Asian Inspirations

Discover the authentic in Asian cuisine food

Deep-Fry

Panko Lamb Brains with Yuzu Mayo

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To Prep
Combine the mayonnaise with the yuzu juice and set aside.
In a large pot, combine all of the poaching ingredients except for the lamb brains. Bring them to a boil and let simmer for about 15 mins.
Carefully place the lamb brains in to the pot and let them poach for about 5 mins.
Remove the lamb brains from the pot and let them drain on a wire rack or paper towels. When the brains are cool enough to handle, halve them and remove any unwanted pieces.
In a small mixing bowl, add the flour, salt and pepper, and whisk together. In another small bowl, combine the eggs and the milk and mix thoroughly. Finally, in a large mixing bowl pour in the breadcrumbs.
Coat a lobe in the flour mixture before dredging it in the egg and then crumbing it with the panko breadcrumbs.
Return the brain back in to the egg and then back in to the panko to add another layer to the crust. Repeat this process with the remaining lobes.

To Cook
In a large pot, pour enough oil to deep fry the brains. Heat the oil over a high heat until it reaches 180°C.
Fry the brains in batches until the crust becomes a deep brown colour. Drain the brains on a wire rack or paper towels to remove the excess oil.
Serve with the yuzu mayonnaise.

Prawn (Ebi) Tempura Somen

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To Prep
In a small bowl, combine Obento Mirin Seasoning, Lee Kum Kee Premium Soy Sauce, Obento Rice Wine Vinegar, Yeo’s Sesame Oil and sugar. Stir until sugar is dissolved. Set aside.

To Cook
Cook somen noodles in a pot of boiling water for 2 mins, then rinse under cold water.
Heat vegetable oil in a large saucepan to 180°C.
Combine cornflour and plain flour in a bowl, then lightly whisk together with soda water until just combined, being careful not to over mix.
Pat dry the prawns gently with a paper towel before coating them in the tempura batter. Lower the prawns one at a time into oil and cook for approximately 3-4 mins.
Add the noodles, edamame beans, cucumber and daikon to a large bowl, then pour in half of the dressing mix gently until all ingredients are coated.
Divide the noodles between 2 bowls and top with tempura prawns, drizzle over additional dressing if required, then garnish with shredded nori, toasted sesame seeds and some shichimi togorashi to finish.
Serve immediately.

Thai Vegan Corn Fritters

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To Prep
Mix sauce ingredients in a medium size bowl and set aside.
Mix water with baking soda in a small bowl and set aside.
Add coriander roots, garlic and white pepper into the mortar and grind into a paste, then add to a large mixing bowl.
In the same bowl of coriander root paste, add corn kernels, rice flour, tapioca starch, potato starch, plain flour, kaffir lime leaves, baking powder, ABC Original Chilli Sauce, dark brown sugar and salt.
Pour the baking soda mixture in and mix all ingredients together.

To Cook
Add oil into a large pot or wok, then heat on medium-high.
Spoon about 2-3 tbsp of mixture into the hot oil and repeat until the fritters cover all the pot/wok surface.
Flip after 90 secs or when you can see the edges beginning to brown. Repeat for the other side. Drain fritters on paper towel.
Serve with sweet chilli sauce.

Tempura Mushroom Bao with Pickled Radish and Miso Mayo

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To Make Fillings
Place all pickled radish ingredients in a bowl and massage the salt, sugar, vinegar and chilli into the radishes. Leave in the fridge for 5-10 mins.
Place tofu, miso paste, rice vinegar and rice malt syrup in a blender or food processor. Blend until smooth. Set the blender on high speed and drizzle in the oil so it emulsifies. Store the mayo in the fridge.
Mix sake, sugar, mirin, soy sauce, and water in a saucepan. Cook on medium heat until sugar is dissolved.
Add mushrooms and cook for 5 mins or until tender. Remove and pat dry with paper towel.
Return half the liquid to the heat and reduce by half.
Heat the oil in a large wok. Mix the corn flour, plain flour in a large bowl, add soda water and mix quickly.
Add mushrooms and turn them to coat. Lift one mushroom at a time to let the excess tempura batter drip off, then lower into the hot oil. Repeat until all mushrooms are golden brown. Drain them on paper towel.

To Make Bao
Place the milk, flour, baking powder, yeast and sugar together in a large bowl.
In a separate bowl, mix the oil and water together.
Make a little well in the middle of the bowl with the dry ingredients and add the water oil mix.
Stir with a spoon and use your hands to knead until the dough comes together.
If the dough is too sticky add a little more flour and keep kneading. Knead for about 5-8 mins or until it is smooth. Cover and leave it in a warm place for 90 mins to rise (roughly double its size).
Once the dough has risen place on a floured surface and knead for a further 5 mins to get the air out. Using a rolling pin, roll out the dough about 1 cm thick.
Grease the top with oil then use a glass or rough cutter that is roughly 8 cm in diameter to cut out 12 circles. Remove the excess dough.
Fold the circles in half and slightly roll with a rolling pin. Place each bun on a square of baking paper and pop in bamboo steamer to rise for 30 mins.
Fill a third of a wok or saucepan with water and heat on high.
Place the bamboo steamer on top and steam buns for 12 mins.
Then turn off the heat and let it sit for 4 mins before taking the lid off.

Assembling the Bao
Take your bao bun, open it up and fill with shredded wombok, green onions and pickled radish.
Place your tempura mushrooms on top, then add a drizzle of the reduced mushroom liquid and a dollop of miso mayo. Enjoy!

Meat-Free Okonomiyaki

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To Prep
In a small glass bowl, steep all the dry shiitake via packet instructions.
Add some cold water into a bowl. Make thin strips of the white part of spring onion and cut length ways. Then, add the spring onions into the bowl.
Drain mushrooms, reserving 1 cup shiitake flavoured water.
Chop half of the shiitake up roughly and add to a large bowl. Finely chop the rest.
Press dry with paper towels and toss in cornflour.
Shallow fry in some oil for a few mins until crunchy.
Using a food processor and thin slicing tool, shred the rest of the vegetables.
Whisk eggs, soy and shiitake water in a large bowl.
Add plain flour slowly while whisking. The batter will need to be of a thickened cream consistency.
Fold the vegetables into the egg mix.

To Cook
Add oil and butter into the frying pan.
Add in roughly half the vegetable batter mixture to coat the bottom.
Press down the vegetables on top to make the perfect circle. Add lid and cook for 5 mins on a low-medium heat. Take lid off.
Put a plate over saucepan and flip pancake onto plate.
Once flipped, put saucepan back on stove and add another dob of butter and oil.
Gently slide pancake into saucepan and cook with lid on for another 5 mins. Set aside.
In a bowl, add tomato ketchup, soy, Worcestershire, honey to make Okonomiyaki sauce. Mix well.
Drizzle the Okonomiyaki sauce over pancake. Add Japanese mayonnaise, shredded pickled ginger, crunchy shiitake mushrooms and strips of spring onion on top of the pancake.

Agedashi Fish

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To Prep
Mix plain flour, baking powder, egg white and soda water to prepare tempura batter.

To Cook
Heat vegetable oil to 175°C.
Coat each slice of fish with tempura batter, deep fry each piece for approximately 6 mins or until cooked and batter turns crispy and brown. Set aside.
Combine Wafu Curry ingredients in a pot, boil until curry blocks are dissolved and turn off the heat. Put vegetables in the pot and mix well.
Arrange fish tempura on a serving plate, pour the cooked sauce over the fish. Garnish with spring onions and black sesame seeds.

Karaage Chicken

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To Prep
Cut chicken into bite-sized pieces, leaving a little skin/fat on for extra crispiness.
Add Japanese soy sauce, Obento Cooking Sake, egg, ginger and garlic in a bowl and mix well. Then, add the chicken, coat well and allow to marinate for 30 mins.
Drain any excess liquid from the chicken and coat with potato starch.

To Cook
Heat cooking oil in a pan to 180°C. Fry 3-4 pieces at a time for 3-4 minutes until they are golden brown, then remove and allow to drain on a wire rack or paper towel.
Mix S&B Wasabi Paste and Kewpie Mayonnaise. Then serve hot. For a savoury dip, try Obento Tonkatsu Sauce.

Crispy Chicken with Thai Basil

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To Cook
In a stock pot, fill sufficient water to be able to cover all chicken breasts, bring to a boil. Add chicken and boil for 15 mins, then lower heat to simmer for another 10 mins until meat is tender. Remove from stock pot and set aside to cool for 15 mins.
Tear the chicken into 2-3cm thick strips. Mix in garlic and chilli powder, and add salt and pepper to taste.
Heat cooking oil in a wok and deep-fry chicken strips until they are golden brown. Remove and set aside.
In a clean wok, heat 1 tbsp cooking oil on medium high. Add all the Sauce ingredients and stir well for 1 min.
Add the chicken and Thai basil leaves, toss for 5 mins, allowing the basil leaves to turn slightly crisp and aromatic. Remove from heat and serve.

Quick and Easy Prawns

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To Prep
Remove veins from the prawns, snip off the pointed ends on the heads and tails. Trim off the legs. Rinse and pat dry.

To Cook
Heat oil in a saucepan or wok. Deep fry prawns for about 30 secs, then remove.
Let the oil heat up again before returning the prawns to deep-fry further. Repeat 3 times, remove and drain well.
Place garlic, chilli and spring onion into a large bowl. Pour in about ⅓ cup hot oil to cook until fragrant.
Add fried prawns and seasonings. Stir briskly to combine well. Transfer to a serving plate and serve immediately.

Salt and Pepper Chicken Ribs

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To Cook
Marinate chicken ribs with salt and pepper. Set aside to marinade for 1 hour or overnight for better taste.
Just before frying, carefully coat each chicken piece with egg and cornstarch. Mix well.
In a wok, heat up 3-4 cm of oil until it’s hot. Deep-fry the chicken in small batches. Then, remove from wok, drain and set aside to rest for 10-15 mins while you fry up the rest of the chicken.
Once rested, return the chicken to the wok and deep-fry for a second time. The chicken will be crispier after the second round of frying.
In a separate pan, heat up 1 tbsp of oil. Add garlic and chilli and fry until aromatic. Sprinkle some salt and pepper. Remove from heat, add chicken to the pan and toss well.
Garnish with spring onion and serve immediately.

Mini Peanut Puffs (Kok Chai)

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To Make the Filling
In a small pan, toast peanuts over medium heat for 3-4 mins until lightly brown. Remove and allow to cool. Coarsely chop or grind the peanuts.
Toast sesame seeds for 1- 2 mins until lightly brown.
Mix peanuts, sesame seeds, and sugar in a bowl until well combined and set aside.

To Make the Dough
Combine flour(s) and salt in a large bowl and make a well in the centre. Pour oil into the well and mix with a spatula. Add water gradually to form a soft, non-sticky dough. You may not use up the full amount of water.
Place the dough on a clean work surface and knead for 3-4 mins. Shape into a round ball and place in the bowl again. Cover the bowl with a towel and allow to rest for 10 mins.
Grab the dough from the bowl and roll into a cylinder for about 12 inches long. Divide into 16 portions.
Take a piece and shape it into 2½ inches circle by rotating and flattening the edges. Place 1 tsp of filling at the centre.
Fold the dough in half. Press and pleat the edges to seal. Repeat for the rests of the dough.

To Cook
Heat adequate amount of oil in work or saucepan for deep-frying.
Deep-fry the mini puffs over medium low heat for 4-5 mins or until golden brown. Remove and drain the mini puffs in a metal strainer.
Allow to cool completely before storing in air tight containers for up to 2 weeks.