Use shichimi togarashi to spice up this drink

Shichimi togarashi is a seven-spice blend with chili pepper and a variety of other ingredients, often including citrus peel, sesame, seaweed and hemp seeds. The mixture may not be in every supermarket yet, but you can find it at Asian markets, as well as Whole Foods.

Often used to add a “spicy, crunchy kick” to vegetables, noodle soups and even french fries, shichimi togarashi is used ingeniously in this drink from Nara Japanese Robata, a Japanese restaurant in Kansas City, Missouri.

Nara’s sushi chef, Fumi Nagase, is a fan of togarashi’s “gentler” notes, using it to rim in the glass of the restaurant’s signature Bloody Mary.

Bloody Nara

• 2 ounces house-infused garlic-wasabi-pepper vodka
• 2 ounces Bloody Mary mix
• 1 teaspoon soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon Sriracha
• Splash of fresh lime juice
• 1 tablespoon shichimi togarashi, to rim the glass
• Lime wheel and an olive, optional garnishes

Pour vodka, Bloody Mary mix, soy sauce, Sriracha and lime juice into a cocktail tumbler and shake. Pour cocktail into a glass rimmed with togarashi, then garnish as desired.

To make infused vodka: Add to 1 (750-milliliter) bottle vodka the following: 4 tablespoons wasabi, 2 tablespooons crushed peppercorns and 1 bulb crushed garlic; stir and allow to infuse for a week.

Makes 1 serving

Source: Nara: A Japanese Robata

— Jill Wendholt Silva, The Kansas City Star