Bacon Wrapped Spicy Ginger Water Chestnuts

Tags: American Cuisine, bacon, ginger, nuts

A Little Personal History:

Another great appetizer that will be the talk of the party.

Description:

Categories:	Appetizer
Servings:	16 appetizers
Time:	– Preparation:   15 minutes – Cooking:         30 minutes (assume candied ginger is dried)
Equipment:	Measuring cups and spoons, scissors, 1 small mixing bowl, toothpicks, cookie sheet, paper towels, warming tray
Difficulty	Easy

Ingredients:

• ¼ cup soy sauce
• ⅛ teaspoon wasabi (more or less to taste)
• 1 (8 oz.) can whole water chestnuts, drained
• ¼ cup Candied Ginger, baked dry
• 8 slices bacon, cut into fourths
• Butter or oil spray

Procedure:

1. Cut bacon, with scissors, and set aside on plate.
2. If necessary, in 325° F. pre-heated oven, bake candied ginger on cookie sheet for 20-30 minutes or until dried enough to crumble into coarse sugar.
3. In small mixing bowl, blend together soy sauce and wasabi. Add water chestnuts and marinade, refrigerated, at least 30 minutes.
4. Drain chestnuts and roll each in candied ginger. Save soy/wasabi in small dish for dipping.
5. Wrap each water chestnut with 2 pieces of bacon, left to right, top to bottom. securing with a toothpicks.
6. Lightly grease cookie sheet or shallow baking pan with butter or spray and arrange wrapped chestnuts.
7. Pre-heat oven at 400°F.
8. Bake for 30 minutes or until bacon is golden brown. Drain on paper towels, remove one of toothpicks (keep other for something to hold onto as necessary).
9. Transfer to warming tray to keep hot.

Advanced Preparation:

• Steps 1 – 5 can be done in advance, covered and refrigerated till ready to bake.

Tips, Notes, and Variations:

• If you’d rather not have this appetizer spicy, eliminate the wasabi. You can also replace the candied ginger with granulated sugar.