To Cook
Gently cook mince in a heated pan and add garlic, making sure not to caramelise meat. Add water, bring it to a boil, skim off any scum that may float to the top. Simmer stock for about 10 mins. Reserve stock.
Combine gochugaru, sake, gochujang and soy sauce in a small bowl.
Neatly place spam, sausage, zucchini, onions, rice cakes, baked beans, kidney beans and chilli mixture in a jeongjol pan (shallow but wide pan). Pour in stock and bring it to a boil and simmer until the vegetables are cooked and the rice cakes have softened, should take about 5 mins.
Add in green onions, chilli slices and tofu towards the end of cooking. Serve jjiae without ramen initially. Reheat soup and add ramen and cook for a few minutes for another serve of jiggae with the noodles. Budae jjigae is best served using table top cooking.
Boil
Kimchi Stew (Kimchi Jjigae)
To Cook
Heat saucepan and add pork belly and sauté gently for a few minutes or until light in colour.
Add kimchi, minced garlic, onion and gochugaru and cook until kimchi is softened, about 5 mins.
Add kimchi juice and water to the pot and bring it to a boil. Skim off any impurities and simmer gently for about 15-20 mins, lid covered.
Add in tofu and simmer for another couple mins.
Add salt or soy sauce to taste, and garnish with spring onions.
Cendol
For Cendol
Combine all the ingredients and mix well. Cook the mixture on low heat, stirring constantly until batter thickens and turns into translucent green.
Have a big bowl filled with water and ice.
Put a small amount of batter into potato ricer or colander and squeeze into iced water. Repeat until all the batter is used up.
Drain cendol and transfer into container and set aside.
For Palm Sugar Syrup
Place palm sugar, pandan leaves, salt and water, in a small pot and let it simmer until all the palm sugar has dissolved. Remove from heat, discard pandan leaves and set aside.
Do the same with the coconut milk, boil the coconut milk with pandan leaves and salt. once boiled, discard the pandan leaves and set aside to cool.
To Serve
In small bowl, layer the gula melaka first, then pack bowl with crushed ice. Add glutinous rice (optional), coconut milk, and top with creamed corn and kidney beans (optional). Drizzle with more palm sugar syrup and serve immediately.
Assam Fish Curry
To Prep
Blend chilli paste ingredients into paste.
To Cook
Heat oil in a wok or pot, add in blended chili paste, sauté till fragrant.
Add curry powder, curry leaves and lemongrass, stir to mix well.
Add tamarind juice and tomato, bring to boil.
Add the water and bring it all to boil again.
Add fish cutlets, season with salt and sugar, cook fish till done.
Add in okra and cook for 1 min.
Dish your Assam Fish Curry and serve with rice.
Penang Prawn Noodle (Hokkien Mee)
For prawn Soup Stock
Place 600g pork rib in a pot. Separately boil some hot water. Once boiled, scoop hot water over pork ribs, lightly blanch it and drain water out.
Add all stock ingredients including 600g blanched pork rib. Bring to full boil and then turn over to low heat and leave to slow boil for 1½ hrs. Season with rock sugar and salt.
Strain stock, retain soup. Add in the sambal chili paste – sambal recipe below (2½ tbsp or adjust to your preference).
For Sambal Chilli Paste
Blend (Part A) till it becomes a paste.
Heat oil in wok, add in blended (Part A), sauté for 10 mins.
Add in chopped dried shrimps from (Part B), continue to cook for 5 mins.
Add in seasonings in Part B and dish out set aside.
For Other Ingredients
200g fresh shrimps, stir fry in the same wok after dishing out the sambal paste, season with salt, set aside.
200g chicken breast, blanch in the prawn soup stock for 15 mins, remove and sliced or shredded then set aside.
Water spinach (kangkung), blanch in hot water. Drain and set aside.
Bean sprouts, blanch in hot water, drain and set aside.
Yellow noodles and rice vermicelli, blanch in hot water, drained and set aside.
To Serve
Place noodles into serving bowl, top up with prawn soup stock and garnish with bean sprouts, water spinach (kangkung), hard-boiled eggs, chili shrimps, pork slices, sliced fish cakes, fried pork lards and fried shallots.
Korean Seasoned Bean Sprouts
To Cook
Rinse bean sprouts twice in cold water and blanch for 1 min or until the bean sprouts are slightly softened. Drain quickly.
When cool enough to handle, gently squeeze out the excess water.
Toss well with the remaining ingredients.
Sample and add more salt to your taste.
Braised Vegetables in Vegetarian Stir Fry Sauce
To Cook
Bring half a pot of water to boil. Add in a little oil and salt and cook the Shanghai cabbage until tender. Drain and arrange on a serving plate. Keep warm.
Heat 2 tbsp oil in a pan. Toss in Chinese mushrooms, straw mushrooms and button mushrooms. Sauté until fragrant.
Add in cloud fungus, baby corns, white fungus, carrots and fried wheat gluten pieces. Mix in Lee Kum Kee Vegetarian Stir Fry Sauce and water. Bring to a boil. Then, cover and simmer for 10 mins.
Place the cooked ingredients on top of Shanghai cabbage to serve.
Soba Salad with Soy Sauce
To Cook
Cook soba noodles in boiling water according to packet instructions or until tender. Remove and soak in iced water. Drain and place into a serving bowl.
Arrange cucumber and carrots on soba noodles. Chill until cold.
Add seasoning mix just before serving and mix well. Garnish with sesame seeds.
Chicken Coconut Soup
To Cook
Place 1 cup of extra light coconut milk on medium heat. Boil chicken fillet for few minutes and drain. Set aside.
In a saucepan, over medium heat, bring the light coconut milk to the boil, adding galangal and lemongrass, for 3 mins, until fragrant.
Combine the meat and chilli, return to the boil for few minutes, adding fish sauce, sugar and lime juice.
Add kaffir lime and coriander before removing from heat.
Serve your Chicken Coconut Soup warm in a soup bowl.
Hint : If old galangal is available, put a piece of 2 inch length, a little crushed, and boil it first in the coconut milk for 5 mins and take it out. Galangal will help smooth taste and also good for digestion and will enhance the soup flavour
Malaysian Indian Fish Curry
To Cook
In a pot, heat oil and saute (Part A) until fragrant. Add in Spice Paste, stir to mix well.
Add in tamarind mixture and coconut milk, bring to boil.
Add in the fish cutlets, ladies fingers and wedged tomato, cook for 5-10 mins over medium heat.
Season with salt and sugar, taste and adjust accordingly.
Dish out and serve your Malaysian Indian Fish Curry in style!
Sticky Pork and Vegetable Stir-Fry with Udon Noodles
To Prep
The pork needs to be marinated for at least 3 hrs (or even overnight). In a large bowl, combine the honey, soy sauce, five-spice, and sugar, chilli, garlic and sesame oil. Add the pork strips (turning to coat), then cover bowl and place in fridge for desired length of time.
To Cook
Cook noodles according to packet instructions. Drain and cover to keep warm. Set aside.
Heat the peanut oil in a wok. Stir-fry the marinated pork (in small batches) until browned. Return the pork to the wok along with the carrot. Stir-fry until pork is cooked. Add the snow peas, lime leaves and orange juice and stir-fry until snow peas are tender-crisp. Remove from heat, then add spring onion and peanuts, gently tossing to combine.
Divide the noodles between 4 serving plates. Ladle the stir-fry over the top. Serve hot.
Chinese Black Bean Soup
To Cook
Blanch pork ribs pieces in a pot of boiling water for about 5 mins. Remove the pork ribs and set aside. Discard the water.
Fill a soup pot with 1.5L of water, along with all ingredients and bring to a boil over high heat. Allow the pot to boil for approximately 10 mins, then turn heat down to the lowest, and allow to simmer for at least 2 hrs, or until the black beans are soft.
Add salt to taste and serve hot.