Sunday, June 14, 2009

Asian Themed Menu for an Impromtu Crowd

I had a fun day in the kitchen yesterday. We were hosting an impromptu small crowd and I was planning on serving up gyoza, chicken lettuce wraps and a slaw. The chicken breasts were steamed and the dressings made, but when my husband tucked into the stash of gyoza I knew I would need another item ASAP - friends were expected at our home within 45 minutes.

Ginger-Jalapeno Rice Appetizers came to the rescue! A cup of long grain rice was cooked within 15 minutes. While it cooked I made the panade (egg, flour, ginger, jalapeno), lime-cilantro aioli and cut thin rounds of jalapeno for decoration. Once the rice was done, I quickly mixed the rice into the panade, spread it on a sheet pan and reserved it in the fridge whilst awaiting the arrival of our guests. Once they arrived, I heated up a tablespoon of canola oil in a nonstick pan, broke off bite sized pieces of the rice mixture and fried them up. After they drained a bit on paper towel, I transferred them to a serving plate, topped them with a dab of aioli and a jalapeno round and served them up. If only I had taken pictures!

Should you ever need an easy Asian menu, I really liked this one:

Ginger Jalapeno Rice Cakes
Asian Chicken Lettuce Wraps
Asian Slaw

Beef of the menu with either:
Gyoza
Asian Beef Satay
Cantonesse Pork Tenderloin Strips

No comments: