Chief Lapu-Lapu

Dr. Wong with Homemade Grenadine

It's been a cold, wet, and miserable weekend 'round these parts, an appropriate ending for a really crappy week at work that ushered in our umpteenth layoff, and a promise of future pay-cuts for those of us who remain. I feel lucky to still be employed, but my job just keeps getting less and less enjoyable. On the bright side, I just consolidated all of our mortgage debt, and refinanced at a ridiculously low rate, so any potential salary reductions hopefully won't have much of a deleterious effect on our financial status.

Needless to say, I've been too busy digesting these delicious sh*t sandwiches to blog much, but I have managed to escape downstairs to the Hai'deaway for a couple of exotic libations recently, so I'll tell you about them.

The Chief Lapu-Lapu is named after the Filipino Chieftain who whacked the famous world-circumnavigating Portuguese sailor, Ferdinand Magellan, during a battle in 1521. I drank my first one at the Royal Hawaiian Restaurant in Laguna Beach a couple of years back. The restaurant is still around, and they continue to serve this fine potable, although a change of ownership and a poorly-conceived remodel have stripped it of much of its vintage charm.

Like its namesake, this drink packs quite a wallop, and thanks to my use of homemade sweet and sour mix, along with some good-quality Passionfruit-pulp syrup, it was far tastier than the one I had in Laguna.

3 oz. Sweet and sour mix (homemade: 1 part lime juice, 1 part lemon juice, 1 part sugar syrup)
3 oz. Fresh-squeezed orange juice
1 oz. Passionfruit syrup (Finest Call)
1 1/2 oz. Dark Rum (Cruzan Blackstrap)
1 1/2 oz. Light Rum (Appleton Gold)

Shake with ice cubes and pour into large snifter filled with more ice cubes.

I made some Grenadine syrup from fresh pomegranates a while back, and I've been itching to try it out, so I whipped up a Dr. Wong last night, it's a variation on the Dr. Funk cocktail I blogged about a while back. Wong and Funk clearly graduated from the same med school, but Dr. Wong advises his patients to cut back on the rum, and take a healthy dose of Passionfruit juice before bedtime. This drink was served at the old Luau of Beverly Hills. A new 90210 Luau just opened up in the past month or so, and although they've "updated" the decor with the typical pan-Asian crap you find all over LA these days, they've kept much of the old Luau's original drink menu intact. However, I'm not sure if Dr. Wong has been resurrected along with them.

1/2 oz. Fresh Lime Juice
1/2 oz. Tonga Mix (4 parts grenadine, 1 part Passionfruit juice)
1 Tsp. Pernod or Absinthe
1 oz. White Rum (I used Rhum Agricole Blanc)

Blend at high speed for 5 seconds with 3 oz. of crushed ice. Pour into a pilsner glass.