Chinese Dish Suitable for 300 People?

[thdad]

I was looking through hzrt8w's great pictorials and got to thinking if any of those recipes or any other Chinese recipes could be modified to feed about 300 people in my church?

There is a massively huge gas fired aluminum tilting kettle (which I used to make tomato sauce before after asking about it's safety in another post) that could double as a wok (the bottom is smooth and concave).

With some pre-planning and prepping of some cooking steps, the actual stir-frying part could be done in large batches in the kettle. I was wondering if there were recipes that would convert well to this kind of high-volume cooking?

The church has rice cookers, so white rice will be served along with the entree.

[Carlovski]

I'm sure someone more knowledgeable can come up with some decent ideas, but I'd give up on any ideas about using the kettle like a wok - you just can't stirfry that amount of food, and anyway, I doubt it would get anywhere near hot enough.

You are probably better off cooking some sort of braised pork dish.

[CFT]

You could serve up poon choi (pen cai): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poon_choi

http://members.virtualtourist.com/m/211be/1086ae/

http://umami.typepad.com/umami/2006/06/tam_kah_sharksf.html

Edited March 27, 2007 by CFT (log)

[Gastro888]

How adventurous are these diners? If they're not so much and since you have a big kettle, why not do wonton soup or "water dumplings" (dumplings in soup)? I wouldn't suggest stir-frying in a kettle as the dimensions of the kettle are not similar to the wok - you might end up boiling/simmering your food instead.

I don't know what your labor or cost budgets are but wonton soup is relatively inexpensive when compared to a protein rich dish (say beef with broccoli) and can be made in advance over the course of a few days. You can add blanched greens and/or noodles to each bowl to make it more filling or have plain wonton soup, sesame noodles (cooked Chinese egg noodles dressed w/ soy sauce, rice vinegar, sesame oil, sesame seeds, julinenned scallions), blanched Chinese greens with oyster sauce on top and fruit for dessert. With 300 people eating, I'd try to keep it as simple as possible so you don't kill yourself.

[XiaoLing]

I was just about to write the same thing that Gastro wrote.

Dumplings and wontons are definitely a wise choice because you can make them in advance.

However, if you're looking for a dish to make, you can always make a stewed dish. That way it can also be made in advance in several pots and then just heat them up as you serve the food over white rice.

[jo-mel]

My first thought was a form of Lions Head Meatballs (pork or beef meatballs braised with cabbage.)

I've made them for groups of 40, BUT instead of having the lion-sized meatballs, I made them small regular meatball size. They can be braised in the oven rather than on the top of the stove. Bok choy or napa cabbage could be braised rather than the strong aroma of round cabbage.

Or some sort of Sweet/Sour Meatball. The meatballs can be made way ahead and frozen, or a few days ahead and refrigerated. A sauce can be done ahead, but thickened at the last minute.

[jo-mel]

Chicken wings? Red cooked or braised in a Sweet/Sour or Oyster, or Hoisin sauce?

[I_call_the_duck]

I like the ideas mentioned so far.

I was thinking of chicken wings braised in soy sauce and star anise. I haven't made them myself, but my mom walked me through the steps. It's generally inexpensive, and can be easily scaled for a larger crowd. What's more, it's better if made ahead of time to let the flavors mingle. They can be eaten either hot or at room temperature. Heck, sometimes I just eat them straight from the fridge.

edited to add: Ah, jo-mel, you beat me to the punch!

Edited March 27, 2007 by I_call_the_duck (log)

[Ben Hong]

Sweet and sour chicken balls with chicken fried rice. Something that will absolute be eaten by everyone of of those 300.

[CFT]

Chicken + chicken Ben? What's for afters, egg custard?

[Dejah]

Chicken + chicken Ben? What's for afters, egg custard?

←

The custard would be easy enough to do in large trays, and made a day ahead. It's the shells that would require YOUR help.

If you make the chicken balls with bread crumbs instead of batter, it can be done. Let's see, six meat balls / person x 300 = 1800 - easy!

[sheetz]

I can't even imagine cooking for 300! I say go to Costco and buy their mega sized bags of frozen meatballs and gallon sized containers of sweet and sour sauce. Toss in some stirfried onions, peppers, and canned pineapple and voila! sweet and sour meatballs.

[Ben Hong]

? What's for afters, egg custard?

←

Afters? I'd go for efficiency and authenticity. A couple of crates of Sunkist Navel oranges sliced into sections ala Chinoise

[Fat Guy]

thdad, can you be a little more specific about the task at hand? Are you preparing a complete meal, and if so how many courses? Do you specifically want to use the kettle for all the cooking, or do you have ovens, etc., also available? Do you have budgetary, dietary or other constraints?

[jo-mel]

Calling Duck---- I was just quicker with the clicker finger!

Dessert? Plain icecream with a sweet ginger sauce --- and almond cookies? Can you but those cookies in bulk?

I wish chocolate was Chinese. I always cross the twain and make orange - ginger brownies.

[thdad]

thdad, can you be a little more specific about the task at hand? Are you preparing a complete meal, and if so how many courses? Do you specifically want to use the kettle for all the cooking, or do you have ovens, etc., also available? Do you have budgetary, dietary or other constraints?

←

Fat Guy,

Sorry for the late reply.

The meal is for an after service church lunch, so nothing fancy or wild. I am thinking of a main dish to go along with white rice and a soup.

The diners are all Asian, so there are no restrictions with regard to using spices and whatnot. There is a budget limit, which is usually supplemented by whoever prepares the lunch for that day.

In terms of the equipment available for use in the kitchen:

Commercial gas range with four burners

One low height burner for large stock pot

One gas fired kettle

Four large capacity electric rice cookers

[herbacidal]

Assuming you have minimal kitchen help, I'd agree that the wok-prepared dishes are not your best bet.

Stewed dishes or the wonton soup sound like the most reasonable.