Do You PuPu?

Believe it or not I am finally holding my first organized tiki party. This is compared to the usual "let's go over to Lee's place and beg for booze". So, am thinking I should actually serve some food. I have Taboo Table, and will probably use a few things from there, but I KNOW you tikiphiles have your personal favorite PuPu recipes. Care to share?

Let the foodfest begin!

Lee
(I-Tiki)

Bacon!

Wrap things in bacon! Anything! Bacon wrapped things are the first things gone when we host a shindig.

Mock-Rumaki

Waterchestnuts soaked in teriayaki
Wrap in bacon and skewer with toothpick
Cook until your guests begin to lick the oven door.
Serve.

Another big hit is a recipe we modified from Duke's Place in Long Beach and we call Pono-Pokos:

Cream cheese, chives, chopped macadamia nuts, crab meat (optional, but very tasty!)
Place small amount on a won-ton wrapper and fold into an interesting shape (like dumplings, be creative)
Deep Fry until golden brown.
Serve with various dipping sauces. (be creative again)

The filling can be made a day or two in advance. The whole thing can be made a couple of hours in advance if you keep the finished product in the oven on warm.

Sabu's Secret Chicken

I've yet to find someone who didn't like them.

I cast Necromancy on this thread!

With a semi-major birthday coming up at the end of the month, and the custom at the office being to bring in your own treats for the others on your birthday, I've decided to put my recently-acquired pupu platter to good use!

The menu I have so far includes tuna poke with water crackers, satay chicken, fried spring rolls, char siu spareribs, grilled shrimp on skewers with pineapple, and I'm thinking of trying the Pono-Pokos above, as they sound like an excellent take on crab rangoon - Either that or a batch of rumaki.

I think my co-workers will be pleased with the above selection, unless someone can suggest better options?

Bam Bam, heres the recipe for Sabus spicy coconut chicken Skewers
1/2 C Apricot Jam
1/4 C dijon Mustard
1/2 C canned Coconut Milk
1/4 C Orange Juice
2 Tblspns Curry powder
1/4 Teaspoon Cayenne Pepper (heaping)
4 boneless Chicken breasts
1 C shredded sweetened coconut
Wooden skewers

Combine all ingredients except chicken and coconut, in a saucepan.
Heat while stirring until boiling
Reduce heat to medium low and allow marinade to reduce somewhat, (about 15 minutes), stirring frequently. Put chicken breasts in a pan and pour most of the marinade on top, saving some for later. Make sure both sides of chicken are covered and let sit in fridge at least 2 hours ( better overnight)

Toast coconut on a baking sheet(350 degree) turning coconut periodically so that it is a light brown.

Grill breasts until done, brushing with marinade in the pan.

Slice in 3rds lengthwise. Skewer each strip and brush with reserve marinade.
Roll skewers in toasted coconut and serve on Ti Leaf.
Btw,When you’re my age every birfday is a major one.
Cheers

[ Edited by: nui 'umi 'umi 2019-10-18 00:20 ]

Thank you, that sounds wonderful! I think I will do that in place of the peanut satay chicken.

Pics to follow the party!

I vote for Sabu's Chicken, it is delicious!

Spam Musubi is very popular Hawaii but they are kind of big for an appetizer so I make Musubi Bites. From the hardware store I got a piece of brass plumbing pipe about 1.5 inches in diameter and cut a ring about an inch tall. I used this ring to cut and mold small Musubis

I recently made Ahi Poke in Cucumber Cups that went over well

Any kind of pre-made Spring Rolls or Egg Roll slices and dipping sauces are a quick way to add some variety to your platter

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=10V5jp8ObmQ

:up: :lol:

Finally got some pictures of the freshly-restored vintage Pupu Platter and hibachi! Sorry, no before shots - just imagine them coated in a sticky layer of ancient kitchen grease and dust accumulated over the last 40 years.

Monkeypod(?) six-compartment tray on a lazy susan. Label remnants on the underside of the foot confirms its origins in the Philippines. The original screws holding on the hardware fell out as I began to clean off the gunk, but that worked out since it let me get to places otherwise inaccessible. Bearings freshly lubricated, it spins like mad.

The traditional mini-hibachi. The interior of the kettle was coated in rust - a quick job for a Dremel and a wire brush; slow-going to re-season the cast iron. There was so much built-up patina on the underside of the grill that the "TAIWAN" lettering was completely obscured. Stripped the black finish off the wooden base and re-finished with some red stain and paste wax over a couple coats of polyurethane. Drilled out the plugged-up holes in the base so they more easily accept a bamboo skewer.

I decided I needed to make a test batch of some of the dishes, especially the ribs and the spring rolls, so, pupus for Sunday lunch it was! Happily, the family was quite satisfied with how things turned out. I realized at the last moment that I had no duck sauce on hand, but after a moment's research discovered I had everything to make some myself. Pineapple duck sauce and fried won-ton strips on the side (finally found a good use for the fish-face goblets!), platter piled with Char Siu pork spareribs, Thai vegetable spring rolls, Crab Rangoon in two styles, five-spice grilled chicken, and pineapple-marinated shrimp skewers. No Sterno, so two charcoal briquettes did the job of providing heat nicely.

My Brother-in-law stopped by later, after I cleaned up the platter, so I made up a plate for him with banana leaf liners and a cucumber for a skewer base.

Prepped a batch of the Pono-Pokos last night, and the spring rolls this evening. Both are in the freezer, ready-to-fry. More pics after Monday's lunch next week!

Very nice Bam Bam!

Bab Bam, Dat rascal Mike stole my words.
Cheers

[ Edited by: nui 'umi 'umi 2019-10-22 23:03 ]

Love it Bam Bam.

Thanks guys! Would you believe this is my first attempt at "authentic" Chinese-American cuisine? It's a lot of prep work, but if you follow directions the pieces fall into place pretty easily. Frying up won-tons and strips is pretty satisfying, actually. I'm a little worried about timing out everything on Monday morning - I may have to get up at 3AM and start roasting the ribs to get them done in time!

The key is to prep everything days before.
You can make sauces days before and just reheat.
A big help is to put the in the fridg in the same bowls you will serve the sauce in so at party time it's just heat take off the wrap and serve.
All the vegetables can be diced striped days ahead.

And any leaves can be washed and stored in the fridg for days ready to go.

Crab Rangoon filling can be made days ahead.

The ribs too can be made a day or two before and reheated.
Fried rice can be made ahead or even buy it already made at GFS.

All serving and plates put out at the ready so you are not running around looking for them.
Limes lemons cut, juices, juiced.
Ice already crushed days ahead.

Even your garnishes can be done early.

Prep is key.
I know I did this at many restaurants over the years.

This is how the restaurants do it, most of the time the food items are best when they have a day or two to get all the spices blended/mixed in your dishes.

Always made our bean soup a full week ahead and it was much better that way.

good luck.

Thanks for the pointers, Skip. I'll definitely be doing as much of the work as I can this weekend. The Char Siu is the most labor-intensive dish, so that will probably get made Sunday afternoon. My concern with re-heating is that I'm not going to have much setup time, and all we have at the office is a small microwave. My Sister says she actually prefers the spring rolls cold, so that may not be an issue if I can't re-heat them in the limited time.

Skip has definitely got it right. I've never run several restaurant like he has but I enjoy entertaining. Figure out what can be bought pre-made like sauces then doctor them up a bit fresh citrus or extra spices. Then prep anything you can in advance

Well, that was a Marathon! Pre-cooked the ribs and skewered meats and prepped the Poke on Sunday, then this morning got up early to fry the wontons, Pono-Pokos, and spring rolls before work. By all accounts the food was a success! It's a shame, though, that I made enough for ten people and only five showed up, so a lot went home in doggie bags. At least everyone tried a little bit of everything - even the Poke, which I made with tuna from a local sushi bar, and legit Hawaiian Ogo and Alaea salt (as well as other flavorings).

What started out as an excuse to buy and use a Pupu Platter ended up spilling out over an entire tabletop!

Forgoing booze for an office lunch, I made a mocktail with ginger & chili syrup, lime juice, angostura bitters, and club soda - it went over well.

The atmosphere was completed with the help of the playlist posted HERE.

Thank you all again for your suggestions and help!

What started out as an excuse to buy and use a Pupu Platter ended up spilling out over an entire tabletop!

Isn't that the way it goes? :lol: Oh well, anything worth doing is worth doing to the point of wretched excess :D