Making A Caesar Cocktail In Japan

A Japanese twist on a classic Canadian cocktail!

As some of you may know, I am Canadian. Although I’ve lived in Japan for nearly half my life, I’ve missed a lot of traditionally, some might say stereotypically, Canadian things.

The one thing you can reliably find and make at home if you search the shelves of your nearest import-heavy supermarkets is a Caesar, or Bloody Caesar as it’s often referred to.

Bloody Mary vs Bloody Caesar

The Bloody Mary is said to have been invented in either the 1920s or 30s depending on who’s version of the story you believe. It was invented by Fernand Petiot, although he either created it entirely himself in 1921 or as his take on another cocktail in 1934, in Paris at what became known as Harry’s New York Bar.

There have been variations made on “tomato juice x spirit” drinks ever since the 1930s, with each being considered a breakfast/brunch or daytime drink. The fact that they contain vegetable juice, salt and alcohol has added to the claim that they are ideal hangover cures, although there’s no scientific proof of this being true.

…served with practically any fried food, fast food or elaborate brunch meal you can imagine.

The Caesar is Canada’s national cocktail and is enjoyed roughly 400 million times a year in Canada alone. Just like a Bloody Mary, it’s a vodka-based cocktail, often served with a stalk of celery and/or a lemon, and served with practically any fried food, fast food or elaborate brunch meal you can imagine.

The main difference between a Bloody Mary and a Caesar is that a Bloody Mary is made with standard tomato juice while a Caesar is made with Mott’s Clamato—or tomato juice with clam juice and spices in it. To be fair, Clamato is thinner than your average tomato juice, but it has more flavor in it and is readily adaptable to whatever else you might want to add to your cocktail. Be that maple smoked bacon, entire slices of pizza on skewers or even a dill pickle juice chaser.

© Photo by Hilary Keyes

Since the Thursday before the Victoria Day weekend in Canada is National Caesar Day, here are two recipes you can make to celebrate this Canadian cocktail.

The Classic Caesar Recipe

The classic caeser recipe is said to have been the original, used as the basis for Caesar’s since Walter Chell invented it in Calgary, Alberta, in 1969.

You will need either a highball glass, Mason jar style glass, or any other tall, sturdy glass you have on hand.

Ingredients:

• Ice
• 119 milliliters Mott’s Clamato Original Cocktail
• 30 milliliters vodka
• 2 dashes of hot sauce
• 4 dashes of Worcestershire sauce
• 3 grinds of fresh cracked salt and pepper
• Rim: celery salt or sea salt and chili powder
• Garnish: celery stalk and a lime or lemon wedge, olives on a toothpick, a dill pickle (optional)

Instructions:

1. First, rim the glass by rubbing a slice of lemon/lime around the edge and dipping it either in celery salt or in a mix of sea salt and chili powder. Add the ice to the glass.
2. Combine the liquid ingredients, stir, then grind the salt and pepper into the drink and stir once more.
3. Add your garnish(es) and serve.

Pretty straightforward stuff. Unless you’re in Japan, where finding Mott’s Clamato can be difficult or expensive depending on where you are.

There are plenty of great vegetable and tomato juices available in Japan, but they tend to be much thicker and sweeter than ones overseas, so if you find yourself having to go that route, aim for one without added salt or sugar. Itoen Jyuku Tomato (伊藤園 熟トマト) or Kikkoman Del Monte Salt-Free Tomato Juice (キッコーマン デルモンテ トマトジュース 食塩無添加) are two of your best options.

The Japanese Caesar

Here is my recipe for a (mostly) Japanese ingredient-based Caesar.

You will still need either a highball or Mason jar style glass or if you prefer a medium-sized Japanese beer glass works too.

Ingredients:

• Ice
• 119 milliliters of tomato juice
• 1 tablespoon of clam stock*
• 30 milliliters vodka
• 2 dashes of any gekikara (super spicy) sauce
• 4 dashes of chuno sauce (中濃ソース) or Worcestershire sauce **
• 3 grinds of fresh cracked salt and pepper
• Rim: shichimi (try not to get one with sesame seeds)
• Garnish: celery stalk, a slice of yuzu***, pickled cucumber on a skewer (optional)

* You can purchase powdered clam stock in most supermarkets; just follow the instructions on the package to make the amount you need. You can also find it in liquid form, but be aware that it can be very salty so adjust other salt levels to taste. You can also make your own dashi from fresh clams if you want to put in the effort.

** Chuno sauce is basically Worcestershire sauce and is often used interchangeably in other dishes, so go with whichever you have on hand. Some brands are saltier than others though, so please keep this in mind when seasoning your drink.

*** If you can’t find yuzu, you can either use a lemon, a cucumber wedge pickled with yuzu (which I did) or mince dried yuzu peel and add that to your rim mix.

Instructions:

1. Rim the glass by rubbing the slice of yuzu around the edge and dipping it in sea salt and shichimi. Add the ice to the glass.
2. Combine the liquid ingredients, stir, then grind the salt and pepper into the drink and stir once more.
3. Add your garnish(es) and serve. Please note though that shichimi will stain your celery orange if you’re not careful, so keep that in mind.

There you go! A Japanese take on Canada’s national cocktail. While a classic Caesar goes great with brunches, burgers, pizza, or poutine, the Japanese version also pairs well with udon, sushi rolls and takoyaki thanks to the shichimi and gekikara spices. Cheers!