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Cocktail & Canapé Combos from Mr Lyan

The King of Cocktails gives us a selection of food and drink pairings to make at home.

Like some sort of cocktail superhero, Ryan Chetiyawardana goes by the professional alias of Mr Lyan. His mixology super-powers have seen him awarded International Bartender of the Year in 2015 and he's the man behind Dandelyan at London's Mondrian Hotel – named the second best bar in the world earlier this year.

His new book Good Together sees Ryan call on his many friends from the world’s best restaurants to share dishes they love to make for friends and family, served alongside his stellar cocktails. Here we've partnered some of the drink and food recipes from his new book for some delicious and easy to make cocktails and canapés. Have a look below, invite your friends over and raise a glass or two.

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Seaside Negroni Ingredients
1 pitted Mission, Nyon or Beldi black olive, 3 leaves sea purslane or a sprig of samphire, 1 shot (25ml) London Dry Gin, just over 1 shot (30ml) rich, vanilla-led sweet vermouth, 1 shot (25ml) Campari, 1 dash Peychaud’s bitters, Black sesame cracker to garnish

Hokkaido Scallops with Grapefruit Vinaigrette Ingredients
Serves 4: 1cm piece of Thai chilli, 1cm piece of Holland chilli, 2 tbsp high-quality fish sauce (e.g. Red Boat brand), 4 Hokkaido scallops or the freshest best-quality scallops you can find, 1 large piece of dried kombu, 1 grapefruit, 1 lime, a few pinches of shio kombu, crushed ice, to serve (optional), 16 pieces of Korean gim nori (roasted seaweed)

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Seaside Negroni Method
In the bottom of a mixing glass, muddle one olive along with a few leaves of sea purslane (or the sprig of samphire) then add the gin, vermouth and both bitters. Stir over ice briefly, then double strain over ice in the rocks glass and garnish with a black sesame candy cracker.

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Hokkaido Scallops with Grapefruit Vinaigrette Method
With a pestle and mortar, grind the chillies into a fine paste. Add the fish sauce to the mortar, and leave to marinate while you prepare the rest of the ingredients. Hold a very sharp knife under cold running water to moisten, then turn each scallop on its side and slice into thin coins, about 4 per scallop. Place each piece gently on to the kombu, so the seaweed can quickly cure the scallop. Supreme the grapefruit (cut off the peel and remove segments from the membrane), then cut the supremes into 1cm pieces.

Using a small teaspoon, dress each scallop with a drop or two of the fish sauce and chilli mixture. Arrange a single piece of grapefruit on top, and follow with a generous squeeze of fresh lime juice, and a few small pieces of shio kombu. To serve, place the sheet of kombu over crushed ice, and lay the nori on a serving plate. Guests should use their fingers to peel the scallop away from the kombu and wrap it in a piece of nori for a delicate and flavourful bite.


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Nacional Punch Ingredients
Makes 1 punch bowl: 6 lemons, 480g sugar, 350ml golden rum, 7 shots (175ml) apricot liqueur, 6 shots (150ml) lemon juice, 500ml strong, cold lapsang souchong tea, 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce

Cutlet Croquetas Ingredients
For the fish mix: 3g (1.5 tsp) freshly ground black pepper, 1g cumin seeds, 1g (0.5 tsp) mild curry powder, 1g (0.5 tsp) coriander seeds, 1 clove, seeds from 1 cardamom pod, 20ml (1 tbsp) olive oil, 7g (2 tsp) finely chopped garlic cloves (about 2 cloves), 5g (1 tsp) finely chopped ginger, 75g finely chopped red onion, 2 curry leaves, 2x120g tins of tuna drained, 30g (2 tbsp) tinned anchovies in oil, drained, 15ml (1 tbsp) fresh lime juice (about half a lime)

For the croquetas: 60g unsalted butter, 60g plain flour (plus extra for dusting), 500ml hot, not boiled, full-fat milk, 2 organic eggs, 200g panko breadcrumbs, vegetable oil or similar neutral oil for deep-frying, nutmeg to serve

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Smoked Nacional Punch Method
Lemon sherbet: Infuse the zest of 6 lemons with the sugar overnight or in a vac-pack bag. Hydrate with the juice from the six lemons and mix well.

To serve: Add to a punch bowl the sherbet, rum, liqueur, lemon juice, tea and Worcestershire sauce. Stir over a block of ice, then serve in rocks glasses filled with ice.

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Cutlet Croquetas Method
First, dry-roast all the spices for the fish mix individually in a dry frying pan over a low heat until fragrant. Leave to cool, combine and grind into a fine powder. Heat the oil in large saucepan over a medium heat, and gently sauté the spice mix, garlic, ginger, onion and curry leaves for about 5 minutes until soft but not coloured. Add the tuna and the anchovies, sauté for a further 5–10 minutes, then add the lime juice and stir. Set aside to cool. Next, make a golden roux with the butter and flour in a pan. Gradually add the hot milk, stirring constantly. Mix in the fish mixture. Keep on a medium-low heat, stirring constantly until you get a stiff mixture (kind of like mashed potatoes). Transfer to a bowl and refrigerate for 2 hours. When you are ready to make the croquetas, beat the eggs in a shallow bowl, and spread the breadcrumbs in a separate shallow dish.

Flour your hands and take out scoops of the mixture and shape into small oval croquetas, about 4cmx2cm. Set on a floured surface until the mixture is all portioned out. Roll in egg, then in breadcrumbs. Repeat until all the croquetas are coated. Heat a pan of oil to 180°C and fry in small batches until golden. Remove and lay on kitchen towel to absorb the excess oil and grate nutmeg over the top. Serve as they’re cooked for the troops to pick at.


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Bat's Nose Ingredients
Serves 4 but can be scaled up: 4 shots (100ml) Mr Lyan Cream Gin (or a creamy-style London Dry), 2 shots (50ml) sweet vermouth, 1 shot (25ml) raspberry syrup, 1 can Guinness Draught

Miso BBQ Cod Collar Tacos Ingredients
1 litre water, 70g salt, 2 cod collars, 30g dried wakame, 20g (1.3 tbsp) brown miso paste, 50g (2.3 tbsp) honey, 1 bunch of sorrel, 30g (4 tbsp) crème fraîche

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Bat's Nose Method
Stir the gin, vermouth and syrup over ice and strain into 4 chilled flutes, then top with the Guinness.

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Miso BBQ Cod Collar Tacos Method
Mix the water and the salt to make a brine. Add the whole cod collars, and leave for 6 hours. When you are ready to eat, fry the dry wakame over a low heat with a touch of oil for 1–2 minutes. Drain on kitchen paper. Mix the miso and honey together and rub deep into the collars. Put them on the BBQ for 2 minutes each side (or on a griddle pan over a high heat). Remove from the heat and separate into large flakes of fish. Select the largest and freshest leaves from the bunch of sorrel to use like taco carriers. Serve one flake of fish on each leaf, with a dollop of crème fraîche and fried wakame.


Recipes extracted from Good Together: Drink & Feast with Mr Lyan and Friends by Ryan Chetiyawardana published by Frances Lincoln, available online and at all good bookshops. Illustrations inspired by images courtesy of Kim Lightbody.