To Make
To prepare the vegan dashi, soak a small piece of konbu and one dried shiitake mushroom in one cup of water for 3 hours. Strain with a fine mesh strainer.
To prepare kori tofu, cut out the required amount of firm tofu and place it into a container, and freeze the tofu overnight. Then, defrost and squeeze out the water with hands and crumble the tofu.
Prepare ramen as per instructions on the package. Once cooked, soak the ramen in ice cold water for a few seconds and strain away all the water.
Arrange cooked ramen onto a bowl and arrange all the vegetables on top of ramen.
Mix all the ingredients of pouring sauce together.
Boil
Spicy Miso Ramen
To Make
Place all ingredients for spicy miso paste in a food processor and blend until you get a fine paste.https://asianinspirations.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/R02843-Spicy-Miso-Ramen-Step-1.jpg
Heat up a frying pan on medium heat and fry the paste until fragrant. Set aside.https://asianinspirations.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/R02843-Spicy-Miso-Ramen-Step-2.jpg
In a small saucepan, heat up some oil and sauté shallot, garlic, salt and sesame seeds until fragrant and slightly golden under medium heat. Switch off the fire and toss in togarashi and stir until combined. Set aside.https://asianinspirations.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/R02843-Spicy-Miso-Ramen-Step-3.jpg
Heat up a medium soup pot with sesame oil and sauté minced pork with black pepper until around 80% cooked. Toss in the chopped shiitake mushrooms and cook for 1 min. Add in ¼ cup spicy miso paste and continue to cook for 2 mins until fragrant.https://asianinspirations.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/R02843-Spicy-Miso-Ramen-Step-4.jpg
Pour in chicken stock and soya bean milk. Stir and bring it to a simmer.https://asianinspirations.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/R02843-Spicy-Miso-Ramen-Step-5.jpg
Using a sieve with fine mesh, slowly dissolve the ½ cup spicy miso paste into soup. Discard the solid trapped on the sieve. Continue to let soup simmer for a further 3-5 mins under low fire.https://asianinspirations.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/R02843-Spicy-Miso-Ramen-Step-6.jpg
In a large saucepan, boil some water and cook the ramen following the instructions on the package. Prepare a bowl with cold water and place the noodles in once cooked to stop them from cooking further. Drain and place into a bowl.
To serve, scoop enough soup with meat into the bowl, covering the noodles. Garnish with chilli oil, ajitsuke, sliced mushrooms, bamboo shoots, spring onions and nori sheets.
Hainanese Chicken Rice
To Make the Chicken
Wash chicken, drain well, stuff ginger and scallion into the chicken’s cavity. Rub 2 tsp salt all over the chicken.
In a large stockpot that can fit a whole chicken, add water enough to cover the whole chicken together with pandan leaves and salt. Bring water to a rolling boil.
Submerge the whole chicken, breast side down. Bring to a full boil and then lower the heat to a gentle simmer, lid on, for 10 mins only.
After 10 minutes, turn the heat off, and let the chicken remain in the pot of water for 40 minutes, lid remains on.
After 40 minutes, remove the chicken and place gently into a bowl of water with ice for 10 mins. Retain the chicken stock.
Drain the chicken, discard ginger and scallion from the cavity and set it aside to cool before chopping it neatly into desired serving size.
To Make the Rice
Heat oil in wok, fry chopped shallots and garlic until fragrant and golden in colour. Add rice and stir well. Transfer the rice mixture to rice cooker.
Add in chicken broth stock, pandan leaves and salt into the rice mixture. Mix well and press ”cook”. When the rice is cooked, fluff with a ladle.
To Serve
Line a serving plate with cucumber slices.
Arrange chicken pieces on top, pour in the prepared sauce and garnish with coriander leaves.
Serve with chicken rice, side soup* and chicken rice chilli sauce.
Your Hainanese chicken rice is ready!
*Tips
Any left over chicken broth can be served as side soup, garnish with chopped spring onions or coriander.
Soba Noodle Sushi Roll
To Make
Cook noodles according to the package directions, drain twice in cold water to remove any starch and pat dry with a paper towel.
Prepare the filling ingredients.
Add the noodles into a mixing bowl, drizzle with sushi seasonings and toss to combine.
Place nori shiny side down in the bamboo rolling mat. Spread soba noodles evenly over the nori, leaving the top uncovered. Add the filling ingredients and wasabi (if desired) to your roll on top of the noodles. Lift the front of the bamboo mat and begin to roll the sheet tightly. Apply gentle pressure to join the edges of the nori.
Using a wet sharp knife, cut the roll into 8 pieces, wiping the knife after each cut for better results. Repeat with the remaining ingredients. Serve right away and enjoy!
Prawn Laksa
To Make
Peel and devein the prawns, setting aside the heads and shells for the stock.
In a pot, bring chicken stock up to boil and turn heat to low simmer.
Add prawn heads and shells and let simmer for 20-30 minutes.
In the meantime, boil the two noodles and set aside.
Quickly blanch the sliced fish cakes and mung bean sprouts in boiling water for 10 seconds.
Boil the eggs for 7 minutes and immediately run under cool water to arrest the cooking. Peel and slice in half, set aside.
Remove the prawn shells and heads from the stock and add in the littleneck clams if using. Simmer for 2 minutes until clam shells have opened up. Strain out and set aside.
In a separate pot on medium heat, fry the Valcom laksa paste until fragrant.
Add the chicken-prawn-clam stock to the fried laksa paste.
Add the coconut milk and simmer for an additional minute.
Add the halved tofu puffs and simmer for 5 minutes.
Season the soup with fish sauce – you may need more or less depending on saltiness of your chicken stock.
Assemble the bowl! Place a small handful of both kinds of noodles in the bottom of a wide serving bowl. Arrange the prawns, clams, half-boiled eggs, fish cakes and mung bean sprouts on top of the noodles.
Ladle in the hot broth, including a few of the tofu puffs.
Garnish with the shredded mint and coriander and fried shallots if using.
Vegetarian Eggplant Katsu Curry with Udon
To Make
To prepare the eggplant, flour each piece on all sides, shake off any excess, then coat in egg wash, followed by panko breadcrumbs. You can do this ahead of time and refrigerate if desired.
To fry the eggplant, heat oil in a medium non-stick fry pan to a medium high heat. Fry in batches, turning once or twice until golden brown and crunchy. Drain well over a paper towel or a drying rack on a tray.
Preheat a medium non-stick fry pan to a medium high-heat. Stir-fry the curry paste until fragrant, deglaze, break up and thoroughly stir through water until a sauce is forming.
Add all vegetables and reduce heat to a low simmer and cook until vegetables have softened through.
To serve, place a bed of cooked Udon noodles followed by curry then topped with eggplant katsu, sauce and optional toppings.
Air Fryer Caramelised Salmon Don
To Make
Wash the rice to remove some of the starch (I prefer to wash about 3-5 times until the water runs clearer).
Place in a pot with 1½ cups of water, cover with lid and over low heat. Cook until the water has evaporated and the rice is tender.
Prepare the marinade by combining ABC Sweet Soy Sauce (Kecap Manis), soya sauce, mirin, sake, rice vinegar, ginger, garlic and honey in a large bowl.
Place salmon fillets skin side up and cover with cling wrap. Marinate for about ½ an hour in the fridge.
To cook, place marinated salmon on a heatproof plate and into the airfryer. Cook on grill 200°C for 5 minutes or until just cooked and caramelised.
For the eggs, bring a pot of water to a rolling boil, place eggs in and set timer for exactly 6 minutes. Place eggs then into a cold bowl of iced water.
To serve, place cooked rice in a bowl. Using the fine nozzle of the Kewpie mayo, drizzle over the rice in one direction only. Place mixed greens to one side, peel and half the eggs and place in the bowl. Finally place the salmon to finish, adding pickled ginger and serve immediately.
Shiitake, Tofu and Teriyaki Soup Dumplings with Tempura Vegetables
To Cook
Place the teriyaki marinade, ginger, mushrooms & stock in a small saucepan and simmer until reduced by half.
Add in the agar agar and simmer until dissolved constantly stirring.
Once dissolved, pour the teriyaki sauce mix into a 20cm square pan. Leave to cool and set.
Meanwhile, combine the tofu, shiitake mushrooms, garlic chives, ginger and soy sauce, set aside.
Once teriyaki sauce mix has set, cut the jellied sauce into 1 cm cubes.
Using a rolling pin, gently roll the Gow Gee wrappers to make them slightly thinner, then fill with 1-2 tsp of the shiitake mushroom and tofu mixture, and 1-2 cubes of the jellied teriyaki sauce. Pleat the top and twist to enclose the filling.
Place in a lightly oiled steamer and steam until cooked through and translucent.
To make the batter, mix the flour, beaten egg and chilled soda water lightly.
Lightly dust the vegetables with plain flour, dip in the batter and cook in hot oil until crisp. Allow to drain on kitchen paper.
Mix the Kewpie mayonnaise, lime juice & wasabi paste (to taste).
Arrange the dumplings and tempura-battered vegetables on a platter with spoons.
Serve with lime and wasabi mayonnaise for dipping and garnish with radish, cucumber ribbons and spring onion curls.
Creamy Tom Yum
To Cook
Heat up a pan with oil. Fry brown onions until soft then add mushrooms, prawn, lime leaves and lemongrass. Cook until prawns turn pink.
Then, add tomatoes, vegetable stock, tom yum paste. Stir fry for a while then add water and bring to boil.
Once boiled, add coconut cream and continue stirring until it boils again (cook on low heat to ensure the coconut cream doesn’t split). Serve.
Bibim-Guksu
To Cook
Prepare all salad ingredients and mix all sauce ingredients.
Heat up the pan with oil and fry the egg.
Cook soba in rapid boiling water for 4 mins, then drain it.
Mix soba with the sauce ingredients.
Serve soba with the salad on top add some mayonnaise if you like.
Easy Three Cup Chicken
To Cook
Heat 1 tbsp of sesame oil in a frying pan over medium heat. Then add the ginger, garlic, and chicken to the pan and fry for 5 mins.
Next, add in all the sauce ingredients. Mix and reduce to low heat. Cover with a lid and simmer for another 10 mins.
After this, add the cornflour mixture to the chicken. Mix and allow to simmer a further minute or until the sauce has thickened.
Turn off the heat, then stir through the remaining 2 tbsp of sesame oil and the basil leaves. Top with finely sliced scallions and red chilli.
Pork and Prawn Yakisoba
To Cook
Prepare the soba noodles as per your packet’s instructions and set aside for later.
In a bowl, mix all the sauce ingredients and set aside for later.
In a large pan, pour 1 tbsp of oil on medium-high heat.
Once the oil is hot, add in the pork belly slices and cook for 1 min, then put them aside and make room in the middle of the pan (the pork slices will continue to cook throughout).
In the middle of the pan, add in the prawns and cook for about 1 min on each side. Then, add in the onions and stir-fry everything together for another minute.
In the same pan, add in the carrots and stir-fry for about 2-3 mins.
Next, add in the cabbage and the shiitake mushrooms and stir-fry for another 2 mins. Then add in the soba noodles and the sauce mixture. Combine everything well by stirring for about 2 mins.
Lastly, add in the spring onion batons. Garnish with sprinkle of red ginger pickle and bonito flakes on top and it’s ready to serve!