Tiki Food Recipes

As I rummaged around the "Tiki Drinks and Food" threads, I found that some of them were a bit cluttered and some of them had a bit of...uh...tension going on.

Now, I am of two minds on this. On the one hand, just because you're a Tiki-ista, doesn't mean you can't enjoy Mexican or Bulgarian or East Elbonian food without losing your Tiki License. On the other hand, there are lots of other places where people can get information about BBQ or pasta, etc., but bloody few places where we can find information on Tiki food.

So I decided to do the Goldilocks thing. Start a couple of threads for people to post details exclusively on Tiki food (and I will NOT go down the rabbit hole of trying to define it :wink: ) so that those who seek such information can find it in an uncluttered way. This thread, for example, is all about posting individual recipes for particular Tiki foods. I've set up another one for people to post their links to articles and recipes for Tiki food. Other food related posts can go wherever else they normally go.

Sounds simple, friendly, clean and easy, right?

(Here's my first. Ahem.)

My default Huli-Huli Chicken is:

Chicken & Marinade:
2 qts. water
2 c. soy sauce (I prefer San-J reduced sodium, and NOT because it's reduced sodium!)
1 T. peanut oil
6 garlic cloves, minced as fine as your patience will allow
1 T. grated fresh ginger
2 chickens (about 8 pounds total) carved up as you see fit...halves, into quarters, etc.

Glaze:
18 oz. pineapple juice, fresh is best, from cartons is fine and from cans only if you are REALLY desperate and don't mind the taste of tin.
¼ c. packed light brown sugar
¼ c. soy sauce
¼ c. ketchup (I like Heinz Organic)
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 T. grated fresh ginger
2 t. chili-garlic sauce

2 cups oak (or hickory) wood chips, soaked for as long as you can stand it, 15 min. at least

A- Marinate Chicken. Combine water and soy in a large bowl. Heat oil in large sauce pan over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add garlic and ginger and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir into soy sauce mixture. Add chicken and refrigerate, covered, for at least 1 hour or up to 12 (8, if you are using "regular" soy sauce).

B- Make Glaze. Combine pineapple juice, sugar, soy sauce, ketchup, vinegar, garlic, ginger and chili-garlic sauce in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to simmer until thick and syrupy (you should have about 1 cup), 20-25 minutes.

C- Prep Grill. Seal wood chips in foil packet and cut vent holes in top. Open bottom vents on grill. Light about 75 coals. When coals are covered with a fine gray ash, spread evenly over the bottom of the grill. Arrange foil packet directly on coals. Set cooking grate in place and heat, covered with lid vent open halfway, until wood chips begin to smoke heavily, about 5 minutes. (For gas grill, place foil packet directly on primary burner. Heat all burners on high, covered, until wood chips begin to smoke heavily, about 15 minutes. Turn all burners to medium-low.) Scrape and oil the grate. You can use the broiler, sans chips, if you absolutely had to.

D- Grill Chicken. Remove chicken from the brine and pat dry with paper towels. Arrange skin side up on grill (do not place chicken directly above foil packet). Grill, covered, until chicken is well browned on bottom and meat registers 120 degrees, 25-30 minutes. Flip chicken skin side down and continue to grill, covered, until skin is well browned and crisp and thigh meat reaches 170 to 175 degrees, 20-25 minutes longer. Transfer chicken to platter, brush with half of the glaze, and let rest 5 minutes. Serve, passing remaining glaze at table.

Hope that helps!

Hey jokeiii, how about posting that "oven fried" crab rangoon recipe you mentioned in the Tiki Food Sightings thread?

On 2010-10-11 21:14, MauiRose wrote:
Hey jokeiii, how about posting that "oven fried" crab rangoon recipe you mentioned in the Tiki Food Sightings thread?

On it!

-J.

[ Edited by: jokeiii 2010-10-12 06:17 ]

On 2010-10-11 21:14, MauiRose wrote:
Hey jokeiii, how about posting that "oven fried" crab rangoon recipe you mentioned in the Tiki Food Sightings thread?

Here you go, because I live to benefit humanity:

Oven-fried Crab Rangoon

8 oz. neufchatel cheese, at room temp (you can use regular cream cheese, but I find all that butterfat dulls the delicate crab taste)
8 oz. crabmeat, drained well (get "backfin" crabmeat...the "lump" is really expensive and all those lovely nuggets of crabmeat will shred away anyway...do NOT get the stuff in the tuna can section)
4-5 scallions, VERY thinly sliced...you cannot slice them too thinly (you can also use chives)
2 garlic cloves, mashed into a fine paste
2 t. Worcestershire sauce (L&P, natch)
1 t. soy sauce (San-J low sodium)
2 dashes hot sauce (I like original Tabasco)
1 pkg. wonton skins (should be 48 of 'em)
¼ c. melted -- but not clarified! -- butter (you need the butter solids in order to get proper browning)

1 In a bowl, mix all ingredients except last two. GENTLY. You don't want to break down the cream cheese, otherwise it will be too runny.

2 OK. This part requires you to visualize. Put bown that tumbler of LH151 and pay attention. Put a wonton skin in front of you, in such away that it's in "diamond" mode and not in "square mode" that is, the bottom corner is pointing at you. Think of it as a baseball diamond. Place 1 t. crab filling JUST below the pitcher's mound.

3 Take a small (clean!) brush and moisten the edges of the wonton with water.

4 Fold the wonton in half to form triangle, pressing edges firmly with a fork to seal. Pat them down to get them reasonably flat. The less "domed" the better. Try to squeeze as much air out of these as possible. The steam from the filling will puff up the whole packet, and if there is any extra air, it could pop, oozing filling out onto the hot baking sheet and burning. Have you ever smelled burned crab? You don't want to.

5 Brush wontons with melted butter, lightly but evenly.

6 When you have assembled them all, arrange on baking sheet that has been buttered and preheated (this is key). You want the wontons to sizzle a bit when you put them on.

7 Bake in 425ºF/220ºC oven for 12-15 minutes, or until golden brown.

NOTE: When you set your oven's temperature the only thing I can guarantee is that it will NOT be the temperature you set. 90%+ of all ovens run colder (Like mine, by about 15 deg.) or hotter. Buy a cheapo oven thermometer -- why a cheapo thermometer is more accurate than an expensive appliance is a discussion for another time and place -- and adjust accordingly.

8 I like a chile-lime-hoisin sauce, but nonetheless these are delicious on their own.

(These can also be fried, if your cholesterol is just TOO low.)

-J.

[ Edited by: jokeiii 2010-10-12 06:34 ]

Here's the recipe for the classic Sabu's Spicy Coconut Chicken Skewers Very tasty!

On 2004-07-31 11:51, Sabu The Coconut Boy wrote:
Since several people have been asking for this recipe, and since I've just finished making a huge batch for Doctor Z's party tonight, I guess it's about time I got around to posting it. Here is the secret recipe to:

Sabu's Spicy Coconut Chicken Skewers

1/2 cup apricot jam
1/4 cup Dijon mustard
1/2 cup canned coconut milk
1/4 cup fresh orange juice
2 tablespoons curry powder
1/4 heaping teaspoon cayenne pepper
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 cup shredded sweetened coconut
wooden skewers

Combine all ingredients, except chicken and coconut (and skewers of course), in a saucepan and heat while stirring until boiling. Reduce heat to medium/low and allow marinade to reduce somewhat, (about 15 minutes), stirring occasionally. Put chicken breasts in a pan and pour most of the marinade on top, saving a small portion in a container for later. Make sure both sides of the breasts are coated with the marinade and let pan sit in a refrigerator at least 2 hours (I leave mine overnight).

Toast the coconut on a baking sheet or shallow pan in a 350-degree oven, turning the coconut with a spatula periodically so that it is a light brown. (dark brown works too, so don't worry if it's overdone).

Grill chicken breasts until done but tender, brushing with the marinade in the pan. Slice breasts in thirds lengthwise. Skewer each strip on a wooden skewer and brush with the reserved marinade you had set-aside at the beginning. Roll in toasted coconut and serve on Ti Leaf. Makes 12 skewers.

You don't have to increase the marinade proportionately for larger quantities. For today's batch of 50 chicken breasts, I multiplied the above recipe by eight. I also used two 10 oz bags of shredded coconut.

Sabu

Rock on. Was the curry powder hot/mild/medium?

Mahalo in advance,

I love this thread. Thank you!! BTW, we've been making Sabu's chicken skewers for about 5 years now. They're off the hook!

Great link to some great traditional recipes already here on TC:

http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=11974&forum=10

Jokeiii I used whatever curry powder I had in the cupboard, I'm sure you could tailor it to your preference.

CocoLoco, nice link

I'm thinking these skewers could also be done with shrimp, too.

Thanks for posting that, jokeiii. Perhaps someday you'll see my attempt on What's "Cooking" in Tiki Central.

[ Edited by: MauiRose 2010-10-13 15:13 ]

On 2010-10-11 18:57, jokeiii wrote:
Chris,

Be a pal and post the recipe in the recipe thread. Please?

Mahalo, etc.

Hi Kids! Here's that pupu platter rib recipe for jokeiii.

2 cloves garlic minced
1 tablespoon freshly grated peeled ginger
2 teaspoons chile paste
3 tablespoons dark-brown sugar
1/4 cup molasses
1/2 cup hoisin sauce
1/2 cup dark soy sauce (not Kikkoman style)
1/2 cup red currant jelly

Mix this all up in a bowl. Pour it over 2 racks of ribs and let marinate overnight.
Save the marinade and cook in your oven at 375 on a rack over a drip pan for 45 minutes, basting every ten.

Or cook on your grill like I did, basting the same.

Mahalo!
Chris

Thanks for the Crab Rangoon recipe. I can't wait to suprise me lady with some home cookin' of one of her favorite dishes!

I hope this doesn't bring the wrath of the Tiki Police down on this thread but the Bengal BBQ is only 100 yards away from the Enchanted Tiki Room so hopefully I'm OK. Nice and SPICY!!!

Spicy Beef Skewers

Ingredients
1 c. Soy Sauce
1 1/2 c. Water
1 T. Ground Black Pepper
3 T. Sesame Seed Oil
1 t. Ground Red Pepper
1/2 t. Cayenne Pepper
1 T. Granulated Garlic
3 T. Cornstarch
18 1-oz. pieces Sirloin Beef Chunks
6 Bamboo Skewers

Preparation

Combine all of the ingredients above and bring to a boil, adding cornstarch to thicken. Soak the bamboo skewers in water to avoid burning. Place 3 pieces of beef on each skewer and cook on the grill 3 minutes on each side or until desired doneness. Brush with sauce and serve.

EDIT - I was making this last night, had 5 pounds of meat to cook so I doubled the sauce recipe and ended up with WAY TO MUCH sauce. You could probaly cut this recipe in half if you're just making a pound or two of skewers.

[ Edited by: MadDogMike 2011-11-22 18:07 ]

On 2010-10-15 20:41, MadDogMike wrote:
I hope this doesn't bring the wrath of the Tiki Police down on this thread but the Bengal BBQ is only 100 yards away from the Enchanted Tiki Room so hopefully I'm OK.

To be 1000000000000% sure we're safe from the Tiki Police, you need to post the recipe for the Chieftain Chicken Skewers; with its (delicious) "Polynesian BBQ" sauce you'd be above suspicion for treasonous and anti-Tiki behavior. In fact, Kevin Kidney would probably custom-sculpt something to bop any benighted accusers over the head with.

Just sayin'.

-J.

[ Edited by: jokeiii 2013-03-03 08:58 ]

I'll see what I can find on the Chieftan Chicken, in the meantime here's a little sweet something to hold you over

Kraken Balls
2 cups finely chopped nuts
1 1/2 cups crushed ginger snaps
1/3 cup honey
1/4 cup Kraken
Powdered sugar

Combine nuts, crumbs, honey, and booze. Chill about 15 minutes. Roll into small balls, coat in powdered sugar. Let sit a day or so before serving. Makes 24-30 depending on how big your balls are.

That recipe looks good for the holidays as I am hosting both Thanksgiving and Christmas. Will let you know how they went over. So 18-24 balls eh? :)

Love this thread, but I'd also love to see some accompanying pics! I'll be sure to contribute asap :)

Trad'r Bill

I found this gem - does not have an abundance of genuine Tiki recipes, but there are many versions of Mary-Ann's coconut-cream pie.

On 2010-11-11 06:43, Lovelybunchofcoconuts wrote:
I found this gem - does not have an abundance of genuine Tiki recipes, but there are many versions of Mary-Ann's coconut-cream pie.

What tiki recipes DOES it have?

Well, I'm a little confused as to what constitutes a genuine Tiki dish. Perhaps someone could explain?

[ Edited by: Lovelybunchofcoconuts 2010-11-14 23:00 ]

On 2010-11-14 22:57, Lovelybunchofcoconuts wrote:
Well, I'm a little confused as to what constitutes a genuine Tiki dish. Perhaps someone could explain?

Here's my take on it; Something exotic that could be served to eat for a luau or feast on a Polynesian beach.

On 2010-11-14 22:57, Lovelybunchofcoconuts wrote:
Well, I'm a little confused as to what constitutes a genuine Tiki dish. Perhaps someone could explain?

I don't think anyone can explain because it falls under the category of "I know it when I see it." But we can all opine. Since we can all opine, here's my opinion:

It's food that has Pacific/Asian roots and has been pretty well Americanized. SOMETIMES it can be American food that has been spun in a Pacific or Asian direction. To my estimation, the "Exhibit A" of this category is Trader Vic's food.

HTH,

Okay. Thank-you! This could be interesting!

This came out before Kahiki frozen dinners cornered the market. They were smart to call it "Polynesian Style" rather than Polynesian the same way "Tiki Style" is used instead of tiki.

On 2010-10-16 04:14, jokeiii wrote:

On 2010-10-15 20:41, MadDogMike wrote:
I hope this doesn't bring the wrath of the Tiki Police down on this thread but the Bengal BBQ is only 100 yards away from the Enchanted Tiki Room so hopefully I'm OK.

To be 1000000000000% sure we're safe from the Tiki Police, you need to post the recipe for the Chieftain Chicken Skewers; with it's (delicious) "Polynesian BBQ" sauce you'd be above suspicion for treasonous and anti-Tiki behavior. In fact, Kevin Kidney would probably custom-sculpt something to bop any benighted accusers over the head with.

Just sayin'.

---

-J.

Jokeiii, Brudda Bear put a Facebook link to the recipe in SHOUT! but I'm gonna copy it to here so I can find it later :D He suggested steaming the chicken so it doesn't dry out on the grill.

Bengal BBQ
Tonkatsu Sauce (Chicken Marinade)

Ingredients

Teriyaki Sauce 1 cup
Soy Sauce 1 cup
Red Wine Vinegar 1 tblsp.
Brown Sugar 1 cup
Sherry Cooking Wine 1/2 cup
Whole Bay Leaf 2 each
Ground Black Pepper 1 tblsp.
Fresh Ginger Root 3 tblsp.
Fresh Garlic 2 tblsp.

Preparation

Mix ingredients and marinade chicken overnight in your refrigerator.

Bengal BBQ
Tahitian Sauce (Chicken)

Ingredients

Whole Cloves 4 each
Red Wine Vinegar 1 tblsp.
Catsup 1 cup
Crushed Pineapple 1/2 cup
Pineapple Juice 1/2 cup
Brown Sugar 1/2 cup
Soy Sauce 1/2 cup
Orange Juice Conc. 1/4 cup
Water 3 tblsp.

Preparation

Simmer cloves in vinegar for 5-10 minutes. Strain cloves and add other ingredients.
Bring mixture to slow boil over medium heat.

Thanks Mike! :D Tasty stuff too. That Tahitian sauce is good on burgers or even steak too. Mmmmmmmm

Bear

Is it the will of the people that all food recipes should be woven into this thread? In terms of research, I have some reservations, but I come here to relax and I don't want no trouble.

I'm sure I've seen other food recipe threads.

Professor G, if you want to play it safe you should only post recipes here with some sort of Polynesian or faux Polynesian influence since this is the "Tiki Drinks and Food" forum. If you have recipes for other good eats (like anything with BACON) they should probably be posted in "Beyond Tiki" or "Bilge"

PS, good research - this topic was the subject of an ugly battle a while back

Thanks, Porpoise and MadDogMike,

I started a thread for a Don's Mix-inspired dessert when I was young and brash (two weeks ago) but I've read through the whole grueling "What is Tiki?" thread since then and feel like a grizzled veteran who wants to live quietly and at peace. I'm really glad to see Faux is permitted. I'm excellent at Faux. Thanks for the advice.

Faux Polynesian is Real Tiki, Real Polynesian is only Quasi Tiki :lol:

By the way, I showed your five spice gingerbread recipe to my daughter and she's excited for us to try it. We may take the Sandra Lee "Semi-Home Made" approach and add five spice to a boxed gingerbread mix, hope that's not blasphemy

That made my day.

The box mix will work fine if it's the cake-y style and not the cookie style. The mix will already have ginger, cinnamon and possibly cloves or allspice, so you may need to adjust the amount of 5-spice to suit the familial preference. There: I talked about a food recipe on the food recipe thread, thus earning me some much-needed Tiki team player points.

I really haven't seen much fussines over here at drinks/food, compared to the rest of the TC boards.

like Mike said, just do a search first to see if your intended topic already has an existing thread (unless you won't be troubled by the possibility of somebody complaining that the topic was discussed already for five minutes in 2004 or the like).

Incidentally, here's something else that's cool, Tiki foodwise...

The good folks at America's Test Kitchen (i.e. Cook's Illustrated & Cook's Country) just aired an episode called "Tropical BBQ" and the two recipes they featured were Huli-Huli Chicken and Trader Vic's Chinese spare ribs! (With a little preamble on the whole Polynesian Pop thing.)

Here is a link to the video of the show: http://www.cookscountry.com/videos/Tropical-Barbecue/31665/ and here is the recipe for Huli-Huli chicken (my only gripe is the use of canned pineapple juice...at least use the carton stuff, people!) http://www.cookscountry.com/recipes/Huli-Huli-Chicken/19722/ and here is the recipe for the spare ribs: http://www.cookscountry.com/recipes/Chinese-Style-Barbecued-Spareribs/24912/

Mucho mahalo for all the recipes posted!

Here's another gem from Food Network, Sam Choy's Luau:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/cooking-live/al-fresco-dining-hawaiian-luau/index.html

Recipes include:

No-Imu Kalua Pig
Seafood Laulau
Lomi Tomato Relish
Haupia
Kahuku Corn

Two cool PDFs from Williams Sonoma with "Asian inspired" recipes, the latter also featuring some cocktails.

http://www.williams-sonoma.com/wsimgs/rk/images/rcp-images/pdf/WSAsianCooking.pdf

and

http://www.williams-sonoma.com/wsimgs/rk/images/rcp-images/pdf/AsianParty2005.pdf

Well, shoot, I’ve been browsing around digging on the collected works of Bamboo Ben, Grog, MadDog Mike and others (many others) and now I feel the need to contribute something once again. For your consideration: 2-Tone Mussels. This is drop-dead easy, really tasty and not very expensive plus you end up with a nice mid-century color palate of coral and pale green.

2-Tone Mussels
Twenty-four cooked New Zealand GreenLip Mussels (I find them steamed and frozen on the half-shell [if I can get’em here in the Wastelands, you can probably find them, too].)
1 cup of mayonnaise, divided into two equal portions
1 Tbsp fake wasabi-in-a-tube
2 tsp granulated sugar
2 tsp lime juice
1 Tbsp sri racha sauce

Let the mussels thaw a bit, if frozen. Gently lift the flesh off of the adductor, then set them back down. This makes them more forkable.

Pre-heat your broiler.

Mix one dose of mayo with the fake wasabi (if you can get real wasabi a.) I envy you and b.) please don’t use it in this), sugar and lime juice. Mix the other dose with the sri racha. Customize this as you wish according to your spice level.

Put a dollop of mayo on each mussel. I like to put the wasabi mayo on the orange ones (the females) and the sri racha mayo on the beige (the males). Broil them 4-6 inches from the heat until they are bubbly and start to brown, around four minutes.

Serve them, and this is the hardest part, coral-green-coral-green-etc.

It’s a nice little appetizer, looks good on a plate and can be be readied beforehand so you can hang out with your party.

A food thread? that's new, or is it?

http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=34873&forum=6&start=1395&1407

My researches show the thread to be about a year old. It's a young, innocent thread and the essay I'm about to inflict upon it ("Professor G in . . . The Rumaki Files) is happening through no fault of its own.

This may seem a bit long-winded for an appetizer that hasn’t been chic since the early sixties, but, while I’ve seen a few discussions and fewer recipes (It ain’t rumaki if you use scallops or mushrooms, it’s just bacon-wrapped scallops or mushrooms.) I’ve not seen rumaki handled with the kind of maniacal obsession I like to see in my fellow T. Centralites.

I don’t think you can discuss Tiki Cuisine without addressing rumaki. Like many Tiki creations, both Trader Vic (the Spring Roll Theory) and Don the Beachcomber (the Polynesian Songbird Theory) are credited with (or implicated in) its creation. I personally buy the story that Don Beach came up with the dish to squeeze some kind of profit out of the chicken livers he had to buy because that’s really how chefs and restaurant owners think and also because I trust BeachBum Berry a lot more than I trust Wikipedia. I wouldn’t be surprised to find some of the British “devil-on-horseback” DNA in rumaki, either, but I can’t prove it . . .yet.

You don’t see rumaki too often, although it does make a mini-comeback every now and again, and it’s thought of, by those who’ve heard of it, as a bit of a novelty. During its heyday, however, it was an insanely popular appetizer. Mid-century Americans were friends of the liver in a way we currently are not. For example, behold this buffet centerpiece from a Betty Crocker cookbook: if it looks to you like a hunk of liver sausage shaped like a pineapple and decorated with chaud-froid, olive slices, and a real pineapple top, your vision checks out.

I personally wonder what happened to the rest of the pineapple, but it’s not really any of my business. The point is, festive people in the fifties dug the organ meats. At that time, frugal cooks bought whole chickens and had to figure out how to use whole chickens; also, if they’d ever heard the word cholesterol, they thought it was the name of a Soviet general. Most people now don’t like liver, and do fear cholesterol (but not Soviet generals). Regardless, rumaki is good and three or four, which is plenty, won’t hurt you.

Like the best known Tiki drinks, rumaki strikes all over the palate: it is bitter, sweet, salty, spicy, rich and crunchy all in one mouthful. I’m going to serve it with two sauces: soy and a sri racha aioli.

This first effort is based on the recipe in Taboo Table, which is pretty standard and quite likely to be in the libraries of my intended audience (you). I’ve replaced the sherry with mirin and the pepper sauce with a sri racha; in other words, I’ve replaced the sweet wine with sweet wine and the hot sauce with hot sauce. In the culinary industry, that’s what we call originality. My selections wouldn’t have been readily available, mid-century, but I prefer them in the dish. I’ve also deleted the ground ginger option because I don’t want you to use it.

Professor’s Rumaki #1
12 large chicken livers, halved
4 oz can water chestnuts, drained and halved
12 slices bacon, halved crosswise (not maple)
1 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup mirin
1 tsp sri racha
1 crushed garlic clove
1 Tbsp fresh ginger, peeled and chopped

Fold each liver piece around a water chestnut piece; wrap them up in a half-slice of bacon (really . . . no maple) and secure each thing with a toothpick.

Mix the remaining ingredients.

Marinate the rumaki in the mixture for at least three hours and as long as overnight.

Broil the rumaki until the bacon is crisp (5-6 minutes); flip the rumaki about halfway through, and spin your pan, to ensure even cooking.

Following this recipe, the photo above is what I got.

It all worked. The times, temperature and measurements were all sound. Next time, I’ll quick freeze the livers individually to facilitate handling. I will grill them, because the industrial vent hoods I’m used to at work are not present in my home kitchen. I will marinate them overnight rather than three hours.
Rumaki is not for the timid. It is rich and full flavored and three is about all you need in a portion. It will stand up to any beverage or sauce you pair it with which makes it a useful party/luau starter. In spite of it being a little difficult to assemble, I recommend it.

While I am one of those Liver haters, you done real good Professor G
with your post, it has flavor with just an aftertaste of humor, very nice.

I applaud you with all my appendages!

While I ate my share of chicken (and beef) livers in the 60s, I'm not a fan either. But anything is better with bacon - if I were at your house for dinner (hint, hint :wink: ) I would try one if offered to me :D

Beautifully prepared dish and beautifully written food post.

As a fan of Liverwurst/Braunschweiger, and occasional partaker of other gastronomic vehicles for innards such as Steak & Kidney Pie and Haggis, I would have to say that I would give Rumaki a taste.

Bear

I'm a liver lover (chicken anyway, not so fond of the beef) and I'm disappointed that most grocery stores don't seem to stock them anymore. I made rumaki once for a party and I thought people would be appalled (times being what they are), but they fell on them and they were gone in minutes. Thanks for the recipe Professor G., I'll give it a whirl.

Many thanks for the kind words. I enjoyed the project very much and I got to eat my homework. I plan to continue working on some of the classic recipes and posting the results here.

Someday, MDM, I'm going to have to break out of the Wastelands and go west on a wild cooking spree because there are so many T.C.ers I'd enjoy cooking for. And CTIT, I will have innard-free options on the menu. S.D. Tiki, your find of the old menus on-line has been a big help. Bear, if you like liverwurst, you'll dig the rumaki.

Rumaki has always been a favorite of mine going all the way back to the mid 1960's when I was literally living out of my paperback copy of "The James Beard Cookbook"(First Edition-circa 1959). I modified one of his recipes (I think it was for chicken hearts) and used it to make Rumaki using either chicken livers or chunks of chicken tenderloin.

RUMAKI a la BEARD:

Equal parts:
Olive Oil
Dry Sherry
Soy Sauce

Add any or all the seasonings below to the mixture:
Garlic powder, dry mustard & curry powder to taste.

Chicken livers halved or chicken tenderloin cut up
Bacon partially cooked (NOT CRISP - just nice and soft)and cut in half cross-wise

Water chestnuts halved.

Marinate the meat for 3 to 4 hours (Not the Bacon)

Wrap a piece of liver or chicken around a water chestnut half, wrap with bacon strip and secure
with a wooden toothpick.

Broil for 2-3 minutes per side.

I began making these in 1966 with this recipe and still do to this day.

I bet you feel more like you do now now than you did when you came in.

GH

[ Edited by: gentlehangman 2011-12-18 13:11 ]

[ Edited by: gentlehangman 2011-12-19 11:05 ]

In one impossibly retro-chic place I dimly remember rumaki made with foie gras bits. Ridiculously good.

Carry on.

That's tougher than it sounds, Joke, and the cook's skills must have been formidable: overheat foie gras and it just flat melts away. I believe I read that Donn Beach did use duck livers in his rumaki on some occasions. My one highly personal reservation is that I'm not sure you need to make rumaki out of anything generally considered desirable. I may not be the best judge; I can do retro and I'm superb at faux, but I'm a long, long way from chic.

By the way, Gentle Hangman, I'm intrigued by the curry flavor in your take on rumaki. I may try a curry aioli instead of the sri racha next time.

[ Edited by: Professor G 2011-12-17 21:43 ]