To Cook
Using a sharp knife, score mushroom caps with an asterisk pattern but avoid cutting through flesh.
Boil mushrooms for 1-3 mins, or until tender and darkened. Sprinkle a little salt on mushroom caps.
Make sushi using nigirizushi method, placing mushrooms either upside-down or right-side up. Serve with lemon wedges. Squeeze on lemon juice before eating.
Boil
Mustard Leaves Leftover Soup (Choy Geok)
To Prep
Squeeze the tamarind repeatedly in the water. Strain water through your fingers into a blender to remove the pulp. Place the tamarind water in a pot.
Add all the ingredients to the pot bring to a boil and simmer for 1½ hours. When the mustard cabbage leaves and pork are tender, add in the seasoning and serve hot with steamed rice.
Calamari Salad
To Cook
Clean the squid, score the inside in a criss-cross pattern and cut into bite size pieces. Boil in water with a little vinegar added (this enhances the whiteness) until tender – approx. 30 secs.
Pound the chilli and the garlic in a mortar and stir in the fish sauce and lime juice. Pour this mixture over the squid.
Add the sliced lemon grass, spring onions, celery, mint and coriander leaves and mix lightly.
Line a serving dish with the lettuce leaves and spoon the salad on top. Garnish this Calamari salad with extra chillies.
Shortcut Tom Yum Noodle Soup
To Cook
Bring water to the boil. Add noodles and cook for 4 mins.
Add contents of flavouring sachet, tomato, mushroom and prawns; cook for 1 min.
Ladle into soup bowls and garnish with coriander. Serve.
Claypot Chicken Rice
To Prep
First, soak the shiitake mushrooms in warm water until soft for about 30 mins. Rinse the mushrooms and squeeze lightly to remove access water. Remove the stems, thinly slice the caps and set aside.
In a bowl, combine the chicken, sugar, corn starch, oyster sauce, light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, rice wine, sesame oil, salt and pepper. Set aside to marinate for at least 20 mins.
To Cook
Coat a large frying pan or wok with oil and heat over high heat. Add garlic and stir-fry until fragrant. Add in the marinated chicken and stir-fry until lightly browned. Add the sausage and shiitake mushrooms, and continue stir-frying for another 20-30 secs. Then, remove from heat, transfer to a plate and set aside.
Place the rice and chicken stock in a covered claypot and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Cook the rice for 15 mins over reduced heat, or until liquid is almost dried.
Spread the chicken and mushrooms over the rice and continue to cook for another 15 mins with lid covered, over low heat until the chicken is cooked through. Mix the ingredients around one last time before you garnish with spring onions and serve!
Vietnamese Grilled Pork Noodles (Bun Thit Nuong)
To Prep
Slice the uncooked pork thinly, about 1.5cm.
Mix in the marinade with the pork. Mix until sugar is dissolved.
Marinate the meat for at least one hour, or leave overnight for better results.
To Cook
Bake the pork at 180ºC for 10-15 mins, or until it is about 80% cooked. Finish cooking by broiling pork in the oven until a nice golden brown colour develops, turning the pieces midway.
Nuoc Cham Sauce
Combine water and sugar in a bowl.
Add lime or lemon juice (adjust accordingly to taste)
Add fish sauce in increments (adjust accordingly to taste)
Top with garlic and chilies.
To Assemble
Assemble your bowl with cooked vermicelli noodles, vegetables, noodles, and garnish. You may pour the nuoc cham sauce on top or serve it in a separate bowl to pour in just before eating.
Simmered Beef in Hot Chilli Soup
To Cook
Mix beef fillet with marinade.
Saute dried red chillies and Sichuan peppers in 2 tbsp oil.
Add chilli bean sauce, minced garlic, diced ginger and spring onion sections. Stir-fry for about 1 min until fragrant.
Add chicken stock, bouillon powder and hot water, bring to boil.
Add beef fillet and cook until done. Turn off heat. Stir in diced Chinese celery and chilli oil. Garnish with sliced spring onions.
Soba Noodle Salad
To Cook
Prepare soba noodles in accordance to packet instructions. Drain and rinse under cold water. Drain well.
Place noodles and salad in a bowl. Add dressing ingredients. Toss well to combine.
Taste test and add extra dressing of choice to personal liking.
Sprinkle toasted sesame seeds over noodle salad.
Soft Tofu Soup (Sundubu)
To Cook
Start boiling a 1 litre pot or clay pot of water.
Combine the soup seasoning ingredients. Mix well and reserve.
Sprinkle salt on the soft tofu and let it absorb the salt for about 10 minutes.
Chop spring onions, red and green peppers. Set aside.
Wash and rinse oysters using salted water (1L water and 1 tbsp salt). Drain and remove any excess moisture. Set aside.
Let the pipi clams exude debris by soaking them in salted water (1L water and 1 tbsp salt). Set aside.
Add vegetable broth and all ingredients with seasoning to a clay pot and heat till boiling.
Add soft tofu, oysters and clams to the boiling clay pot. Continue boiling for 1 min so the flavours blend together making soft tofu soup.
Garnish the boiling soup with mushrooms, Korean Red Peppers and green pepper and spring onions.
Break the egg and add it to the boiling soup. Serve.
Mixed Vegetable Pickle (Acar)
To Prep
Soak cucumber in salt and wash away the salt after 30 mins.
Boil all other cut vegetables with vinegar and drain. Set aside to dry.
Toast sesame seeds and set aside.
Roast peanuts, remove and cool. Crush the peanuts.
To Cook
Heat oil and fry blended spices with oil until golden in colour. Set aside.
Add sugar and tamarind to taste.
Mix all pickled vegetables with fried spices well. (Squeeze cucumber dry before adding to fried spices)
Add ground peanuts and sesame seeds to complete the acar. Pack acar in tightly sealed jars it can be refrigerated for 2-4 weeks.
Sambal Ladies Fingers (Sambal Okra)
To Cook
Boil water in a pot and blanch the okra for about 3 mins. Drop them into a bowl of cold water to stop these from cooking further.
When these have cooled down a bit, slit the tip of the stalk, peel off the center and remove the seeds. This can take some practice as you want to create a pocket for the sambal to sit in, Try not to mutilate the okra too much.
Mix the dressing ingredients together and leave for 15 mins to dissolve the sugar.
To serve, stuff the okra with sambal.
Abalone Porridge (Jeonbok Naejang Jook)
To Prep
Rinse the medium grain (calrose) rice and soak thoroughly in 950ml water for about 2 hrs at room temperature.
Pry the abalone from its shell using a spoon. Take a 1.5cm incision on the end of the abalone closest to the adductor muscle and remove the abalones tooth. Cut open the intestine and remove the debris.
Clean the abalone by rubbing it with salt. Rinse the abalone and separate the intestine. Cut the intestine into small pieces and thinly slice the abalone meat.
To Cook
Heat a flat pan over a medium heat and season with sesame oil. Add the sliced abalone meat and intestine to the pan and saute. Then, add rice and saute for about 1 minute.
Add 1.9L to the flat pan and increase to high heat to make the porridge.
Once the porridge starts boiling, lower to medium heat. Let the porridge continue to cook until the rice grains become extremely soft making the jeonbok naejang jook.
Transfer the jeonbok naejang jook to a serving bowl and garnish with pine nut powder. Serve with salt and soy sauce on the side.
Note: When buying abalone, ensure that they are still alive in their shell, stored on ice or it is still in the water. Make sure your abalone does not have any fishy smell as that is a sign it is not fresh. Quickly refrigerate them in the coldest part of the fridge and store them in a bowl and cover it with a wet cloth. Use within 24 hours.