Hinamatsuri is a masterpiece of an anime, and my favorite thing about it may be Hitomi, the middle school bartender. As unethical as this seems (and is), Hitomi has an entrancing charm about her when mixing drinks! I don’t know what it is about her, but everything she makes seems like it’ll be the best drink ever. But how can a middle school girl look so professional???
At first I thought that the magic was all in the drink recipe. After all, if you follow a recipe, you can’t go wrong, right? She makes her teacher two drinks, but, to me, the Million Dollar cocktail looked the best, so that’s what I went for. This cocktail was reportedly invented in Yokohama, Japan, in 1894, by Louis Eppinger. He also invented the famous Bamboo cocktail for his European clientele. Eppinger was a German man, dubbed by Japan Times as the father of bartending in Japan. According to the same article, the cocktail was thus named for an expensive ingredient at the time- an egg.
“An egg???”, I hear you exclaim loudly, “You can’t drink raw eggs! Think of the DISEASES!”
Yes, well, nonetheless, the Million Dollar cocktail uses egg whites. At the time the drink was invented, I’m sure they didn’t care about “safety” or “bacteria” or trivial things like that. Nowadays, if you want to drink raw egg, you need to make sure the eggs have been pasteurized. Like pasteurizing milk, this process ensures any harmful bacteria is killed off in a low heating process before consumption. Pasteurizing eggs is pretty simple- heat eggs up in a pan of water to 140 F for 3 minutes. It heats the egg enough to kill bacteria, while not cooking the egg.
So, I compiled the ingredients and got shaking. The cocktail was good…it just didn’t seem to have the same joie de vivre Hitomi’s cocktail embodies. Where was I going wrong? Up till this point, I’d been serving it in a martini glass, renowned for its conical shape. But that wasn’t quite right…perhaps it was in the glass.
Hitomi uses a Coupe cocktail glass, otherwise known as a Champagne Saucer. According to legend, it was developed to model the shape of a lady’s breast, but practically speaking, this probably isn’t true. It was created specifically for Champagne, which we all know is expensive, sparkly, and classy. If you want to drink something fancy, most people will go for Champagne. Serving the Million Dollar cocktail in such a glass would surely serve to elevate the overall feel of the drink. After all, Hitomi is a classy girl. Who needs a martini glass- boring, plain, a has-been in the cocktail world- when you can have a Champagne Saucer. Right? I was convinced. I immediately dispatched my first available minion to go purchase such a fine receptacle for the Million Dollar Cocktail. Thank you, World Market.
Finally, I was ready to try again. I had the recipe. I had the glass. Was I missing anything else? In a last minute review of the episode, I wondered if I’d maybe glossed over the most important thing of all. Hitomi, when crafting her cocktail has such a peace about her, such an elegance. Perhaps the perfect cocktail was less about what I was making and more about how I was making. No furious shaking, no obsessive straining- what if I just needed to relax a little and become one with the cocktail.
So, that’s what I did. I quickly assembled the ingredients, tightened the lid, and started to shake. I thought only of sunny days, rolling green fields, and dandelion seeds. I poured the drink. I tried it.
It was *smooches fingers* perfect. Smooth, sweet, and a little fluffy in the mouth. Not sickly sweet, but rather sweet, tempered with the tang of the gin. The egg white creates the wonderful foamy texture, without hindering the taste. You must try this for yourself.
Assemble the ingredients, pick a mood to embody, and shake with every fiber of your being. What comes out of your cocktail shaker…well, that’s up to your shaker, and what you are able to find in your very soul.
I hope you can try this recipe! Watch the video below for more step by step tips.
Ingredients for the Million Dollar Cocktail
-2 oz Gin -1 oz Sweet or Dry Vermouth (I used dry, but sweet will increase the…sweetness of the cocktail. That makes sense.) -1 oz Pineapple Juice -1/4 oz Grenadine -1/2 oz Pasteurized Egg White, room temperature
To Make the Million Dollar Cocktail
1. Place all ingredients into a shaker filled with ice. Shake thoroughly, and then strain into a chilled glass.
I hope you enjoyed this post! Check in next week for another recipe. To check out more anime food recipes, visit my blog. If you have any questions or comments, leave them below! I recently got a Twitter, so you can follow me at @yumpenguinsnack if you would like, and DEFINITELY feel free to send me food requests! My Tumblr is yumpenguinsnacks.tumblr.com. Find me on Youtube for more video tutorials! Enjoy the food, and if you decide to recreate this dish, show me pics! 😀