WtTLE: Lychee Mocktails

Welcome to The Lincoln Experience: Course 0

Ailin Working as a Server and Busser

My sister Ailin was one of the first people I asked to help out at the pop-up. She’s three years younger than me, down to the same calendar day. She’s got an impressive knack for cooking and intuition when it comes to the kitchen.

Her personal essay on the Mailliard reaction got her into Georgetown in the first cycle, so there was no doubt in my mind that I should approach her with this project. The next person I asked was Linh. She was there since the inception of this idea so I knew I wanted her there with me. Ailin was behind the curtains with me as my sous chef and Linh was out front as server and photographer. I could not ask for a better team.

Now let’s get into the mocktails. Following the first TLE “friends and family” pop-up on November 1st, I left after a few days for my friend Lily’s Debutante Ball in Houston. There were a great number of us, but my friend Kirit and I were the only guys. Naturally, while the girls started their preparations with hair and make-up early in the morning, we set off to explore the city. We met up with a mutual friend of ours named Amber for lunch, and after catching up, we noticed an art market taking place nearby.

The first stand we stopped at was of a glassmith. He had a beautiful collection of vases, bowls, and GLASSES! I fell in love immediately but chose to take a lap because of their price before making a decision. After Kirit and I walked the length of the market, I dragged my feet back towards the glassmith and readied my haggling skills. Luckily, I didn’t have to do much because he was drunk off his behind. I ended up getting 25% off the initial price and returned home with treasure that day. To this day, these glasses are my favorite pieces of glassware, and I proudly display them in my kitchen.

Ailin Carrying a Tray of Lychee Mocktails

Finally, before any food was served, customers at TLE received a Lychee Mocktail. I first came up with the recipe for my parents’ 25th-anniversary dinner that my sisters and I put together back home in Florida. Similar to the pop-up, I was the chef, Ailin the sous, and Anna, our oldest sister was the server. To this day, it’s one of my family’s favorite meals so I wanted to share that memory with as many people as I could.

I don’t drink alcohol so I knew I didn’t want to serve it at the pop-up, but I still wanted to offer a palette cleanser throughout the meal. Lychee wasn’t the immediate answer but eventually, I figured it’d be the most favorable of childhood fruits I grew up eating. With a touch of lightly bruised mint, it was the perfect choice to accompany the five courses to come.

This recipe calls for drinks with a few friends, but If you plan on serving 20 or more people in one go, multiply everything by five 😆.

Ingredients:

• 1 can whole lychee in syrup

• 1/2 cup sugar

• Seltzer water

• Mint

• Ice

Instructions

1. Set aside a few whole lychees for garnishing.

2. Combine the can of whole Lychee in Syrup in a blender with sugar.

3. Blend until the lychee is completely pulverized. This will take about one minute at medium speed.

4. Transfer the blended mixture to a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Immediately lower the heat and leave uncovered and simmering until the syrup reduces to half, about two hours.

5. When the syrup is reduced to half, strain the mixture and let it cool before refrigerating.

6. To serve, combine three tablespoons of syrup for every one cup of seltzer water in a glass with ice. Adjust to taste. Garnish with lightly bruised mint and whole lychee.