To Cook
Bring water to a boil in a large pot. When the water is boiling, put in the okra for 1-2 mins. Drain the okra and place on a plate.
Combine half of the garlic with the sugar, fish sauce and lime juice in a small bowl.
Pour the sauce over the okra and garnish with the garlic and chilli.
Serve.
Boil
Son in Law Eggs
To Prep
Place all sauce ingredients into a small saucepan and heat over medium heat. Stir and bring to simmer until thick and sticky. Strain and set aside.
To Cook
Deep-fry shallots, garlic and red chillies separately and drain on paper towel.
Deep-fry the boiled eggs until they have become golden and have blistered slightly.
To serve, halve the eggs and place on to a serving plate and top with the deep-fried spices. Garnish with spring onions and serve with sauce.
Japanese Pickled Plum Rice Ball (Umeboshi Onigiri)
To Prep
Let the rice cool down so that it is cold enough to handle. While waiting, cut the seaweed sheet in to 4 long strips to wrap the onigiri with.
Once the rice has cooled, add the furikake seasoning and gentle fold in to the rice until thoroughly mixed.
To Make the Onigiri
Wet your hands slightly with water and rub half a teaspoon of salt in to them.
Place about a cup of rice in to one hand and a de-seeded pickled plum in to the centre.
Fold the rice over the plum and begin shaping in to a triangular shape.
Once the shape has been formed, wrap the onigiri in the seaweed strip and serve.
Harusame Salad
To Prep
Prepare all the ingredients as specified in the ingredients list.
Follow the cooking instructions for the glass noodles.
Put the seaweed in water for 15 mins before squeezing and leaving to dry.
Sprinkle some salt over the cucumber and carrot, leaving the salt on for 5 mins before washing the salt off.
In a small bowl, combine the rice vinegar, soy sauce, sugar, sesame oil and plain oil. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Combine all the ingredients together and drizzle.
Mix the salad together and chill in the fridge for approximately 30 mins.
Heng Hua Mee Sua
To Cook
Blanch the chicken carcass in boiling water for a few minutes. Then strain and scrub the carcass clean. Add chicken carcass, shallots and ginger to 1.5L water and slow boil for 1 hour. Strain the stock and transfer to another pot.
Add the reserved mushroom water to the stock.
Cut the chicken into bite-sized pieces and add into the stock. Bring it up to boil and allow it to cook for 30 mins.
Add the softened mushrooms to the stock and boil for another 30 minutes.
Add chicken stock cube and salt to taste.
Now we need to make the ginger oil. Start by heating the cooking oil in a wok. When the oil begins to smoke, add the old ginger and fry until golden brown. Pour the ginger and frying oil into a bowl and set aside to cool.
Drop the noodles into a pot of boiling water and cook for about a minute. Take care with the noodles as they cook very quickly and become mushy when overcooked. Then drain the noodles and rinse under running water.
Drizzle the ginger oil over the cooked noodles and toss to evenly coat the noodles with the oil.
Lay a few lettuce leaves in a bowl and place a portion of the noodles on top.
Ladle the soup in the bowl of noodles together with a few pieces of mushrooms and chicken.
Traditionally, the must have toppings are the fried seaweed, and fried peanuts; all other toppings are optional and can be added at your own discretion. Serve immediately after adding your toppings.
Mee Rebus
To Prep the Gravy
Boil and mash the sweet potatoes, set aside.
Poach beef until cooked and cut into small pieces. Set aside.
Place in a blender dried shrimps, shallots, garlic, galangal, ginger and fermented soybeans. Add about ½ a cup of water and blend until fine.
In a large pot, heat up the oil and then add the blended paste, meat curry powder, and lemon grass stalks.
Sauté on medium heat until fragrant and oil begins to split. This should take 10-15 minutes.
Add about 2 cups of beef stock, and stir until combined.
Next, add the mashed sweet potatoes, cooked beef and palm sugar to the pot of gravy and mix well.
Slowly add more beef stock until the gravy has reached your desired consistency.
Bring to a boil and set aside.
To Prep the Noodles and Garnish
Separately, blanch yellow noodles and bean sprouts then set aside.
Pan-fry the bean curd until golden brown, and then cut into 2cm pieces.
Hard boil the eggs and cut into halves.
Final Assembly
In a bowl, portion out yellow egg noodles and bean sprouts.
Ladle gravy over noodles and bean sprouts to sufficiently cover the noodles.
Garnish with egg, bean curd, sliced chillies, fried shallots, Chinese celery, spring onion and calamansi lime.
Serve hot.
Hot and Sour Fish Soup (Tom Klong Pla)
To Cook
In a dry pot, heat the lemongrass, galangal and shallots over medium heat. When they start browning, add water and bring to boil for 5 mins. Add fish sauce and tamarind juice (adjust to taste).
Add fish and cook covered until done.
Add kaffir lime leaves, coriander, lime juice and chillies and cook for 1 min.
Remove from heat and serve immediately.
Roselle Juice
To Make
Wash and drain the dried roselle flowers.
Bring the water to a boil and add the salt. Stir until dissolved.
Add the flowers to the pot. Boil for 10 mins.
Stir in sugar. Add more if you prefer a sweeter beverage.
Pass through a filter cloth or colander into a measuring cup/jug and allow to cool to room temperature, then chill in fridge and serve with lots of ice cubes. You can also add some honey before serving.
Miso Udon Noodle Soup (Miso Nikomi Udon)
To Cook
Season chicken slices with salt and set aside.
Boil water in a pot and dissolve the miso. Add additional amount of miso according to taste.
After boiling, add chicken, cabbage and carrot.
When ingredients soften, add udon and cook for another 4-5 min. Top with asparagus and garnish with spring onion. Serve hot.
Korean Spicy Pork Backbone Hotpot with Potatoes (Gamjatang)
To Prep
Soak the bones for about 1 hr in cold water and then drain in a colander.
To Cook
Bring a pot of water to a boil and add bones. Cook about 6-8 mins to bring to boil again.
Drain the bones into a colander and wash the bones under running water. Clean the pot.
Return the bones to the pot, add 8-10 cups of water and bring it to boil. Skim off scum that floats to the top and add the onion, garlic and ginger. Bring it to a boil again and continue to boil uncovered over medium heat for another 5-10 mins.
Lower the heat to simmer for about 1½-2 hrs or until the soup is getting milky and the meat is falling off the bones.
Discard the onion, ginger and garlic, there should be pork bones and about 5 cups of pork broth. Add the seasonings, potatoes and seasoned cabbage to the pot. Bring it to a boil and then simmer for about 5-10 mins.
Add perilla leaves, ground perilla seeds and soybean powder just before serving.
Korean Cold Noodle Soup (Mul Naengmyeon)
To Make Stock
Fill a big stockpot with 16 cups cold water and add beef. Bring to a boil, skimming off impurities and add garlic, spring onion and 1 tbsp salt. Reduce heat and simmer for about 1½-2 hrs. Remove meat from pot, let chill and cut into thin slices. Set aside.
Cool the stock to room temperature or lukewarm (should have about 12 cups of stock). Add in 2 tbsp salt, soup soy sauce, sugar and soup mix from naengmyeon noodle packet. Place in the fridge or in the freezer so that it is lightly frozen (but still liquid).
To Make Korean Pickled Radish (Mu)
Add salt to radish in a small bowl. Leave for about 15 mins. Drain out water and add the remaining ingredients, leave to pickle for at least 1 hr or overnight.
To Cook Noodles
Cook noodles in a pot of boiling water for about 3 mins or until the noodles are still al dente.
Drain noodles and rinse thoroughly with cold water to remove excess starch.
Place 1 serving of cold noodles in a bowl. Ladle 2-3 cup cold soup over the noodles. Top with cucumber, pickled radish, egg, beef slices and pear slices. Garnish with shredded nori, sesame seeds and spring onions. Repeat for other servings.
Serve naengmyeon with vinegar and hot English mustard mixed through according to taste.
Korean Dumpling Mandu Soup
To Make Stock
In a stockpot, place meat in 2L cold water. Bring to a boil then skim off impurities that float to the surface. Reduce heat, add garlic cloves and 1 whole spring onion. Simmer the stock for about 1½ hr or until the meat pulls apart easily.
Remove the meat from pot and discard the garlic and spring onion. Skim off any fat that may float on top of the stock.
To Make Mandu Soup
Thinly slice or pull apart ⅓ of the meat. Season sliced beef with salt and pepper and combine with 1 green onion (sliced), dash of sesame oil and minced garlic.
Bring the stock to a boil and add the rice cakes, kimchi mandu and soy sauce. Cook until the rice cakes are very soft and mandu is cooked. Season with salt and pepper.
Ladle rice cake and kimchi soup into individual bowls and top with seasoned meat, eggs, sliced green onions and shredded nori. Sprinkle more pepper on top of the soup..