Asian Inspirations

Discover the authentic in Asian cuisine food

Boil

Tokushima Ramen

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For the Broth
Place the pork and chicken bones in a stock pot. Add enough water to the pot to fully immerse them. Cover with a lid. Over high heat, bring the water to boil. Once boiled, drain the bones and wash any dark marrow or coagulated blood off from the pork with cold water.
Rinse the pot, put the bones back in along with the rest of the ingredients for the broth. Add water to barely just cover the ingredients. Cover with a lid. Over high heat, bring the water to a boil.
Once boiled, simmer the ingredients in the pot while covered on low for 6-12 hrs on the stove, or 12-18 hrs in a slow cooker. Check the first 10-15 mins after turning down the heat to make sure it’s just barely simmering.

For the Pork Belly
Put all the ingredients in a small pot.
Simmer over high heat until meat turns golden brown and the sauce thickens.
Remove from heat and separate meat from thick sauce.

To Serve
In a serving bowl, add 2-3 tbsp of thick sauce (from pork belly) as base. Then pour over the thick bone broth to fill half of the bowl.
Add ramen noodles and top with cooked pork belly and a raw egg. Garnish with spring onions and serve.

Buckwheat Porridge (Sobagome Zosui)

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To Prep
Clean niboshi by removing heads and cuts. Then put the niboshi into a straining/dashi bag.
In a pot, add 4 cups of water and put niboshi bag in. Leave to soak for 10 hrs or overnight. This will be the pot of dashi.

To Cook
Rinse sobagome. In a pot, add the rinsed sobagome and enough water to immerse it. Bring to boil for 15 mins, then remove from heat and drain the water. Set sobagome aside.
In the meantime, soak dried shiitake mushrooms in water to rehydrate. Slice shiitake mushrooms, carrot, chikuwa, konnyaku, and chop the spring onions. Rub salt onto konnyaku slices and rinse to remove smell.
Cut chicken thighs into 1cm pieces and rub sake into it. Set aside.
In the dashi pot, add shiitake and bring contents to boil.
Leave to simmer for 2-3 mins before removing the niboshi bag.
Add chicken, carrots, konnyaku, and mirin into the dashi pot and simmer.
Add the cooked sobagome, garnish with spring onions, and flavour with light soy sauce.

Optional step: Add a slice of sudachi or chopped yuzu peels to add more flavour to the dish.

Chunky Vegetable Soup Niigata Style (Noppei Jiru)

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To Prep
Soak dried shiitake mushrooms and scallops (optional) in 2 cups of water overnight to rehydrate and draw flavours into the water. The juices will be used as part of the soup stock.

To Cook
In a small pot, bring roughly 4 cups of water to boil and drop in konnyaku, return to boil, then drain and set aside the konnyaku.
Prepare the dashi by heating 4 cups of water in a saucepan over medium heat. Just before the water boils, remove the kelp from the saucepan.
Increase the heat to high and bring to a boil. Keep cooking for another 5 mins.
Lower the heat and add bonito flakes into the saucepan. When the water boils, turn heat off. Set aside to cool for at least 5 mins and let the bonito flakes sink to the bottom.
Strain the liquid through a strainer lined with a paper towel or several layers of cheesecloth. Set aside.
In the meantime, remove shiitake mushrooms and scallop (optional) from the water. Lightly squeeze to drain water and slice the shiitake mushrooms.
In a pot, add dashi, shiitake mushroom water and scallop (optional), seasoning and heat over medium-high heat.
Add in all the ingredients and bring to boil. Then, lower the heat to a simmer and keep cooking for another 20 mins, or until the taro softens.
Turn off heat and scoop into individual serving bowls. Best enjoyed hot.

Hegi Soba with Mentsuyu Dipping Sauce

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For the Dipping Sauce
In a medium saucepan, add the sake and bring it to a boil over medium high heat.
Add soy sauce and mirin, mix well then add the kombu and katsuobushi
Bring the sauce to a boil and continue to cook over a low heat for another 5 mins before removing from the heat, straining the sauce and setting aside.

For the Soba Noodles
In a large pot, boil enough water to cook the soba noodles. When the water reaches a boil, add in the noodles and cook till done. Ensure the noodles don’t stick together and aren’t overcooked.
While the noodles cook, prepare a large bowl of ice water to cool the noodles when they’re done.
Using a sieve, drain the soba noodles and rinse the noodles under cold running water to get rid of the extra starch.
Transfer the noodles in to the iced water and set aside till the noodles are cool and ready to eat.

To Serve
Make ready the hegi, or a flat bamboo sieve. Take a few strands of the noodles at a time. Loop the strands onto the sieve to make a nice little bundle. This is one portion. Allow for about 10-12 portions or so per person.
Arrange each bundle separately, to allow for easy pickup with chopsticks.
Serve directly on the hegi, or place a plate under the bamboo sieve to catch any drips. Put soba noodles and garnish with shredded nori sheet on top.
Put one part of cooled dipping sauce and 2-3 parts of iced water in a serving pitcher or small individual bowls.

To Eat Soba Noodles
First fill out a dipping bowl with diluted tsuyu, and add green onions and/or wasabi (optional). Then pick up a bundle of soba noodles at a time, dip in the tsuyu briefly, and slurp the noodles up. The dipping sauce is very salty, so don’t soak the noodles in the sauce for a long time.

Chinese Cabbage Soup

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To Prep
Cut cabbage and carrot into pieces, cut corn into segments.

To Cook
Cut chicken into pieces and scald in boiling water for 3 mins, rinse and drain.
Fill a pot with 3L of water and place chicken pieces in pot, cover and cook over medium heat for 1 hr.
Add the remaining ingredients and continue cooking for 30 mins, then add seasonings. Serve hot

Satay Rice Vermicelli

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To Cook
In a frying pan, heat the satay sauce, then add prawns and squid rings. Cook for 5 mins.
Add water spinach and cook for 1 min before adding the rice vermicelli. Mix well and then plate it, garnish with spring onion, coriander and chilli. Serve hot.

Korean Ginseng Chicken Soup (Samgyetang)

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To Prep
Mix the salt, sesame seeds, sesame oil, and ground black pepper into a small bowl and set aside.
In another bowl, combine the soy sauce, vinegar, and honey and mix well. Add in the onion chunks and green chilli pepper slices then set the bowl aside.
Strain the water from the rice and
Rinse the chicken under cold running water and then pat dry. Remove any excess fat from the chicken and begin to stuff with the rice, ginseng, jujube, and garlic cloves.

To Cook
Place the chicken into a heavy pot along with enough cold water to immerse the chicken.
Cover and cook over medium high heat for 30 mins before turning down the heat and continuing to cook for about another 30 mins or until the chicken has fully cooked through and the other ingredients have become soft.
While the chicken is cooking, baste the meat with the broth. If thew water gets too low, top up with more.
When the chicken has fully cooked and is soft, remove the pot from the heat.

To Serve
Place chicken into a serving bowl and add broth. Top it with a sprinkle of chopped green onion and ground black pepper. Serve with kimchi and of dipping sauces.

Hot and Sour Soup (Suan La Tang)

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To Prep
Mix ¼ cup cornstarch with an equal amount of water and use a spoon to stir until completely dissolved.
Cut the dried chilli peppers in half discard the seeds. Mince them up and set aside. Keep the seeds if you want to increase the broth’s spiciness.
Slice the pork into small strips and place into a bowl with the last teaspoon of corn starch and ½ teaspoon of oil. Stir it all together.
Soak the dried lily flower, wood ears, and mushrooms for an hour or two until hydrated. Once they’re ready, slice the mushrooms and give the wood ears a rough chop. Trim the tough ends off the lily flowers and cut them in half.
Cut the spiced tofu and the firm tofu into 2in long and ¼in thick pieces.
Slice the winter bamboo shoots into the same shape.
Wash and chop the scallion and set aside.
Beat the two eggs in a bowl.

To Cook
Bring the chicken stock to a boil in a wok or pot and add the pork. Stir to ensure the slices are not clumped together. Skim off any foam that floats to the top.
Add the chilli pepper, white pepper and both soy sauces, and check the soup for salt. Add the lily flowers, wood ears, mushrooms and bamboo shoots, and bring the soup to a simmer. Add the two kinds of tofu, sesame oil, vinegar, and a pinch of sugar and stir. Stir until the broth thickens.
Use a spoon to mix your corn starch in the bowl so it’s all combined. Bring the mixture to a simmer. Use a soup ladle to stir the soup at the center of the wok in a steady circular motion to make a whirlpool while slowly pouring the corn starch slurry in a thin stream. This prevents the corn starch from clumping. Stop when you are about ¾ of the way done with your slurry to check the consistency of the soup. It should be thick enough to coat your spoon or ladle. Add the rest if needed.
Keep the soup simmering and use the same technique with the beaten eggs and again, make sure the motion is fast enough or you will end up with egg clumps instead of the beautiful swirls or egg “flowers” (which is what the Chinese call it).
Garnish with the chopped scallions and serve.

Hakka Yam Abacus Seeds (Suan Pan Zi)

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To Prep the Mince pork
Combine all the ingredients together in a bowl and mix well. Set aside and allow to marinade for an hour.

To Prep the Abacus seeds
Shred the yam using a mandolin, then steam over high heat for 15 minutes until soft.
Add tapioca flour and a few pinches of salt to the cooked yam and mash immediately.
Mix until combined and knead the dough until it no longer sticks to your fingers. A little boiled water can be added gradually to make the dough.
Roll out the dough using a rolling pin, until it is about 3-4cm wide, and then cut into 2cm thick pieces. You may want to dust your work surface with tapioca flour to avoid dough sticking onto the surface.
Roll each slice of dough into little balls, then pinch between your thumb and index finger for its signature shape.
In a large pot, boil the abacus seeds while stirring continuously to avoid them sticking to the pot. The seeds are done when they float to the surface.
Once the seeds are done, transfer them from the boiling water into a separate bowl and rinse under running water. This is to stop the cooking and to cool them down.
Once cooled, put them on a plate and mix some oil with the seeds to avoid sticking to each other.

To Cook
Heat up the oil in a wok over medium-high heat, then add the garlic and shallots and fry until fragrant then add the black fungus, shiitake mushrooms, dried shrimp, dried cuttlefish and stir-fry for a couple of minutes.
Next, add the marinated minced pork to the wok and stir-fry until it is almost done then add in the cooked yam seeds and stir-fry for another minute.
Lastly, add the dark soy sauce, oyster sauce, fish sauce soy sauce, sesame oil and stir fry until well mixed. Garnish w
ith spring onions and chilli. Serve hot.

Miso Pork and Vegetable Stew (Satsuma Jiru)

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To Prep
In a large pot, add the pork bones and enough water to cover them. Turn on the stove and heat over a medium-high heat until the broth begins to boil.
Reduce to a simmer and continue to cook for at least 30 mins
while skimming off anything that floats to the surface. When the broth has done cooking, remove it from the heat, strain and set aside.
While the broth simmers, in a pot, add in the diced pork along with 180ml of water and bring to a boil before continue to cook for 10 mins.
Similarly, in another pot, boil enough water to cook the konnyaku. Cook and set aside.
Steam the shiitake mushrooms for approx 4 mins before transferring to a cutting board, removing the stalks and slicing the cap in to thin strips.
If you are using fresh burdock root for this dish, shave the root in to strips using a knife.

To Cook
In a large pot, combine the pork, broth and konnyaku and bring to a boil over a low heat before adding in the daikon and carrots.
Return the mixture to a boil before adding in the sweet potato and mushrooms.
Continue to cook the stew while skimming off any foam or scum that rises to the surface. After approx 5 mins, add the miso paste in to the stew (use a strainer and a ladle to ensure that the paste is fully dissolved within the stew).
When the paste has fully dissolved, add in the burdock root and continue to cook for 5 mins before removing from the heat and begin to plate.

To Serve
Transfer the soup in to 1 large serving bowl, or multiple individual servings bowls before sprinkling with sliced spring onions and adding Ichimi Togarashi to taste.

Sea Bream with Rice (Tai Meshi)

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To Prep
Wipe the dried kombu with a clean cloth to remove any dirt, but not the white powdery substance on the surface.
Combine the water and the kombu together in a pot and let the kombu soak for approx 30 mins.
While the kombu is soaking, rinse the rice with water until the water begins to run clear. Cover the rice with water and let soak for approx 30 mins to 1 hr.
Score the fish on both sides before lightly rubbing in the salt and adding in the sake. Let the fish marinate for 10 mins before patting dry.
After the kombu has finished soaking, turn on the stove and set it to low. Slowly heat up the water until it just begins to boil before removing it from the heat and setting it aside.

To Cook
In a pan or grill, cook the fish for 3 mins on each side or until a nice brown sear has been achieved. The fish doesn’t need to be fully cooked through at this stage.
In a large pot, drain and add the rice, kombu stock, salt, sake, soy sauce, and mirin. Stir until all of the ingredients have been well combined before topping with the grilled fish and grated ginger.
Cover the pot and heat over a medium-high heat until the stock begins to boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook for approx 10 mins before removing from the heat and letting stand for another 5-10 mins.

To Serve
Serve the entire dish as is, in the pot, garnished with chives and white sesame seeds! Enjoy!

Ehime Hotchpotch  (Imotaki)

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To Prep
Gently clean the kombu with a damp cloth, but don’t scrub off its layer of white powdery coating. This coating will contribute to the umami flavour of the broth.
In a medium pot, put the kombu and water in, and heat up the pot slowly on medium low heat for about 20-25 mins.
Just before the dashi starts boiling, remove kombu.
Line the sieve with paper towels (or cheese cloth) and set over a large bowl. Strain the dashi through the sieve.

To Cook
Add konnyaku pieces in water and bring it to boil. Continue cooking for a minute, then drain and set aside. This helps the konnyaku absorb more flavours and improves its texture.
In a large pot, bring dashi, soy sauce, sake, mirin, and salt to boil.
When soup boils, add in the rest of the ingredients and bring the konnyaku to boil.
Then set heat to low to keep content in pot warm. Scoop out cooked ingredients from the pot and serve. This dish is also perfect to be enjoyed at the table. Place pot on a portable stove at the dining table to keep the imotaki warm and have your guests help themselves to its contents.