3 Quick and Easy 5 Ingredient Appetizers

5 from 1 vote

3 quick and easy Asian inspired last-minute appetizers made with 5 ingredients that can be made in under 20 minutes each!

Author: Joyce Lee

Ingredients

1 block of cream cheese 250g
1 tablespoon red miso see note below
3 stalks green onions small stalks, approx. ⅓ cup
1 large garlic clove approx. 1 teaspoon. Use 2 large garlic cloves for a garlicker cheeseball
1 ½ teaspoons shichimi togarashi seasoning make sure there is no salt in it, this will be mixed in with the cheese
3-4 tablespoons shichimi togarashi seasoning make sure there is no salt in it, this will be used to coat the cheeseball

Leave the block of cream cheese out in room temperature to soften it.
Once the cheese has soften, place the cheese, miso and 1 ½ teaspoon of shichimi togarashi into a bowl.
Finely chop the green onions and place in the bowl with the cheese
Grate the garlic and place in the bowl with the cheese. Make sure you grate it or very finely chop it so there are no big chunks of garlic in the cheeseball.
Once everything is in the bowl, use a hand mixer (or fork) and smash everything together until it is mixed well.
Once everything is mixed well, use a spatula and scrape all the cheese into the centre of the bowl to form a mound.
Get a large piece of plastic wrap and place it on a table and put the mound of cheese in the center of the plastic wrap.
Carefully lift all 4 corners of the plastic wrap and bundle the cheese into a ball within the plastic wrap. Twist the top of the plastic wrap to secure it into a ball.
Place it in the fridge for 20 minutes (or freezer for 10 minutes).
Once you are ready to serve it, put a few tablespoons of shichimi togarshi onto a plate and remove cheese ball from the plastic wrap onto the seasoning.
Grease your hands and slowly roll the cheeseball over the spice until it is well coated.
Serve with a side of crackers.

Mix the mayonnase, sriracha and cayenne together in a bowl until everything is well combined and smooth
If you are using the lump crab meat, use your fingers to break them apart into smaller pieces and then chop it with a knife a few times until you get it to the chunkiness you like. If you are using the crab sticks, cut them into 1-inch length pieces and hand-shred them into thin pieces. I like to use both types of crab meat and mix them together for better more interesting texture.
Place the crab meat into the bowl with the sauce.
Finely chop the green onions and place it in the bowl with the crab.
Mix everything well and place it in a serving bowl.
Garnish with green onions. If you want to cut the onions lengthwise like I have in the photos, make sure you cut them thin and soak them in icy cold water to make them curl for a more interesting shaped garnish.
Serve with a side of crackers.

Place the eggs into a pot into a single layer and fill it with cold water.
Place the pot on the stove on high heat, and wait for the water to vigrously boil (do not leave and make sure to watch it.)
Once the water starts to boil, set a timer for 6 minutes.
While the eggs are boiling, use a small bowl and mix the sesame oil, gochujang and mayonaise together until it is mixed well and smooth. Set aside
Once 6 minutes is up the eggs are done. Run really cold water over the eggs to shock the eggs to stop the cooking process. You can also add ice to the pot while the cold water is running as well.
Once the eggs have cooled, crack it throughly and run cool tap water over it while you peel it.
Once you have peeled all the eggs, slice them in half. Remove the yolks and add it into the bowl with the mixed sauce. Use a fork and smash everything together until it is mixed well (don't worry if it's a little clumpy, it will still taste great and you wont notice it once you mix the green onions in)
Finely chop the green onions and mix it with the yolk filling. Mix well.
Use a small spoon and scoop the yolk fililng back into the egg whites (you can also use a ziploc or frosting bag to pipe the yolks into the egg whites as well.)
Garnish with green onions. If you cut the garnish green onions length wise, soak it in a bit of icy cold water to make them curl a bit to make them a more interesting shape.
Enjoy!

You can substitute kewpie mayonaise with regular mayonaise (like Hellmans), but do not substitute it with Miracle Whip - Miracle Whip has a sweet flavour to it.

If you find togarashi seasoning too spicy, you can substitute it with furikake instead, but make sure it does not have salt in it.
I found red miso (akamiso) to be the most flavourful one to use in this cheeseball, but if you can't find it you can use yellow or white miso in this as well (Shiromiso or Awasemiso)

If you want the crab to have a chunkier texture, use the crab chunks. If you like a more stringy texture, use the crab sticks and shred it. I personally find mixing the 2 of them create the most texture.