By Request Betty Shimabukuro

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Party kebabs fill menu
from start to finish

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Food on a stick may be the best party food, so long as your guests can be kept from playing dueling swordsmen with the pointy skewers.

Kebabs and BBQ sticks can be picked up on the buffet line, their morsels consumed and the sticks discarded, with no need for dishes or utensils. Holding a drink in the other hand is no problem.

They're perfect for the stand-around-and-eat-type party. And don't think only of pupus and cocktails. This idea can be carried all the way through dessert.

Imagine the possibilities: yakitori, satay, traditional shish kebab. Vegetables, cheese pieces, small potatoes and hunks of bread can be skewered, as well as fruit chunks. In fact, provide a vat of chocolate for dunking those fruit chunks and you have fondue! Such class.

Is your skewer supply limited? Give each guest one sturdy, reusable stick, then, and have them do their own skewering.

All that said, Francine Yokoi's request is timely at this holiday time. "Do you have any recipe for BBQ sticks?" she asked.

Teriyaki sticks are simplicity defined, but they provide a launching point for a full-on Stick 'Em Up party menu.

These two ideas are adapted from "Hawaiian Pupu Party Planner," by Muriel Miura Kaminaka (1974).

Start here and vamp your way through a full menu.

Teriyaki Sticks

1 pound sirloin steak
2 dozen bamboo skewers
>> Marinade:
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup sake or sherry
1 clove garlic, crushed
1/2 inch slice ginger, crushed

Slice beef into strips 4 inches long, 1 inch wide and 1/8 inch thick (or buy precut teriyaki beef). Soak skewers in water.

Combine marinade ingredients and pour over meat. Marinate 15 to 30 minutes.

Remove meat from marinade and thread on skewers. Grill or broil sticks, turning once and basting occasionally with leftover marinate until cooked to desired doneness, 3 to 4 minutes. Makes 24 sticks.

Approximate nutritional analysis, per serving: 50 calories, 1 g total fat, 0.5 g saturated fat, 10 mg cholesterol, 330 mg sodium, 4.5 g carbohydrate, 4.5 g protein.

Pineapple Teri-Bobs

1 pound lean, boneless beef
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken thighs
7 ounces Portuguese sausage
1 large can pineapple chunks
18 bamboo or metal skewers
>> Marinade:
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup pineapple juice (from canned pineapple chunks)
1 clove garlic, crushed
1/4-inch slice ginger, crushed

Cut beef and chicken into 3/4-inch cubes. Slice sausage into 3/4-inch slices. Drain pineapple chunks, reserving juice for marinade.

Combine marinade ingredients and pour over beef, chicken and sausage. Marinate in refrigerator 1 hour. If using wooden skewers, soak in water.

Thread meat and pineapple chunks on skewers. Broil or grill until chicken is cooked through, 5 to 8 minutes. Makes about 18 kabobs.

Approximate nutritional analysis, per kabob: 115 calories, 4 g. total fat, 1.5 g saturated fat, 40 mg cholesterol, 520 mg sodium, 7 g carbohydrate, 13 g protein.

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Send queries along with name and phone number to:
"By Request," Honolulu Star-Bulletin,
500 Ala Moana, No. 7-210, Honolulu 96813.
Or send e-mail to bshimabukuro@starbulletin.com

Asterisk (*) after nutritional analyses in the Body & Soul section indicates calculations by Joannie Dobbs of Exploring New Concepts, a nutritional consulting firm.