i need oriental menu ideas

[mikechefnks]

i have a banquet for 250-300 people coming up that wants to do
oriental food. this would be served buffet style. it is a upper scale event. i don't have any way to cook the food at the facility where the event is held. i need ideas on food that can be held for approx. 2 hours. can anybody help?

[Suzanne]

By "oriental" do you mean any particular Asian cuisine -- Chinese, Thai, Japanese, Malaysian, Vietnamese -- or just a combination of pan-Asian style foods? How authentic (= exotic) can you go? Do you have sources for ingredients, or do you have time to order from someplace like THIS PLACE? And what to you mean by "upper scale event?" How many apps are you looking for, how many entrées, any desserts? Price?

Off the top of my head, how about chicken or pork satays with peanut sauce? Pad thai? Coconut shrimp? Stir-fried broccoli with oyster sauce?

[kuan]

We'd rather say "Asian" these days. Less derogatory.

Kuan

[Pete]

How big of a prep staff do you have? That can be a limiting factor in what you create, but if you have a decent sized staff you can do some more involved items. I am thinking of things like Spring Rolls, and Maki Rolls (Sushi). If you do Maki Rolls, stay away from tuna, which will discolor in that amount of time, but salmon, crab and veg. rolls work great. When i worked at a catering company, we rolled them at our facility and then packed them covered in very lightly dampened towels and then cut them at the event. Same with the Spring Rolls. Since you can't do any heating there, I would look to limit the amount of hot foods you do and round them out with plenty of Asian-inspired salads. Things such as Pickled Diakon or other pickled vegetables, Kim-Chee or Kim-chee inspired vegetables, cold noodle dishes (we used to serve a cold noodle salad in little to-go containers with chopsticks for a fun presentation).

As Suzanne said, Pad Thai is great, and stirfries hold pretty well. The great thing about satays are that you can serve them either hot or cold. I have also found that plain, white rice doesn't hold up so well under those conditions (though it can be done) but Fried Rice holds up much better. Just stay away from the fried foods, we all know how badly they handle being held for any length of time.

[shroomgirl]

I'm doing an asian station at an event for 300 on 2/22
Spring rolls with sauce inside cold
steamed dumplings hot
peanut noodles cold
rice stick noodles with loads of veg...asp, shiitake, red pepper, red onion, baby corn...hoisin dressing then bordered with 5 spice grilled flank steak.. cold

chef is making springrolls (babies...3 bite with thai basil showing through) and steaming dumplings