Copycat P.F. Chang's Rising Dragon Recipe

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When P.F. Chang's restaurant first opened in 1993, it brought a touch of upscale elegance to the Chinese-American chain dining experience. The restaurant specializes in fusion cuisine — some of it Asian-inspired, some not so much (looking right at you, Great Wall of Chocolate). The drinks menu features a small selection of Japanese beers and sakes as well as American beers and wines, but its signature cocktails include several original creations dreamed up by P.F. Chang's mixologists. One such cocktail is the Rising Dragon, a drink with a Chinese-inspired name that belies its Latin roots, since the drink is essentially a pomegranate margarita with agave syrup taking the place of the triple sec. The drink even comes complete with a black salted rim to lend visual drama.

As recipe developer Julianne De Witt describes her take on P.F. Chang's drink, "The Rising Dragon is a bright, tart and lightly sweet cocktail combining the crisp, clean taste of blanco tequila with fresh lime, pomegranate juice, agave, and finished with smoky rosemary." She calls her copycat P.F. Chang's Rising Dragon recipe the "perfect summer sip," and advises that it will pair just as well with Mexican-style snacks as it does with P.F. Chang's Asian appetizers and entrees.

The drink itself is made with tequila, lime juice, pomegranate juice, and agave nectar. For garnishing, you'll need a lime wedge, black lava salt, and a sprig of rosemary.

Rub the lime wedge along the rim of a rocks glass.

Dip the rim in the black salt. Set aside.

Add ice to a cocktail shaker.

Pour in the tequila, then the lime juice.

Add the pomegranate juice, then the agave nectar.

Shake the cocktail for 10 seconds, until chilled.

Pour cocktail into the prepared rocks glass.

Place the spring of rosemary into the cocktail. Light the rosemary on fire briefly then allow it to smolder.

Place a glass over the rosemary for a few seconds to catch the smoke.

Serve the cocktail right away.

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P.F. Chang's finishes off the Rising Dragon with black lava salt, a trendy finishing salt that is made by mixing coarse-grained salt with activated charcoal. In addition to being generally salty (as salt tends to be), the flavor might be described as earthy and even a bit smoky. If you need to go out and buy some for this recipe, it can also be used to add drama to micheladas and margaritas or even deviled eggs and ice cream. In fact, it would be excellent for creating spooky Halloween drinks and snacks.

You can also make DIY black lava salt pretty easily by combining two parts coarse sea salt with one part food-grade activated charcoal. The latter is safe to consume in small amounts, and healthcare facilities even use it to treat food poisoning. That said, those with certain health conditions may want to avoid consuming activated charcoal, so it's always a good idea to check with a doctor if you have any concerns. Of course, you can always skip the black lava salt altogether and opt for good old kosher salt instead. Don't skip the salted rim, though, as it's an integral part of the flavor of margarita-type drinks like the Rising Dragon.

Since this is a margarita-type drink, you'll want to use blanco tequila, which is clear in color. "Blanco (or silver) tequila is an unaged or slightly aged tequila that is bottled immediately after it's distilled," De Witt explains. "It's agave flavor forward and often contains pepper and citrus notes." She notes that it's the perfect tequila choice for a margarita, with its lighter flavor profile working well with all of the other flavors in the Rising Dragon. A darker-colored tequila, like an aged reposado or anejo, will have a much stronger taste that might overwhelm the drink.

According to P.F. Chang's drink menu, the restaurant uses a specific brand of tequila to make the Rising Dragon: Casa Noble Blanco. If you want to make an exact Rising Dragon copycat, then you can source this specific tequila, but realistically any blanco tequila will get the job done. Since the Rising Dragon has so many different flavors going on — the tang of the lime, the sweet-tart pomegranate, the smoky herb flavor from the rosemary, and the salt from the rim — a budget-priced tequila will work just as well as a more expensive one. You could even make a Rising Dragon mocktail by using zero-proof tequila in place of the full-strength kind.

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