Rumaki

The Rumaki is a nutritionally rich starter or appetizer, made with marinated chicken livers and water chestnuts, which are wrapped in bacon, and are served on a toothpick. The appetizer is usually one bite size. It is usually served in many tiki restaurants, parties and holiday celebrations. Over the years, a wide variety of adaptations have been made to the recipe, resulting in many interpretations of the dish.

The classic Rumaki is usually made with marinated chicken livers and water chestnuts in a sweet spicy sauce. The components of this marinade vary depending on the recipe, but often include soy or teriyaki sauce, brown sugar and spices such as ginger and garlic. Once marinated, livers and water chestnuts are then wrapped in a piece of bacon, punched with a toothpick to keep the three elements together and to the net in an oven until the bacon is crisp. After grilling, the Rumaki is usually served immediately, even on toothpicks.

• Wash the liver and dry. Garnish with salt, garlic powder and soy sauce.
• In a medium saucepan put the cups of water, star anise, chives and salt. When the water has five minutes boiling add the liver and boil a maximum of three minutes. You should be careful because the livers are soft and tend to break.
• Remove the livers and put them in the refrigerator without cutting until they are completely cold. While the livers are cooling cut the chestnuts into two parts and the bacon in half longitudinally.

• When the liver is cold, put a bacon slice on a table or flat surface, at the end of the bacon slice, put a half chestnut and a liver, wind it tightly, secure it with a stick through the bacon, chestnut and liver.
• First option: put in the oven to brown until the bacon is golden.
• Second option: In a frying pan be careful not to undo the chopsticks until the bacon is browned.
• Serve with soy sauce.