honey was already mixed into the fruit. It is less acidic, milder than lemon. I love this stuff. I hope I can find more in Chinatown somewhere.
I was inspired to create a summery cocktail drink using calamansi – my first ever cocktail recipe. It's called Temptation Island. The name was suggested by my sister Caroline. She sent me a YouTube link for a 1980 cult Filipino film with the same name. Think LOST meets a telanovella – complete with catty girl fights on the beach, pretty boys and flamboyant gay men in tight pants . All spoken in taglish (tagalog and english hybrid) and shot on location on a "deserted" island. Hilarious. It was perfect. I kept the recipe simple to really allow the calamansi flavour to be the star. It's seriously delicious and refreshing. The perfect summer cocktail.
Temptation Island
1 oz. (or more) cold sake: try Otokoyama
fresh squeezed calamansi, about 3 fruits per cocktail glass, plus one more to garnish
1 teaspoon organic coconut sugar* (cane sugar as an alternative)
seltzer water
ice cubes
Shaken or stirred
*organic coconut sugar (photo below) is made from coconut toddy. My mom sent it to me. I'm finding out if it's available in the U.S/Canada
