Japanese themed birthday party

[Clienta]

My husband & I are hosting a Japanese themed birthday party June 30, 2007. There will be 40 adults & 10 children in attendance. The menu includes: snacks of edamame & wasabi peas; chicken & pineapple teriyaki appetizer kebobs; Teppan Yaki of chicken, steak, shrimp & vegetables; rice; a bok choy & cabbage salad with a sweet soy dressing, a cold soba noodle salad & mixed green salad & vegetables with two dressings on the side, one ginger & one sesame; & for dessert "sushi".

I have found dessert sushi recipes made with fruit roll ups (nori), pound cake & rice crispie treats (rice) & swedish fish, licorice & gummie candies (fish & vegetables) with chocolate sprinkles (sesame seeds). I want to make some of these "rolls" & "pieces". I think they would look great on sushi platters but they are not my idea of a delicious birthday dessert. I am thinking more along the lines of a cake frosted to look like a sushi platter with pieces of sushi, sashimi, ginger, wasabi, shaved cucumber, radish flowers & a set of chop sticks on top. I am not interested in marzipan but would love some delicious ideas, suggestions & or recipes to create this "sushi" platter. Any other menu suggestions are welcome too! I am new to this board, this is my first post/thread. I look forward to hearing from other members. Thanks!

 

[buckytom]

welcome clienta.

i'm not sure how workable it is, but you could try using mochi in place of marzipan.

the closest thing i can compare mochi to is marshmallow.

 

[Clienta]

Thank you.

That is a good idea. I will definitely look into it!

 

[urmaniac13]

I don't know... mochi is ultra compacted brick of rice, very very sticky and I imagine it would be quite unmanageable if you want to make some shapes... have you ever seen how they are made? Pretty wacky...

Mochi pounding

(can you imagine if these two get their timing wrong? Can get ugly.. OUCH!)

 

[evenstranger]

Check this out... this is too cool. Chocolate sushi!

 

[Clienta]

Dessert sushi

I watched the Mochi videos & looked into it. I think I'm going to pursue the chocolate sushi ideas. Personally, I am a chocolate person so it sounds much tastier to me. I am going to do a trial run before the birthday bash. I am in Mexico now & won't be back in the States until mid May. I can't find a lot of baking ingredients down here so I'll have to wait until then. I will let you all know how it turns out. Thank you for your responses & ideas!

 

[college_cook]

Why don't you serve an assortment of Petit Fours on a sushi boat? If you're not familiar with Petit Fours, they're basically just bit-sized pastries or small cakes or cookies, served buffet-style, and sort of made to look nice.

Here's the Wikipedia page for it:

Petit four - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

and the included picture courtesy of Wikipedia:

 

[Claire]

After such an ambitious undertaking, I would make a simple fruit desert. Most of the Asian deserts I've had are not that great. I'm not a desert person anyway. So I'd make a big bowl of melon balls. Something I like; something simple. Artistic presentation is everything in Japanese cooking. If mint is in season, garnish it with mint leaves, if not, place it on a bed of lettuce.

 

[CherryRed]

My husband & I are hosting a Japanese themed birthday party June 30, 2007. There will be 40 adults & 10 children in attendance. The menu includes: snacks of edamame & wasabi peas; chicken & pineapple teriyaki appetizer kebobs; Teppan Yaki of chicken, steak, shrimp & vegetables; rice; a bok choy & cabbage salad with a sweet soy dressing, a cold soba noodle salad & mixed green salad & vegetables with two dressings on the side, one ginger & one sesame; & for dessert "sushi".

Hello!

Just curious, do you make your own ginger dressing or is it store bought? I've been looking for a good one in grocery stores, Asian markets, and everywhere else I can think of, but none are as good as the kind they serve at Japanese restaurants. I haven't had much luck finding recipes either.

 

[Claire]

Cherry, you may not even be following this thread at this point, but I like Newman's Own when I'm too lazy to make my own. Because I like spicy-hot food, I often add a touch of a favorite hot pepper sauce or some chopped hot pepper. But it is pretty good (and yes, shame shame shame on me, it is what they put in their Asian salad at McD's!)

 

[Clienta]

My Asian themed party was great fun & my dessert sushi was tasty & looked like sushi. Thank you to everyone with advice & ideas, I really appreciated it.

 

[mrochester95]

McD's Asian salad is newman's own??? You're kidding me!

 

[Constance]

My mother had a Japanese themed birthday party for me when I was a little girl, and she decorated my birthday cake like a large chrysanthemum bloom. It was beautiful!
She used that glossy kind of frosting that (I think) has egg whites in it.

 

[babetoo]

just added newmans own ginger sesame dressing to my list. only had low fat on the site i use. is that it?