Hawaii was the leading producer of the pineapple for many, many years. Until the rest of the world started honing in on this market and Hawaii’s export trade of pineapples dropped to a low, capturing only 13% of the competitive market. However, when I see "imported from Hawaii" that's the pineapple I will purchase.

So, with that in mind and because pineapple is my most favorite fruit of choice, I created this delicious citrusy, sweet, spicy and salty appetizer - the Spiked Pineapple Bacon Rumaki Bites Recipe. As Hawaiians cook lots of pork and use citrus and other fruits in their recipes and diets, it seemed only fitting that bacon should be a factor here. It’s very easy to make and has only 4 ingredients. My children rolled the rumakis in no time, leaving me to do other things.

This recipe is designed to make tons of these delicious bites, so I used one pound of good bacon (Boar's Head brand) and one whole fresh, ripe pineapple (some pineapple may be left over - this is a guideline.) This recipe make approximately 30 bites using 1 lb. of bacon.

However, you can always use the Dole brand pineapple chunks of course, but you need to drain the contents thoroughly and squeeze the pineapple out between a clean (lint free) cloth or paper towels before wrapping it in the bacon. The canned pineapple sits in liquid so it absorbs more moisture, therefore the bacon will not brown in the oven if there is too much wetness here, okay?
They are the bomb as an appetizer served hot from the oven or even a catering event. :)


Ingredients

1lb. regular or smoked bacon
1 ripe pineapple, trimmed and cut into 1/2 inch cubes (instructions follow)
1/2 cup pineapple teriyaki sauce
3 tsp. chili paste

Method

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

1. First, start by preparing your pineapple (picture 1.) Cut the top and bottom from the pineapple, stand it on its end and in vertical motions cut away the outer layer, making sure to trim away the brown (eyes.) Cut away the pineapple flesh from all four sides of the stem and cut into 1/2 to 1 inch cubes.

2. Combine the teriyaki sauce and chili sauce together and add to the pineapple. Marinate for at least 1 hour. In the meantime, prepare the bacon. Cut each slice of bacon in half and trim excess fat. Roll one piece of the marinated pineapple in the bacon and place open end down on a shallow, foil lined pan sprayed with pan spray (such as Pam.) Cook in the oven for approximately 20 - 30 minutes or so, checking after 20 minutes for doneness. After a certain point the teriyaki marinade oozes in to the bacon on the pan and may burn the bottom of the rumakis - so do check at intervals to avoid this.


Serve these juicy Spiked Pineapple Bacon Rumakis with the leftover marinade from the pineapple as a dipping sauce.