To Cook
Bring a pan of water to the boil. Add the tofu. Bring back to the boil. Immediately drain, then cut into small cubes.
In a small saucepan, combine the remaining Tofu ingredients, bring to the boil. Add the tofu cubes and simmer for 5 mins. Drain and discard the cooking liquid.
Cook the Udon noodles according to packet instructions. Put the spring onions in a small wire sieve. Dip them briefly into the boiling water. Refresh under cold running water and set aside. Drain the noodles, rinse and drain well.
Put the Noodle’s dashi broth and dark soy sauce into a saucepan. Add the light soy sauce, brown sugar and sake (or sherry). Bring to the boil. Season to taste with salt.
Arrange the noodles in serving bowls. Top with the tofu, spring onions and the nori sheets. Ladle in the hot broth and serve immediately.
Boil
Korean Noodles in Black Bean Sauce (Jajangmyeon)
To Prep
Prepare the pork by cutting them into 2-3cm cubes. Marinate the pork with a tablespoon of rice wine (or mirin), ginger, salt and pepper. Set aside.
Cut the onion, cabbage and zucchini to 2-3cm cubes. Set aside.
To Cook
In a small saucepan, heat up 2 tbsp of oil then add the black bean paste, sugar, and oyster sauce. Fry it over medium heat for 2-3 mins, stirring constantly.
Heat a large pan over medium high heat with the remaining1 tbsp of oil. Add the pork and stir fry until cooked. Add the vegetables and cook until soft, stirring occasionally.
Stir in the black bean paste and mix everything thoroughly together until all the meat and vegetables are coated well with the paste.
Pour in the stock and bring it to a boil for 3-4 mins.
Place the potato or corn starch into a small bowl, dissolved in ¼ cup of water. Stir in to the pot of sauce and cook briefly until the sauce is thickened.
In a separate pot, heat water and add the noodles in the boiling water. Cook according to the package instructions and drain, the noodles should have a firm bite to them. Place a serving size of noodles in each bowl. Spoon the sauce over the noodles and garnish with the thinly julienned cucumber and carrot.
Tom Yum with Chicken (Tom Yum Gai)
To Cook
Bring the water to the boil, add Valcom Tom Yum Paste and mushrooms, then cook over high heat until tender.
Add chicken and simmer until cooked, then add coconut milk.
Garnish with Valcom Kaffir Lime Leaves, coriander and chilli. Remove from heat.
Milky Japanese Salmon Hot Pot
To Prep
Cut the salmon into bite-size pieces at an angle by holding your knife diagonally, nearly parallel to the cutting board. This method gives the ingredient more surface area so that it cooks faster and soaks up flavour quickly.
Season fish with ½ tsp salt and a pinch of black pepper.
Cut the cabbage into large pieces. Wash and peel the potatoes, cut into cubes. Then cut the onion into wedges.
To Cook
Pour 3 cups of water into a clay pot; add miso paste, heat until it boils. Add in onions, potatoes and cabbage; cover and let it boil until potatoes are soft. Then remove lid, add the salmon, cover and cook quickly.
Once all ingredients are cooked, add milk and butter and mix thoroughly. Black pepper may be added to taste.
Korean Mix Vegetables and Seafood in Mustard Sauce (Yang Jang Pi)
To Cook
Bring a pot of water to boil and add yang jang pi noodle sheet. Cook for about 5 minutes or until the starch noodles are al dente. Drain noodles into a colander and rinse under running tap until the noodles are cool.
Season the noodles with ½ tbsp soy sauce, ½ tbsp. sugar, 2 tsp sesame oil and a pinch of salt in a small bowl and set aside.
Marinate pork using the pork marinade and set aside. Mix mustard sauce ingredients and set aside.
On a large round platter or plate, arrange squid, prawns, cucumber, capsicum, 5 shitake mushrooms and omelette in a circular arrangement and place yang jang pi noodles in the middle.
Heat up a wok with oil and add marinated pork. Saute pork over high heat and add onions, ¼ carrot and the remaining 2 shitake mushrooms and briefly saute. Add garlic chives and spring onions and quickly saute for about 15- 20 seconds.
Pour pork stir fry over the noodles in the middle. Serve yang jang pi with mustard sauce poured over.
Red Bean Soup (Hong Dou Tang)
To Prep
Rinse the beans under cold water. Pre-soak the red beans in water overnight.
To Cook
Put rock sugar, soaked beans and tangerine peel in a large pot or pressure cooker. Bring all the contents to a boil and then simmer until the beans are quite soft.
Use a hand blender to blend until smooth or transfer the mixture to a blender. Add more water if you want a soupier consistency or coconut if you like a thicker consistency.
After blending, you may use a sieve to remove the skin.
Cook the sago in boiling water for around 10 mins and then set aside with lid covered for around 15 mins. The sago will be translucent and smooth when cooked. In order to remove the stickiness of cooked sago, we recommend rinsing in cold water for at least 1 min.
Tip: Leftovers of this sweet soup can be frozen and made into delicious popsicles. You can also add in a scoop of vanilla ice cream for a refreshing treat.
Classic Chinese Dumplings (Jiaozi)
To Prep
In a mixing bowl, add pork mince, salt, soy sauce, sesame oil, Shaoxing wine, sugar, white pepper, and water and mix well. Combine flour and egg white, and mix in. Add the chopped wombok and mix well.
Prepare a small bowl of water and a clean serving plate to place the wrapped dumplings. Keep dumpling wrappers covered until ready to use to avoid them from drying out.
To wrap the jiaozi, take one dumpling skin and scoop about 1 tbsp of pork mixture into the center of the wrapper. Dip your finger into the bowl of water and wet the edges of the dumpling wrapper. Then, pinch the sides of the dumpling skin to seal it up tightly with your fingers. Repeat until all the pork mixture is used up.
To Cook
Bring a pot of water to boil, and drop the dumplings in to cook for 9-10 mins.
As soon as the dumplings start to float (indicating that they are cooked), scoop them out and serve immediately with sliced ginger and black vinegar.
Thai Spicy Stir Fried Crispy Pork Belly with Beans
To Cook
Place the whole piece of pork belly in boiling water and simmer until tender. Pierce the skin with a fork. Allow to cool, then fry in hot oil until crispy. Allow to cool, then cut into bite-sized pieces. Discard all but 1 tbsp oil.
Blanch beans in boiling water until tender, then refresh in ice-cold water. Drain and set aside.
Heat the reserved oil over low heat. Add Valcom Red curry paste and stir-fry until fragrant. Add the pork, beans, palm sugar, Valcom Kaffir Lime Leaves and water and stir through. Remove from heat.
Chinese Peanut and Sesame Brittle (Fah Sung Thong)
To Prep
Line a 25cm baking pan with parchment paper. Start by sprinkling all the peanuts and half of the sesame seeds all over the base of the pan.
To Cook
In a small saucepan, heat sugar, vinegar, and water over low heat and stir until sugar dissolves. Then bring to boil and cover the saucepan, allowing it to continue boiling until the sugar turns light amber in colour. This should take about 12-15 mins. Then, remove from heat.
Carefully pour melted sugar over peanuts and sesame seeds, and sprinkle the remaining sesame seeds evenly on the top.
Set aside to cool for about 5 mins, then use a sharp knife to cut the Fah Sung Thong before it cools and hardens completely.
Prosperity Treasure Pot (Pun Choy)
For the Braised Pork
Blanch pork trotter in water and 3 slices of ginger for 5 mins. This will lessen the porky smell. Drain and rinse the pork. Set aside.
Rub salt and dark soy sauce on pork trotter.
In a wok, heat 2 tbsp oil and sear all sides of the pork trotter until browned and set aside.
In the same wok, pan-fry shiitake mushrooms and dried oysters for 1-2 mins and set aside.
Prepare a pressure cooker. Add pork trotter, shiitake mushrooms, dried oysters and all the remaining ingredients. Fill pressure cooker with water enough to immerse the pork. Seal the lid and cook on high for 30-40 mins and until sauce thickens slightly. Add in the black moss fungus and stir.
Taste test and adjust with more rock sugar or soy sauce if necessary.
For the Seafood Vegetables
In a small pot, fill half full with water and bring to boil. Add Shaoxing wine, spring onions and ginger slices. Keep boiling for another 5 mins.
Add prawns and scallops to the pot to poach for about 2-3 mins. Drain prawns and scallops and set aside.
In another pot, bring chicken stock, wombok and daikon to boil then simmer until daikon is tender. Remove wombok and daikon from the pot and set aside.
With the chicken stock still boiling, add abalone into the pot to cook for 1 min and set aside. Then, blanch broccoli until tender and set aside.
To assemble the Pun Choy
Prepare a large pot, about 28-30cm in diameter and 10-15 cm in depth.
Layer the base with wombok. Save some to place on top with the other ingredients.
Carefully arrange the rest of the ingredients around the pot. There are no set rules, but you’d want to display all the ingredients in their full glory.
Lastly, get your loved ones together and dig in!
Lotus Root Soup (Leng Ngau Tong)
To Cook
Rinse dried cuttlefish.
In a medium pot, fill half-full with water, add pork bones and bring to boil. Once boiled, drain the bones and wash any dark marrow or coagulated blood off from the pork with cold water. This helps to reduce scum appearing on top of the surface of the soup.
Then fill a pot with 2.5L of water, add in blanched pork bones, lotus root, red dates, raw peanuts and dried cuttlefish. Bring contents to boil.
Once boiling, reduce heat to low and allow soup to simmer for 2-3 hrs.
Skim off any scum appearing on top of the surface.
Taste test and season with salt.
Serve hot in individual bowls.
Korean Sweet Rice Cakes (Gyeongdan)
To Prepare the Red Bean Paste
Strain the soaked azuki beans and rinse under water.
Add them into a pot with 6 cups water and bring to the boil over high heat, then cook for 10 mins. Reduce to medium-low and simmer for 50 mins.
Taste to check if the beans are fully cooked through. Remove any excess water, then use a wooden spoon or potato masher to mash the beans to the desired texture.
Add salt, brown sugar and ground cinnamon, and mix through thoroughly, adjusting to taste.
Cover and set aside.
To Prepare the Black Sesame Powder
Toast the black sesame seeds in a dry pan over medium heat, stirring with a wooden spoon.
Once the seeds begin to pop and smell fragrant, lower the heat and continue to cook for 5-10 mins or until crispy. Remove from the pan and allow to cool.
Once cooled, grind using a coffee grinder or in a mortar and pestle.
Add the ground sesame seeds into a bowl, and combine with the sugar and salt. Set aside.
To Prepare Roasted Soybean Powder
Combine the roasted soybean powder, sugar and salt together in a bowl. Set aside.
To Prepare Mugwort Powder
Combine the mugwort powder, sugar and salt together in a bowl. Set aside.
To Make the Dough
In a large bowl, whisk together the sweet rice flour, caster sugar and salt.
Slowly pour in the boiling water while incorporating with a wooden spoon.
Once water has all been added, mix the dough by hand. Add some more plain flour if the dough feels too wet.
Cover the dough with a damp tea towel and set aside.
To Make the Gyeongdan
Bring a pot of water to the boil. Fill a large bowl with cold water.
Sprinkle some plain flour on a cleaning working surface.
Divide the dough into 3, then roll into cylinders. Cut each cylinder into 20 pieces. Cover with a damp tea towel with you work.
Roll each piece of dough into a ball, then use your thumbs to make a hole in the middle of the ball. Place a ball of bean paste in the middle. Close it tightly and place it on a plate, covering with a damp tea towel.
Carefully lower the rice balls into the boiling water. Cook until they float, about 3-5 mins.
Use a slotted spoon or a spider to remove them from the boiling water and place into the cold water.
Drain, then roll the cooked rice balls in the black sesame, mugwort and roasted soy bean powder.