Of all the Tiki Week dishes, shrimp toast was probably my favorite growing up, and not because I loved shrimp. In normal Tiki style, the main ingredient in this dish is not really the point. The shrimp, flavored with scallions, garlic, sesame, and soy, ends up more as a vehicle for ensuring that all the aromatics are stuck nicely to the "toast." And I put that in quotes, because it's not often that the word "toast" refers to "deep fried bread." More
A couple weeks ago, I asked the folks over on my Facebook Page what their favorite Chinese restaurant appetizer is. I was expecting dumplings, spring rolls, perhaps hot and sour soup. What I got instead was a deluge of crab rangoon, with more than twice as many votes as any other dish. More
Putting authenticity aside, the things can still be quite delicious, the key word being can. At their best, they're sweet and savory with a faint aroma of pineapple and tender, meaty, charred beef. More often though, they're dry and salty with a distinct flavor that whispers "reheated". More
It's not clear where crispy, crunchy, and nutty, coconut shrimp entered the snack-food lexicon—they might be caribbean, possibly Polynesian, or most likely, a purely American tiki-bar invention—but they're popular enough that you'll find'em everywhere from Thai restaurants to Irish pubs. More
