Friday, April 20, 2012

Rumaki

Perfect Pairing:  Retro night
rumaki

When I get hooked on a TV show, I am loyal.  I have been known to continue watching something long after it has lost its original appeal (ahem, Bachelor).  While I may not be proud of all of the content on my DVR, there are a few shows I would highly recommend.  My latest obsession is Game of Thrones on HBO.  I started reading the books last winter and ordered HBO with the sole purpose of watching Season 1 On Demand.  Totally worth it.  That show is phenomenal.
Another great one is Mad Men on AMC.  There is something about that show that just drags you in.  I love the 60’s clothing, hair, sets, etc.  Don Draper doesn’t suck either.  After the fourth season Mad Men went on a 17 month hiatus.  This caused a lot of excitement around the premiere of the new season in March.  To celebrate the return of the beloved series, my dear friend had a retro-themed premiere party.  Originally we discussed dressing in Betty Draper-esque garb but that did not last long.  We decided to focus on retro food.  Some of the theme food included tuna casserole, wedge salad, ambrosia salad, deviled eggs, and rumaki.  Everything was fantastic!
What is rumaki, you ask?  Well Wikipedia tells me that rumaki is an hors d'oeuvre of mock-Polynesian origin. It was most likely invented by Victor Bergeron, known as Trader Vic.  Its ingredients and method of preparation vary, but usually it consists of water chestnuts and pieces of duck or chicken liver wrapped in bacon and marinated in soy sauce and either ginger or brown sugar.  I chose to stray from the original version with liver.  I was not that committed to authenticity. 

I made two versions of rumaki, one with water chestnuts and green onions and one with pineapple chunks.  I used the same sauce on both.  Yum!  How can you go wrong?  Bacon wrapped anything has to be good.

It makes sense that the Perfect Pairing for rumaki is a retro night!  Is there anything more retro than rumaki?  At least that is what I am told. 

Rumaki
Lindsay at Perfecting the Pairing

Ingredients:
·         ½ lb bacon, strips cut into thirds
·         1 small can whole water chestnuts, drained and halved
·         1 small bunch of green onions, cut into 1 inch pieces
·         1 small can pineapple chunks, drained
·         2 Tb ketchup
·         3 Tb soy sauce
·         1 Tb Dijon mustard
·         2 tsp brown sugar
·         1 tsp sriracha sauce
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Cover a baking sheet with foil.  Place a cooling rack over the foil.
Wrap bacon around ½ water chestnut and a couple pieces of green onion.  Secure with toothpick.  For the sweet version, wrap bacon around pineapple chunk and secure with toothpick.  Repeat until ingredients are gone. 
In a small bowl, combine the ketchup, soy sauce, mustard, sugar, and sriracha sauce.  Stir with a fork until evenly combined.
Scatter rumaki on the baking sheet that has been covered in foil and the cooling rack.  Brush on the sauce using a pastry brush.
Bake 20-30 minutes, or until the bacon is crispy.

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