Nori In Your Negroni: This Asian Culinary Staple Is Slowly Becoming A Mixologist’s Favourite
If you think of nori, your mind would automatically drift towards sushi and Japanese rolls which are prepared by coating them in this seaweed. Nori is an Asian culinary staple and is found across a number of Japanese, Korean, Singaporean and many other regional kitchens for its crisp texture and its salty and umami profile.
Over time, mixologists have begun to recognise the flavour potential of nori in contemporary blending techniques and have slowly but surely started to use this seaweed for blending a number of modern blends. Today, it has become a mixologist’s favoured ingredient for building cocktails with Asian-inspired savoury flavours.
Nori carries a touch of salinity and a little bit of minerality that introduces slightly salty and oceanic notes in the blends in which it is used. As well, nori builds a lot of umami flavours into several modern mixes too, like a nori infused martini cocktail or a nori mezcal sour which lends these drinks much of their robust, savoury and umami depth.
Read on below to know more about some of the ways in which mixologists have begun to incorporate this Asian culinary staple in a number of different cocktail blends:
Nori Infusions
One of the easiest ways to incorporate nori in cocktails is in the form of infusions. The savoury and briny flavours of nori go well with a number of gin, vodka and Japanese sake-based cocktails. As such, the seaweed also becomes an excellent ingredient for preparing spirit infusions complete with its savoury touch. The herbaceous notes of gin compliment the briny flavour of nori whereas the clear flavours of vodka lend the seaweed a crisp base to highlight its inherent flavours. Nori sheets can then simply be steeped in these varied spirits to build their tasting notes in these liquors before they are used to prepare seaweed infused mixes.
Nori Syrups
Another interesting way to add nori to cocktails is in the form of a simple syrup. This can be prepared by bringing together equal parts sugar and water with crushed nori. The seaweed-infused flavour of the simple syrup builds a lot of umami and sweet depth into tiki drinks or other island-themed blends and even simple highballs and sours, adding body to these blends while lending them a lot of robust flavours.
Seaweed Garnishes
One of the easiest ways to incorporate nori in cocktails is in the form of seaweed garnishes. Nori sheets can either be used to coat the insides of a serving glass or they can be crushed and sprinkled on top of finished drinks. Roast the nori flakes slightly to bring out their deeper, mineral-like flavours and crush them for making nori and salted rimmed garnishes. These adornments lend a very sea-like touch to drinks like a nori-inspired margarita prepared at an Asian-inspired island party gathering.
Nori Tinctures And Bitters
Sometimes, one of the more interesting ways to build the flavours of nori in cocktails can be to prepare tinctures and bitters that are complete with a lot of robust tasting notes. A few drops of these tinctures can then be added to cocktails to infuse them with just a hint of the nori’s flavours without really making this seaweed the overpowering tasting note in blends. Bitters and tinctures can be used to prepare drinks like a nori-infused negroni for introducing subtle hints of this ingredient in classic blends without overwhelming the cocktails with its robust flavours.
Toasted Nori For Aroma
And if that’s not enough, what has slowly become a mixologist’s favourite is toasted nori that can be prepared by placing nori sheets on a grill or a skillet. Toasting nori releases a lot of its oceanic and briny aromas and such a crushed nori in turn builds this fragrant layer into cocktails. Toasted nori smoke can also be used to imbue drinks with these aromatic vapours, to lend cocktails an Asian-inspired olfactory layer.
Also Read: Negroni Cocktail And Food Pairings: Ideal Small Bites To Complement Its Flavour
Drink Responsibly. This communication is for audiences above the age of 25.
