Beachcomber's Drums of Heaven

In my collection of postcards, I did find this post card which brought fond memories.

The Beachcomber Polynesian restaurant was such a great place to celebrate special events.  The first I was there was there was on a first date.  The restaurant was so dark, with a rounded blue ceiling filled with what looked like stars, one could hear running water as you were ushered by your waiter over wooden bridges to your table. The first to come to your table was a dish of what looked like egg rolls, luckily I lift the dish to see it better and smelt lemon. And quickly realizing they were rolls of washcloths to wipe one's hands.  

Thus one of the reason, I do not have pictures of this place, is that it was so dark and took a while for your eyes to get use to the lighting. 

I also took my husband there on his birthday. The place was so popular but one could not reserve spot for two,   We ended seating in their lounge sipping drinks with floating gardenia or roses.  By the time a spot opened up for us at eleven o'clock, we were no longer hungry. 

Their speciality was chicken drums of heaven served with a sweet chilli sauce.  This beautifully presented dish did in fact look like little drumsticks. 

The Beachcomber was open for 30 years between the early 1960s and 1990s.  

To my surprise, I found two recipes for the drums of heaven that were posted by the Winnipeg Free Press. The drums of heaven that I remember were more the breaded type that would have been deep fried.  For the shower, I did bake them in the oven at 375 for 30 to 45 minutes on parchment lined cookie sheet. 

With the help of my husband, I used only chicken drumstick which are a little larger than the ones used at the Polynesian restaurant as they used the wing part for the little drumsticks. 

How to make the Lollipop or drumsticks:

Holding the thin end firmly, cut the skin around the bone to release it.

Push down the bone forcing all the meat to the end.

The next step we did not do but shaped it into a ball

If you like you can pull the meat over the end, so that the skin is in side the ball.

Marinade the prepared chicken drums overnight.

Marinade:

• 1 tsp Chinese Five Spices
• Minced garlic clove
• 1 T sugar
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon 
• parsley
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 1 T vegetable oil
• chopped fresh ginger root
• 1/4 c  wine
• 1 egg, slightly beaten
• 15 ml (1 tbsp) cornstarch

To bake the drums of heaven, the marinade was drained, then the chicken was dredged in flour, then dipped into beaten egg, then rolled into Panko crumbs. The drums were placed standing on the cookie sheet lined with parchment and baked until golden brown

A sweet and sour sauce was used for dipping. 

They can be frozen and reheated in an air fryer! Delicious. 

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