Asian Inspirations

Discover the authentic in Asian cuisine food

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Spicy Shoyu Ramen

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To Prep the Dashi
Wipe your kombu with a damp cloth to clean off any impurities, then make a few shallow cuts into the kombu.
Add the water to a pot and add the kombu to and the pot. Allow it to soak for about 30 minutes before turning on the heat.
Turn the heat on medium and let it boil slowly. Remove from heat just as the water begins to boil.
Add the bonito flakes and return to the heat. Allow the water to simmer for another 1 minute. Be careful not the let it boil over.
Remove the dashi from the heat and wait for the bonito flakes to sink to the bottom of the pot.
Finally, strain the dashi and use for the rest of this recipe. If there is any leftover dashi it can be stored in the fridge for about 1 week.

To Prep Soup
Heat up the sesame oil in a large pot and add your minced garlic and ginger. Sauté until fragrant.
Add the chilli bean sauce and mix well.
Next add the rest of the ingredients for the soup and allow it to simmer for several minutes over medium low heat.
Season the soup with salt, and then strain the soup through a fine mesh strainer or cheese cloth into another pot.
Once the soup is done, prepare the ramen noodles as per packet instructions.
Place the noodles in a bowl and add your toppings before ladling over with the soup. Serve immediately.

Pork Ribs, Pear And Chinese Almonds Soup

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To Cook
Boil a pot of water and blanch the pork ribs until the scums floated. Drain and wash the ribs.
In a clean stock pot, pour in 2.5L water and add the pears, pork ribs, Solomon’s seal and Chinese almonds. Bring to a boil.
Reduce heat to low and allow to simmer for at least 2 hrs.
Add salt to taste. Serve hot.

Mutton Soup (Sup Kambing)

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To Cook
Grind shallots, ginger and garlic together.
Heat oil in a pan, add spices followed by the grinded paste for 5 min. Then add the coriander powder and cumin powder. Stir fry for 1 minute.
Add the goat and cook for 5 min and add water. Bring to boil and add white pepper.
Bring to boil and simmer for 1½ hours. When the goat is tender, add in salt and serve hot with steamed rice or bread.’

Kabocha Miso Soup

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To Cook
Pour dashi stock into a pot, add in kabocha and onion, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 10 mins or until kabocha has softened but is still firm in texture.
Stir through miso paste until fully dissolved, and then increase heat to medium.
Add in dried wakame seaweed and silken tofu, and stir through gently. Turn off heat once soup is boiling.
To serve, ladle soup into bowls and sprinkle over spring onion.

BBQ Pork and Vermicelli Salad

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To Prep
Soak vermicelli noodles in hot water for 5 mins, drain and allow to cool.
In a bowl, prepare the dressing by mixing the chilli paste, lime juice and fish sauce.
Add noodles and Chinese BBQ pork to the dressing.
Combine the rest of the ingredients in a bowl and toss through.
Garnish with mint and peanuts (optional) and serve warm.

Vegetarian Pho

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For the Soup Base
To make a more flavourful soup, charring the onion and ginger goes a long way. Do this by simply grilling the onion and ginger until their surface is slightly blackened – take care not to overdo this and actually burn them. Once they are nicely charred, remove from the heat and set them aside.
Dry fry the cinnamon, white peppercorns, star anise, cloves, and coriander seeds over low heat in a stockpot. Fry the herbs until fragrant.
Once the oils in the herbs have been released, add the vegetable stock, charred onion and ginger, carrots, shiitake mushrooms, and soy sauce. Turn the heat up to high until the stock begins to boil.
Once the stock begins to boil, reduce the heat to medium low and cover with a lid. Allow to simmer for 60-90 mins.
When the soup is done, strain it through a wire-mesh strainer and season with salt. Keep the soup warm for later.

For the Noodles
Prepare the rice noodles according to packet instructions. Once cooked, drain the noodles through a sieve and rinse under running water to stop the cooking.
Heat the oil in a pan over medium high heat. Pan fry the brocollini until tender and lightly browned. You can add some salt to season the vegetables. Do the same for the button mushrooms and baby bok choy. Set aside the toppings.
Add the portions of noodles into their own separate bowls. Top with the pan fried vegetables, five spice tofu, and bean sprouts, then, pour over with the warm soup.
Garnish with lime wedges and Vietnamese mint and serve hot.

Kabocha Hobakjuk

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To Cook
Peel and cut kabocha into 3cm cubes. Place the kabocha in a steamer for about 15-20 mins, or until soft. Set aside to cool.
While the kabocha is cooking, prepare the dough for the rice dumplings. In a bowl, mix together ½ cup of sweet rice flour and 3 tbsp hot water. Gradually add more water, 1 tsp at a time until the dough reaches a smooth and tender consistency. Divide dough into 12 equal pieces, then use your palm to roll each of them into small balls. Cover with a kitchen towel to prevent dough from drying. Set aside.
Once your steamed kabocha has cooled, place in a blender with water, ¼ cup sweet rice flour, brown sugar and salt and blend until smooth. Then transfer to a large pot, and cook over medium heat for 5 mins, stirring frequently. Sugar or salt may be added to your preferred taste.
Meanwhile, in a separate pot, bring half a pot of water to boil. Cook rice dumplings until they float to the top. Drain and remove rice dumplings from pot.
To serve, pour porridge into a bowl. Add 3 cooked rice dumplings to each bowl and garnish with cooked pomegranate seeds, black sesame seeds and spring onions.

Mixed Vegetable Curry (Sayur Lodeh)

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To Cook
Grind spice paste A ingredients together. Add in water to ⅓ of the height of the paste.
Heat the cooking oil and saute the paste A. Big bubbles will start to appear as the moisture evaporates. Keep stirring to prevent the paste from sticking to the sides of the wok or pan.
When the bubbles become smaller, add in all the vegetables, stir fry for 5 minutes.
Add in water and coconut milk. Bring this to a boil and add prawns, tofu, tempe and vermicelli bean thread. Boil for about 3 mins and serve hot.

Easter Jelly Eggs

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To Cook
Create a small hole at the top of the egg. Remove all contents, wash and rinse inside of the egg shells. Place them on the egg tray.
Prepare ingredients for the first layer of colour. Combine ingredients in a sauce pan and heat until it boils. Remove from heat. Using a syringe, insert 8-9ml of coloured liquid into each egg shell. Leave it to cool and set for approximately 10 minutes.
Combine milk layer ingredients in a sauce pan. Heat until it boils, then remove from heat. Using a syringe, insert 8-9ml into each egg shell. Leave it to cool and set for approximately 10 minutes.
Repeat the above steps (step 2 and 3) with next layer of colour, followed by another layer of milk, until all the layering is complete. Layers may take quicker to cook and set with the initial 2 layers and may take longer to set as the layers build up. Try to work in a cooler environment and refrain from moving the egg trays until all layers all fully set.
Once all layers are completed, place egg trays into the refrigerator to cool and set firm. Peel off egg shells. The Easter jelly eggs is best served cold, however can be served at room temperature too.

Vietnamese Squid Salad

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To Prep
Pound chillies and garlic together then add fish sauce, vinegar, lime juice and sugar. Mix well until sugar is dissolved.
Add tomatoes and onion and set aside for 1 hr.
Wash and clean the squid tubes, and cut into 1.5cm rings.

To Cook
Bring 6 cups of water and a pinch of salt to the boil. Add the squid and cook for 5 mins until soft and tender.
Toss with the prepared dressing and garnish with the hot mint leaves before serving.

Spicy Vegetable Soup (Gang Liang)

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To Prep
Pound the white pepper, garlics, shallots and chillies in a mortar and pestle until smooth. Add the remaining paste ingredients and pound until smooth.

To Cook
Pour water into a pot and bring to boil. Add in the paste and simmer for a few mins.
Add in the vegetables, from the longest cooking time to the ones that cook fast. Cook until almost done.
Add in the prawns and cook until all ingredients are cooked through. Add the fish sauce to taste.
Remove from heat, add lemon basils and serve hot.