Easy Party Tray Recipes For Last Minute “Toka”

Here are some easy party tray recipes we can do at home, so we can contribute to the upcoming parties

Since it’s the -ber months, it’s going to be parties galore! Whether it’s Halloween, a company party, or an early Christmas party, everyone’s tasked with contributing food (or what Filipinos call “toka“) unless they’ve booked a restaurant or a catering service. Some have already started reserving as early as September for their party trays. No one wants to be caught off guard once the invites start pouring in.

Instead of freaking out about what party tray to order, here are some easy party tray recipes for last-minute “toka:”

Chicken Lollipop Inasal/ BBQ

What kind of party doesn’t have chicken? Spice it up a little by air-frying or grilling up some chicken lollipop inasal. We don’t have to make our own marinade, either. Some brands like Clara Olé have Chicken Inasal marinade—all it might need is a bit of tweaking to our tastes.

It’s so easy too. One kilogram, depending on the chicken lollipops’ sizes, can range up to twenty pieces in a bag. Since it’s considered “finger food,” a good three kilos might do for big parties. Then, it’s one 250 mL of marinade to one kilogram. Marinate the chicken overnight and then roast it in the air fryer at 160-170 degrees Celsius for nice crispy chicken. It’s the same for ovens; just don’t forget to preheat!

Tip: You can let the chicken sit on a bed of fresh lemon grass or tanglad to add that extra aroma.

Korean Mandu

With Korean convenience stores all over the place, it’s impossible not to find this delectable snack. Mandu is like the Korean version of siomai or dimsum. The best part is, they come pre-made in bags and in different flavors. Some are purely vegetable. Others have some pork and leek. For the more adventurous ones, there are Kimchi-flavored ones too!

Mandu is extremely flexible as a party food. We can either throw them into the rice cooker to steam or just fry them in the air-fryer.

Filipino-style Pastas

No matter what walk of life we’re from, Filipino-style pastas always have that special place in our hearts. Most sauce brands like Del Monte, Clara Olé, and UFC have sweet Filipino-style spaghetti sauce. It’s a 1:1 ratio for those who love saucy pastas. One kilogram of spaghetti sauce to one kilogram of spaghetti noodles. After that, just add those red hot dogs. Most kids love it, and as much as we want to be healthy, Filipino spaghetti tends to be a guilty pleasure.

And if red sauce isn’t the majority vote, pre-made Filipino Carbonara sauce does exist in a packet.

Gambas

It may be a pain to clean, devein, and peel fresh shrimp, but supermarkets do sell pre-prepped shrimp. All we have to do is buy bags of that and then roast in an oven or pan with some olive oil, siling haba, a lot of garlic (we’re Filipinos, we don’t normally count how much garlic), and some Spanish paprika. For that extra spice, some put siling labuyo or Tabasco hot sauce. The cheaper alternative is using up all those free hot sauce packets from all the pizza takeout we’ve been getting.

Chicken Wings

Honestly, most fresh chicken brands like Magnolia and Bounty Fresh have pre-prepared and marinated chicken wings. All we have to do is find a way to cook them. Some throw them in an air fryer. Others use an oven. The most common way is deep-frying in a pot full of oil.

However, some tend to be more creative. One uncommon but delightful flavor that used to be served in Katipunan’s B. Wings restaurant is their Chilimansi Wings.

It had that nice tart bite with some spice. When making it, assume one kilo of chicken wings will use over 30 pieces of calamansi and 4 pieces of siling labuyo. Add some salt, pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder, and marinate overnight. Air fry the next day and we’re good to go!

Caesar Salad with Roast Chicken

This one might be a little tricky because lettuce does wilt over time in the fridge. But, they’re the easiest to make. All we have to do is find some bacon bits, croutons (which most bakeshops may have), and Caesar salad dressing. For those who want to add chicken, we can just source from a nearby Andok’s, Baliwag, or Chooks-to-Go.

Those who don’t mind that it’s not roasted, salt and pepper, or garlic parmesan flavored boneless chicken tenders from Frankie’s work too. It’ll just need some assembly when we get to the venue, like chopping the chicken into smaller bites, etc.

Mango Graham Float

Every kid who went through Home Economics class in high school will most likely remember this. All it takes is some mangoes, tetra-bricks of all-purpose cream, condensed milk, evaporated milk, and a lot of Graham crackers.

Whip the chilled all-purpose cream, condensed milk, and evaporated milk so that it doubles in volume. Then, layer it with the Graham crackers and mangoes until they fill the whole tray. Best to keep it in the freezer so it can survive a bit of thawing when we head off to the venue or if the guests don’t arrive early.

And if mangoes aren’t available, just use jams or spreads as a substitute. We’ll just have to reduce the condensed milk to balance the sweetness, though.

When making a party tray, here are some tips:

• Use disposable aluminum trays for baking, roasting, or air-frying the food. That way, it’s a lot easier to clean. Plus, when we bring it over to the party venue, it’s disposable once it’s finished.
• Estimate that at most 3-5 people will eat a bit of our dish. That way, we don’t have to cook so much either.
• Do the grocery shopping for it at least a month before. That way, we beat the crowd. And if we don’t use it, well, it’s the family’s dinner for the next few weeks.

Why We Should Know How To Make Our Own Party Tray

Filipinos are a party-loving culture, and what kind of party will it be without food? The thing is, a lot of these places that sell party trays are home kitchens. Meaning, they only have limited slots before they have to start turning away people!

So, it’s kind of like having a backup plan. We don’t have to be Michelin-star chefs. All it takes is a bit of know-how in adjusting (or in Tagalog, “tantsahin“) pre-made sauces and kitchen appliances like the air-fryer and oven.

Besides, many moms and lolas were doing this before online food deliveries became a thing. We’re pretty sure they have a surefire winning recipe lying around somewhere…

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