Star Wars Menu: “Shish Ka-Boba” by Astrid Tuttle Winegar
Little Master Boba was the only unaltered clone of Jango Fett. He and his “dad” lived on Kamino, a stormy planet composed mostly of one gigantic ocean. So, comfort food for Boba must have been some sort of seafood. I’ve imagined a delicious dish for him, sweet and spicy; something that would make him homesick for the good old days when his life was simpler. Before that annoying Jedi came along and ruined everything.
This is a great dish for summer! If you don’t happen to care for seafood, try substituting chunks of chicken breast or pork tenderloin (about 1¼ pounds will do, cut into 1½” pieces); substitute 2 large bell peppers for the asparagus, each cut into 8 pieces. Adjust your cooking time to accommodate different protein choices; and you can even choose to bake the kabobs at 400°, though the cooking time will increase depending on which protein you choose (anywhere from 10-20 minutes total).
“Shish Ka-Boba”
¼ cup sweet white miso
¼ cup Aji Mirin (sweet cooking rice seasoning)
2 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons chili sesame oil
2 tablespoons Mae Ploy (sweet chilli sauce)
1 tablespoon hot Madras curry powder
12 large sea scallops (10-20 per pound), thawed as directed; rinse and pat dry
12 very large shrimp (20-25 per pound), thawed as directed; rinse and pat dry; tails on or off
20 3″ long pieces of thick asparagus
Cooked jasmine rice
With a whisk, combine the miso through the curry powder in a medium glass bowl and set aside. Coat 4 long skewers with cooking spray and place on a large baking sheet. Thread each thus: scallop/asparagus/shrimp/asparagus and repeat twice. Coat a grill liberally with cooking spray. Preheat to a nice medium heat. Brush tops and sides of kabobs liberally with prepared glaze. Grill 3 minutes, covered, turn over carefully and grill another 3 minutes, brushing glaze on the tops. Shrimp should be pink, so turn maybe once more, brushing with more glaze and grill another 30-60 seconds or so. Set on another clean sheet. You may microwave any remaining glaze to use as additional sauce, if desired. Serve over cooked jasmine rice. Cover and chill leftovers. Serves 4.
Astrid Tuttle Winegar
REPORTER
Astrid Tuttle Winegar is the author of Cooking for Halflings & Monsters: 111 Comfy, Cozy Recipes for Fantasy-Loving Souls, which is now available from Oloris Publishing and Amazon! She loves Middle-earth, Narnia, the Final Frontier, and many other things besides. She has a special love for the Galaxy Far, Far Away. She lives in the enchanted city of Albuquerque, New Mexico, with her husband. Visit her website for more information: Astrid Tuttle Winegar | Cooking for Halflings & Monsters. Staff Reporter.