Wrap This Savory Meat Around Water Chestnuts For A Christmas Appetizer Packed With Flavor

When many of us think of Christmas foods, our minds go to the decadent dishes we might make once or twice a year for the most special of holidays or events. Those might include prime rib or rib roast, or even beef Wellington, roast leg of lamb, shrimp cocktail, or blinis with caviar. But special doesn't necessarily need to mean extravagant. For example, you can create a retro appetizer that will fit on any Christmas spread with as little as two ingredients: water chestnuts and bacon.

You might recognize this hors d'oeuvre as rumaki, a bite-sized nibble that was totally en vogue in the 1950s and '60s. The traditional dish was made by wrapping chicken livers with bacon and baking until crisp, but an alternative version using whole water chestnuts instead of livers also gained momentum. Water chestnuts have a very mild flavor but give you superior crunch while the bacon tastes smoky and salty with a pleasant chew. For even more flavor, bacon-wrapped water chestnuts are often baked with a sweet and tangy glaze. This sauce can be made with ketchup, a little hard-to-pronounce Worcestershire sauce, brown sugar, mustard, and soy sauce — or any combination of sweet, savory, and sour ingredients.

For the most successful appetizer, seek out canned whole water chestnuts, rather than sliced ones. The latter will be too difficult to wrap in bacon and won't give you nearly enough crunch. Thoroughly dry the outside of the water chestnuts so excess moisture won't prevent your bacon from crisping. And while thick-cut bacon is a winner with your fried eggs and pancakes, use thinner bacon for wrapping rumaki so it cooks evenly.

It's no secret that you can wrap bacon around several foods and instantly have an appetizer. Bacon-wrapped dates, pineapple chunks, shrimp, cocktail wieners, baby potatoes, and scallops are all easy and especially tasty. You can even wrap crackers in bacon for a unique, very Southern finger food. The inclusion of water chestnuts could be seen as a fading fad, reminiscent of old-school retro dishes people made from anything. But water chestnuts are actually a brilliant little ingredient; not only is the texture satisfying, but they soak up the flavors of the bacon and sweet, savory glaze.

Consider marinating your whole water chestnuts first in a mixture of soy sauce, some brown sugar, jam, or honey, and fresh garlic. This can lend the water chestnuts flavor in as little as 30 minutes. Then, dry the outsides, wrap in a piece of bacon, secure with a toothpick, and bake. If you like some spice, you can incorporate sriracha or red chili flakes into your glaze. Sweet Thai chili sauce alone could be used as your glaze, for a combination of spicy, sweet, and tangy flavors. You could also add orange or pineapple juice to your glaze mixture for a tropical flair. Just don't be surprised when these crunchy little sweet and savory bites disappear from your Christmas party table in record time.