To Make
Place beef and ponzu sauce into a ziplock bag and marinade for 2 hours or overnight.
Mix all ponzu dressing ingredients together in a bowl and set aside.
Cook soba according to package instructions. Once cooked, remove from boiling water and place into cold water for 15 secs (to prevent noodles from cooking further) and strain. Set aside.
Heat up a frying pan with oil, sprinkle some salt and pepper over beef fillet, and sear the beef fillet for 2-3 mins on all sides. Then, wrap the fillet up with a foil and let it rest for 10-15 mins. Slice to 5mm thick slices.https://asianinspirations.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/R03083-Ponzu-Beef-with-Soba-Noodles-2.jpg
Arrange noodles into 2 plates equally, then place sliced beef on top of noodles and spoon over the ponzu dressing. Serve!https://asianinspirations.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/R03083-Ponzu-Beef-with-Soba-Noodles-3.jpg
Boil
Soba Noodles Salad with Spicy Miso Dressing
To Make
Mix all dressing ingredients in a bowl and set aside.
Cook soba noodles according to package instructions. Remove from boiling water and place into cold water for 15 secs (to prevent noodls from cooking further) and strain. Set aside.https://asianinspirations.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/R03084-Soba-Noodles-Salad-with-Spicy-Miso-Dressing-2.jpg
In a large mixing bowl, add all the fresh ingredients, cooked soba, and miso dressing together and stir until well mixed.https://asianinspirations.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/R03084-Soba-Noodles-Salad-with-Spicy-Miso-Dressing-4.jpg
Sprinkle toasted sesame seeds on top before serving.https://asianinspirations.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/R03084-Soba-Noodles-Salad-with-Spicy-Miso-Dressing-3.jpg
Japanese Beef Rice Bowl (Gyudon)
To Make
Mix chicken stock and ingredients for teriyaki sauce in a saucepan and bring to boil.
Add in sliced onion to the mix and simmer for 3 minutes.
Add thinly sliced beef to mix and cook for about 2 minutes until cooked through.
Meanwhile, poach eggs simultaneously which should take 5-6 minutes.
Add cooked rice to the base of a serving bowl then add beef mixture on top. Place poached egg on top and garnish with chopped shallots, chilli flakes and pickled ginger.
Chicken Katsu Curry
To Make
Heat a little oil in a pan on a medium high heat, be sure to use a pan with a lid. Add onion, potato and carrot and cook for 5 mins, stirring occasionally
Add 540ml water and bring to a boil. Turn the heat down, place lid on and simmer for 10 mins.
Meanwhile, season chicken with salt and pepper. Place flour, egg and panko into three separate bowls. Dredge one piece in flour, then egg, then panko and set aside. Repeat with remaining three pieces.
In a non-stick pan, heat a little oil and shallow fry chicken until golden and crispy. Dry on paper towels, then cut into chunks once ready to serve.
Once veggies are tender, break up curry blocks into pan and stir until melted and curry thickens.
Place rice in bowls, add curry and place chicken pieces on top and garnish with herbs if desired.
Bento Inspired Seafood Bowl
To Make
Bring a small pot of water to a rolling boil. Turn the heat down to low, and carefully add an egg to the water. Immediately turn the heat right back up. For a soft boiled egg, boil for 6 ½ minutes.
While your egg is cooking, prepare an ice bath. Once timer is up, turn off the heat and (carefully) add the egg to the ice water. Let it cool for 5-10 minutes, and peel away the shell.
To make the egg into a flower, simply lay out some cling wrap with 5-6 baking sticks spaced out horizontally on top. Lay the egg on, and roll it up so that the sticks and cling wrap evenly surround the egg. Carefully use two rubber bands and tie together the sticks at each end so it pinches all around the egg. Let it sit for at least 3-4 hours to keep its shape.
Meanwhile, cook 1 1 cup of short grain rice according to the instructions on your rice cooker. To cooled rice, add soy sauce, sesame oil, as well as a splash of rice wine vinegar.
Lay out some cling wrap, and scoop a bit sized amount of rice onto it. Cover the ball with the cling wrap, and tighten it so it forms a cleaner ball shape. Repeat 6 times for the small rice balls, and make a large one for the head of the bear. Keep in the fridge for at least an hour.
After refrigerated, unwrap and place the big rice ball in your bowl as well as two small ones on top of it for the ears. Place a couple big leaves of cabbage into the perimeter of the bowl as if it were to cup the contents.
To Assemble
Chop up cucumber and carrots into slices about a ½ centimetre thick. Use either a knife or a small cookie/fondant cutter to create little flower shapes out of the carrot, as well as two small circles of cucumber for the ears. Lay sliced cucumber into the bowl slightly flat but layered (like a ratatouille). Squeeze some siracha mayo on top to decorate.
To make an avocado rose, peel half an avocado and slice it thinly in the direction of its width. Very carefully, start spreading the avocado at a diagonal angle. Continue spreading until it’s quite long, and start to roll the line in on itself. Continue until you’ve rolled up the whole avocado and you have a rose. Use a large knife to slide under it to transfer it into the bowl. Add some optional caviar in its centre.
Start adding your sashimi and prawns.
Unwrap your flower egg, and slice it in half. Place it into the bowl as a little companion the rice bear.
Add purple cabbage and fill in areas of the bears belly that haven’t been filled yet, alongside with some sliced pickled ginger.
To make rice ball bear paws- two at the top and two at the bottom. Start cutting out some small circles of Yaki Nori for the paw prints as pictured, as well as a mouth and eyes for the bear and egg friend. Apply to surface with tweezers if needed.
Place the rest of your flower carrots on top to decorate, as well as any decorative flowers if desired. Experiment with placements to see what looks good.
Serve with some Kewpie Sriracha mayonnaise and soy sauce as a side.
Thai Spiced Chicken Meatballs in Yellow Curry
To Make
Combine chicken mince with panko breadcrumbs, minced ginger, spring onion, sweet chilli sauce & minced garlic.
Form into 3cm sized balls then panfry over medium heat until browned on all sides.
Remove meatballs from pan and add Valcom Yellow Curry Paste, yellow capsicum and kaffir lime leaves.
Add coconut milk & simmer 5 minutes before adding browned chicken meatballs. Simmer over low heat for an additional 15 minutes.
Serve Thai chicken meatballs in a bowl with steamed noodles or rice. Top with additional fresh coriander, finely sliced kaffir lime leaves, sliced chilli a few sprigs of fresh mint, crispy shallots & sliced cucumber
Biang Biang Noodles
To Make
Mix flour, water and salt by hand or in a stand mixer with the dough hook. Knead until well combined and smooth. By hand it may take up to 10 minutes.
Divide dough into 8 equal portions, knead and shape into logs. Transfer to a plate and coat well in oil. Cover in glad wrap and let rest for 1 hour.
Heat up a wok or pot of water. While waiting, flatten the dough portions into rectangles with a rolling pin. When the water is boiling, quickly blanch the bok choy then drain and set aside.
For the dough, make an indent with a chopstick down the middle of the dough portions lengthwise. Gently hold both ends of the rectangle and pull until desired thickness is reached. Split the pulled dough in two long noodle strands.
Cook the noodles in the boiling water in two batches for 1 minute. While they are cooking, divide the soy sauce, black vinegar and bean sprouts into two bowls.
Once the noodles are cooked, drain and divide them into the bowls. Add the red pepper, garlic and green onion in a small pile on top of the noodles. Add the bok choy around the edges of the bowl.
In a saucepan, heat the rest of the vegetable oil over high heat until smoking. Carefully pour the oil into the bowls and over the noodles and ingredients so that they sizzle. Stir to coat the noodles evenly and enjoy with a sprinkle of sesame seeds.
Duck Noodle Soup (Mi Viet Tiem)
To Make
In a large saucepan, pour in chicken stock, star anise, dried chillies, cinnamon, garlic and ginger. Bring to the boil and then continue to simmer for 30 minutes.
Sprinkle the duck skin with salt, then place skin side down into a cold fry pan. Place onto the stove and turn the temperature to medium. Cook skin side down for 4 minutes until skin becomes crispy. Turn the duck over and continue cooking for another 7-8 minutes until cooked through. Remove the duck from the pan and allow to rest whilst completing the following steps.
Prepare the fresh egg noodles according to the packet instructions.
Add the soy, fish sauce, dark soy and palm sugar to the stock, mix to combine and dissolve the sugar.
Place the pak choy into the soup broth and cook for 2-3 minutes.
Divide the egg noodles between 4 serving bowls and pour in the stock to cover the noodles. Slice the duck into 8 pieces and lay 4 pieces on top of the egg noodles per bowl.
Place 2-3 pieces of pak choy onto each bowl, along with sliced chillies, spring onions, bean shoots and coriander leaves.
Japanese Style Simmered Pork Belly (Buta no Kakuni)
To Make
Sear the pork belly on all sides in a hot pan.
Wipe off the excess fat from the pork belly. Place in a pot with ginger, leek, rice, and water. Cover with a lid and bring to boil. Reduce heat to low and continue to simmer for 2 hours.
Take out the pork belly and wash it with cold water. Dry and keep aside.
Combine sauce ingredients in a pot. Add the pork from step 3, cover with a lid and bring to boil. Reduce heat to low and continue to simmer for 1 hour.
Serve with desired garnish.
Chicken and Prawn Wontons in Chilli Oil
To Make
Combine chicken mince, prawns, ginger, garlic, chicken broth, and Shaoxing wine in a mixing bowl, mixing with chopsticks in one direction until well combined.
Add soy sauce, salt, sugar, cornstarch, sesame oil, and white pepper, and keep mixing. Add green onion (set aside a handful or garnishing) and garlic chives, and continue to mix until well combined.
To make the wontons, spoon 1 tsp of filling in the centre of each wrapper. Wet the edges of the wrapper with water and fold in half from one corner to the other, sealing the edges with your fingers. Then, wet one corner with water and fold so that it crosses over to meet the other corner, gently pressing the corners together to seal.
Bring a pot of water to a boil. Once boiling, add wontons in 2 batches and cook for 8-10 mins. Divide wontons into 4 bowls and reserve some of the liquid.
To finish the wontons, add 1 tbsp soy sauce, 1 tbsp chinese black vinegar and 1 tbsp of the reserved liquid into each bowl. Mix the wontons to coat in the sauce. Spoon over as much chilli oil as you like and garnish with green onions and sesame seeds. Serve.
Summer Soba Noodle Salad
To Make
Make the dressing by combining lime juice, oil, honey, salt, and ginger. Mix well and set aside.
Toast peanuts in a hot oven at 180°C until golden (around 5-10 mins, depending on your oven).
Chop the carrot into thin strips (or grate) and trim the ends off the snow peas.
Cook the edamame beans in a pot of water until soft. Remove from the heat and add snow peas to the same pot of water to lightly blanch. Drain.
Cook soba noodles according to packet instructions. Drain and rinse in cold water.
Combine noodles, snow peas, carrot, and edamame in a bowl and pour over the dressing. Mix well and sprinkle over toasted peanuts before serving. (Note – I decorated with rice balls using leftover sushi rice as little tiger faces).
Special Goto (Filipino Beef Tripe and Rice Porridge) with Crispy Fried Pork & Tofu
To Make
In a pot, heat the cooking oil then sauté the garlic, onion, and ginger. Add the beef tripe and cook for about 3 mins.
Next, pour in the fish sauce and water then simmer until the beef tripe is tender. Add some ground black pepper.
Add the uncooked glutinous rice and stir. Then pour in the beef stock and bring to a boil. Stir occasionally until the rice reaches the desired consistency (about 30 mins). Add water as needed. Add the safflower for additional color and aroma.
In a separate pan, heat cooking oil and deep fry the tofu and pork. Also, boil the eggs and remove the eggshell and cut them into halves.
Serve hot with minced green onions, hard-boiled eggs, roasted garlic, safflower kasubha, fried tofu and pork, calamansi (or lemon), and Lee Kum Kee Chiu Chow Style Chilli oil. Share and enjoy.