Spice Temple’s Ox
The Bloody Mary, the queen of breakfast drinks, is a fiery way to start the day. At Sydney’s Spice Temple, Neil Perry’s shrine to regional Chinese cuisine, the bar’s version of the Bloody Mary has an especially fiery kick that’ll blow away the morning cobwebs. The Ox, named after the Chinese zodiac sign, is made with both fresh and dried chilli. “We muddle coriander root with a piece of chilli to give it an extra kick, and rim the glass with a mixture of chilli flakes, salt and Sichuan pepper ground with a mortar and pestle,” says bar manager Dane Reid. Approach with caution
(or temper the amount of chilli to your taste – we won’t judge). Spice Temple, 10 Bligh St, Sydney, NSW, (02) 8078 1888, spicetemple.com.au SAMANTHA TEAGUE
> Pound dried chilli flakes with salt, Sichuan peppercorns and fried garlic to taste with a mortar and pestle, then rim half a highball glass with the mix. Muddle 2cm pieces of coriander root and chilli in a shaker. Add 20ml XO sauce, 50ml vodka, 20ml lemon juice and 100ml tomato juice, and top with
ice. Grab a second shaker and pass the drink from shaker to shaker until well combined (Bloody Marys aren’t usually shaken – it makes the tomato juice foamy and thin). Strain into the highball glass, add ice and garnish with spring onion, a wedge of lemon and black pepper.