Sparkling Rambutan Gibson Cocktail

I wonder who the first person was that looked at this hairy, spiny, choking hazard of a fruit and thought it might be good to eat. That if you slice open the sea urchin-like shell, you'd find soft, sweet, juicy flesh.

And what does that flesh taste like? If you've eaten lychees before, you'll find this to be a similar flavor and texture. The more common lychee can be found canned or fresh in a far less threatening looking peel but the fruit itself is almost identical looking inside.

I normally avoid creating recipes with hard-to-find, menacing looking fruit but I couldn't resist buying these when I saw that a local fruit vendor had them. A little scary looking, yes, but also really cool. So, if you happen upon these hairy beasts at the market, do grab some because they're actually easy to slice into and are juicy, sweet and delicious. If you can't find them, however, lychees will work just fine in this sparkling gin cocktail. Cheers!

Yield: 2 Servings

Author: Anita Schecter

Sparkling Rambutan Gibson Cocktail

Prep time: 10 MinTotal time: 10 Min

Recipe for a gin based cocktail, with lime juice, sparkling wine and fresh rambutan fruit or lychees.

Ingredients

• 4 oz. Gin
• 6 Rambutan
• 1 oz. Lime juice
• 1 oz. Simple syrup
• 6 oz. Sparkling wine or champagne

Instructions

1. Slice through each rambutan fruit with a knife and peel off the outer skin. It will peel off easily. Run a knife across the flesh of the fruit to split in half and remove the seed. Place the fruit into a blender or small food processor along with the lime juice. Puree until smooth and strain into a cocktail shaker.
2. Add the gin and simple syrup to the shaker, fill with ice and shake well. Pour into two chilled cocktail glasses and top with the sparkling wine or champagne. Garnish with the rambutan fruit, if desired.