BY TANG LENG ZE
On to our sixth Brown Bag session, we have Ong Hai Xiang sharing his hobby of fermenting and making cocktails. Just like how every superhero has their origin story, Hai Xiang’s story began when he bought a bottle of poor-tasting Bacardi Carta Blanca rum at the age of 18 – his first alcoholic drink in fact. To tune the flavour into something more edible, he endeavoured to create a cocktail. He added 23ml of lime and 23ml of sugar syrup to 60 ml of rum; the end result was a daiquiri.
On his first sip, Hai Xiang felt an epiphany; he could not believe that he managed to transform something so rancid into a concoction of complex but balanced flavours. Down the rabbit hole he went, as his passion for alcohol and cocktails ignited (simply put, he has become an alcoholic who makes his own alcohol).
Hai Xiang immediately went geek mode and started reading books on fermentation. After reading the “Cocktail Codex”, he learned that there are 6 different base drinks and every single cocktail is a variation of these bases. Starting from the bases, Hai Xiang started substituting the ingredients with other food of similar taste. For example, the flip cocktail is one of those bases. By substituting the egg with another fat, coconut cream and the cane sugar with pineapple, one would get the pina colada. Additionally, Hai Xiang created his own rendition of the pina colada, adding Italian amaro and Italian bitters.
Looking for a challenge, Hai Xiang started preparing cocktails that required longer and more meticulous preparation. He also started visiting bars to learn preparation tricks and even worked as a waiter in one of those bars. As a waiter, he learned about the ingredients behind every cocktail on the menu and the story of the inspiration behind each cocktail. Eventually, he had the opportunity to prepare cocktails for the bar. His time in the bar greatly sharpened his skills. Having access to high-end machines like the dehydrator iSi whipper and rotovap, Hai Xiang learnt how to prepare cocktail ingredients in a culinary manner. Some of the cocktails he created even entered the menu!
To this day, Hai Xiang continues to make his own alcohol and experiment with new cocktail ingredients. One of his latest creations, inspired by tide pods, leans towards the avant-garde. The result is a cocktail sealed within an edible casing made of calcium or alginate salts, such that, upon biting, would burst into our mouths.
Capping off his sharing, Hai Xiang shared reasons why one should try out fermenting – it is surprisingly healthy, provides flexibility in controlling the desired taste and some drinks are even rich in probiotics. After reading this, if you feel inspired to try fermenting drinks, do take a look at the slides. Hai Xiang has shared a simple recipe for making 2 drinks: Kombucha and Mead. Do keep a lookout for our next Brown Bag Session!
Check out the slides shared here.