Want to help me plan a Tiki Luau themed cocktail party

[FoodMuse]

Hi all,

I'm hosting a cocktail party for some lovely NYC food bloggers. Want to help me plan some dishes?

The theme is Tiki, Hawaiian, Luau! I'm keeping it loose so that know one feels overwhelmed with authenticity. I'm heading more in the Trader Vic direction. Pretty much anything tasty goes!

So far, I'm thinking

• Musubi. This is where the theme came from. When I was in Honolulu I was obsessed with this spam "sushi" that you could pickup at any 7-Eleven.
  
• Some sort of sticky chicken wings.
  
• Dishes that use coconut, pineapple and macadamia nuts. Maybe even serving out of coconuts.
  
• Kahlua pork. I cook pork shoulders often for parties, because it's so easy to make a day or two before and serve with a great sauce. I've never made kahlua pork. Any advice?
  

It would be hilarious to put out macaroni salad, because in Hawaii it's on every plate lunch you get from side of the road food trucks, along with a massive amount of white rice. I doubt I will, it would probably lost on anyone who's never been to Hawaii.

Thoughts? Do you have any nostalgic Hawaiian or Tiki lounge food and drink memories?

Grace

[David A. Goldfarb]

Shave ice with vanilla ice cream, adzuki beans, and flavored syrups, maybe spiked with something interesting. I think it's possible to rent an ice shaver.

Quail egg loco moco sliders?

I don't know if there's any source for poi in New York--maybe L&L sells it by the pint. There's one down near city hall and one I think in Hell's Kitchen.

[FoodMuse]

Poi? Ack. I don't know. Do you really like it? Can I make a fake poi?

A dish that looks like poi, but isn't?

Shave ice cocktail!!

[natasha1270]

This is a fun little cookbook: Entertaining Hawaiian Style

For a Tiki/Trader Vic vibe maybe Teriyaki Meatballs or Rumaki, Sweet & Sour Pork, Chicken Long Rice. Why not macaroni salad? Poke is very popular, too.

I picked up this recipe for Huli-Huli Chicken from some magazine long ago and we love it:

Huli-Huli Chicken

3/4 c ketchup

1/3 c soy sauce

3 tbsp packed brown sugar

3 tbsp lime juice or mirin

1 tbsp grated giner

4 cloves garlic

Marinate chicken or pork 20 min to 24 hr. Bake or Grill.

serve with sauce (reserved pre-marinade) & lime qtrs.

[FoodMuse]

Thanks Natasha!

I want a mix of Tiki Americanized and a little Japanese and true Luau. That recipe sounds like fun.

[David A. Goldfarb]

Poke! There is an annual poke competition on Moloka'i, and as I recall the winning recipes are usually published in the _Moloka'i Dispatch_ and should be available on their website. Of course a lot of it is about the freshness of the local fish, but I've had good salmon and tuna poke that could be made on the east coast.

About poi, someone wrote a good article a while back saying the key to poi was how good it was with fried spam on top. Can two wrongs make a right? In Hawai'i you can buy poi by the number of days it has aged, as it gets more sour as it ages. I tend to favor the fresher bags.

[Lisa Shock]

I suggest getting ahold of the original Trader Vic's cookbook. Green Goddess salad is a must.

[judiu]

Poi? Ack. I don't know. Do you really like it? Can I make a fake poi?

A dish that looks like poi, but isn't?

Shave ice cocktail!!

Mashed potatoes with a drop of red and a drop of blue food color to mimic the violet tinge?

[FoodMuse]

There shall be poke! I've seen some great recipes that add diced ripe avocado. That sounds good.

I'm all about having most foods for a party cooked or prepped so I can have a good time too. I have a dinky NY kitchen that doesn't allow for interacting with guests. I want everything done ahead with little to do before serving.

Are there tiki/luau dips?

[AAQuesada]

This is my glaze for Island flavored wings

Island Marinade

Kecap Manis 100%

Catsup 100%

Shao xing 50 %

Garlic 5 %

Ginger 5 %

For use as a glaze: combine ingredients

For sauce: in a pot over med heat w\ 1T oil add aromatics. Add wet.

Simmer 5 min.

NOTE: SUBS.. Sherry wine for Shao xing. Equal parts, Soy and Brown sugar for Kecap Manis. It's worth trying to find the original ingredients though.

Just prepare wings your favorite way, fry crispy or grill/broil. Then brush or toss in a bowl with the sauce.

Finish with something crunchy..sesame seeds, bubu arare, toasted rice powder ad infinitum..

[Raoul Duke]

Kalbi ribs a must do pupu, easy to cook and easy to grind.

Maybe some pork adobo cubes.

Lomi Lomi salmon fo real.

Garlic shrimp are big now on all the kau kau trucks.

Pipikaula.

Check out recipes from Sam Choy, Roy Yamaguchi, Peter Merriman, Alan Wong...........

[Chris Amirault]

It's important to distinguish between Hawaiian/luau food and tiki food. One can pretty reasonably claim a link to indigenous, authentic cuisine of Hawaii; the other is an invention largely of Donn Beach (born Ernest Raymond Beaumont Gantt), Vic Bergeron, and a large, unacknowledged group of Cantonese chefs working for them who essentially defined tiki food.

As someone who has researched the early menus of their restaurants, I assure you that there wasn't much poi, if any, but there were pupu platters aplenty. You could decide to do a mashup of both, of course, but I submit that it's worth recognizing the difference.

[FrogPrincesse]

There have been a lot of great suggestions already. That sounds like a great party!

The menu from this upcoming Vintage Vic's Dinner event at Trader Vic's has a few classic tiki dishes that you may want to consider as well.

[Clark D]

I can give you a little advice for the Kalua Pork (not entirely authentic but popular.....). I make it fairly often. Are you planning on making it in a smoker or slow cooker? My personal preference is definately in a smoker but either will turn out well.

First I take the skin off for kalua pork. Then I make slits in the pork running perpendicular to the bone, about half an inch deep and 1 inch apart. Do this on both sides and fill the slits with cloves of garlic and slices of fresh ginger. Then rub the entire shoulder with a combination of Hawaian red clay saly and black lavva salt. If you don't have or can't get just use any coars salt. Loosely wrap it in banana leaves and cook it away. I say looseley wrap it so there is better smoke penetration on the smaoker. If you're using a slow cooker or the oven feel free to wrap it tight and even tie it up if you prefer. When it is done and falling apart pull it and leave the garlic cloves and ginger slices in there, they add a lot. I also add about a tablespoon of a simple finishing sauce to each handful or so of pulled pork.

Other things I would suggeest:

- Haupia Pie or even just haupia slices but the pie topped with mango is always a big hit

- Poke and the loco moco as mentioned!

- Saimin (so freaking good!)

- Teriyaki Beef

- Smoked rotiss chicken

- Crab Cakesor seared tuna with a coconut cream sauce

- Lemongrass and ginger clams (or swimming scallops)

- Fried Rice

Just a few thoughts.....

Clark

[mathewr]

You can make a coconut milk ice cream and put them in mini coconut shells.

[Clark D]

I tracked down a couple of pictures of one of the times we did Kalua pork for reference to the post just above.

Sorry for the small pictures they were all I had.....

Clark

[Clark D]

Couple more ideas for some of the ingredients you mentioned above:

Macadamis Nut Cream Pie

Macadamia Nut crusted fish with a mac nut pesto

Papaya with pineapple, passion fruit, mac nuts, and coconut inside

[suzilightning]

one word...SPAM.

spam and pineapple skewers on the pupu platter?

spam poke?

sounds like a great time. i have a sushi cat drink glass if you would like it...johnnybird got it someplace in ca when he was out there on business.

[FoodMuse]

Chris,

Thanks for the bit of history on Hawaiian/luau food vs. tiki food. I'm sure we'll go with a mashup, but now you've sent me down a few internet rabbit holes reading up on those chefs.

suzilightning

Spam? Hell yeah!! Musubi.

Clark D

Thank for pork advice and pics. Looks great.

Raoul Duke

Lomi Lomi salmom. Brilliant idea.

[Clark D]

One more thing I forgot with the pork. we usually slice up an onion and place it on top of the shoulder, drizzled with olive oil. Adds some really nice flavor.

Clark

Edited March 10, 2011 by Clark D (log)