Asian Inspirations

Discover the authentic in Asian cuisine food

Deep-Fry

Thai Style Deep Fried Whole Fish with Pineapples and Sweet Chilli Sauce

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To Prep
Rub salt and pepper generously on fish, then dredge with flour.

To Cook
Heat cooking oil in a wok on high heat. When the oil starts to smoke, slide the fish in. Fry for 4 mins on each side or until browned and crisp. Remove from wok and lay on a serving plate. Discard the oil.
Add in the pineapple juice, sweet chilli sauce and fish sauce, bring to a simmer.
Add the pineapple chunks and bird’s eye chilli slices. Simmer for 30 secs.
Pour the sauce with pineapple and chillies over the fish.
Garnish with spring onion and serve.

Thai Style Deep Fried Whole Fish with Cashew Nuts and Green Apple Salad

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To Prep
Rub salt and pepper generously on fish, then dredge with tapioca starch.

To Cook
Heat cooking oil in a wok over high heat. When oil starts to smoke, slide the fish in.
Fry for 4 mins on each side or until browned and crisp. Remove from wok and lay on a serving plate. Reserve about 2 tbsp of the oil and discard the rests.
Add in the lemon juice, garlic, chillies, fish sauce and bring to a simmer. Turn off the heat.
Toss in onions, cashews, apple and carrot and lightly coat with sauce.
Pour over the fish and garnish with mint leaves. Serve.

Braised Tofu with Roast Pork and Mushrooms

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To Cook
Cut egg tofu into 2-3cm slices. Wipe dry with kitchen towels. Sprinkle corn starch on tofu and either deep fry or fry in a pan filled with enough oil to cover up to half the height of tofu. Fry until browned. Set aside on paper towels to drain excess oil.
Heat a pan over medium heat. There is no need to add oil. Cook roast pork and stir occasionally, until the oil is released. Dish out and set aside.
Saute shredded ginger and shallots in the leftover oil from the roast pork until aromatic. Add garlic and increase heat to medium high. Toss the roast pork back in. Add baby corns, mushrooms, oyster sauce, sugar, sesame oil and Shaoxing wine. Pour in water. When it boils, reduce heat to medium-low. Cover and cook until roast pork softens. Then add in tofu.
Add thickening ingredients and adjust according to your preferred consistency.
Serve immediately with steamed rice.

Deep Fried Kai Lan

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To Make
Cut the kai lan stems into sections.
Bring water to a boil in a large pot. Add the baking soda. Parboil the kai lan stems for approximately 5 mins.
Drain and rinse the kai lan. Leave to the side.
Tear the kai lan leaves into fine strips.
In a deep pan or wok, heat up enough deep-frying oil. The kai lan is ready when it is crispy. Leave it to the side.
In a new pan or wok, heat it up with a little bit of cooking oil.
Stir-fry the garlic and ginger until the aromas are released.
Mix the light soya sauce, oyster sauce, cooking wine, corn flour and 1 cup of water.
Add the stems to the garlic and ginger with the sauce mixture. Remove from heat when there is only a little bit of moisture left.
To serve, plate the stems and then the deep-fried kai lan on top. Serve while hot with a small dish of the XO sauce.

Taiwanese Popcorn Chicken

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To Prepare
In a medium bowl, combine the garlic, green onions, soy sauce, mirin, Chinese 5-Spice, pepper, 1 tsp of starch and cayenne pepper together. Stir until the mixture is a paste-like consistency.
In a large bowl, combine this mixture with the chicken chunks. Ensure that all of the chicken pieces are coated before wrapping in plastic wrap.
Leave in a refrigerator to marinate for at least 30 mins. It can be left to marinate overnight as well.
In a medium bowl, beat the egg and cold water together with a fork.
In a medium bowl, measure out your sweet potato starch.
In a wok, heat up some oil for frying so that it reaches a temperature of 175°C.
With a pair of tongs, dip a chicken chunk in the egg mixture then the starch before placing in the wok. Fry the chicken in batches ensuring that you do not crowd your work. The popcorn chicken is ready in a few mins or when it is a golden brown colour.
Drain the excess oil by placing the chicken on a wire rack or paper towels.
Sprinkle salt and pepper to taste and gently toss to combine well.
Fry the Thai basil leaves as the final batch for 15-20 seconds until they are at desired crispness. Take care not to burn the leaves.
Plate the chicken and basil leaves together.

Crispy Black Pomfret with Garlic Oil

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To Cook
Sprinkle some salt over the pat-dried black pomfret. Set aside.
Heat oil in a fry pan, add the chopped garlic and fry in low heat, stirring continuously until garlic is crisp and golden. Remove garlic from pan immediately and set aside, leaving the oil in the pan to fry the fish.
Heat the oil over medium heat until slightly smoking, place fish in the pan to fry. When the bottom side of the fish is cooked and slightly browned, flip the fish and fry the other side. Repeat the process, turning every 3-4 mins so that the whole fish is crisped.
When the fish is thoroughly cooked and crisped, turn the heat up to fry 2 minutes on each side of the fish to give it a crispy toasted flavour.
Remove fish from the pan and place onto a serving plate. Top fish with the fried garlic.

Vegemite Chicken

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To Prep
In a large bowl, combine chicken with marinade ingredients. Mix well and leave to marinade in the refrigerator for at least 1 hr.

To Cook
Heat up oil in a heavy-bottomed pan or wok. Coat chicken once through the marinade again and deep fry until golden brown. Remove and drain off excess oil on paper towels.
In a clean pan or wok, heat up oil and add in all the sauce ingredients. Stir constantly over medium heat until the sauce bubbles and thickens. The process may take about 5-8 mins. Toss in the fried chicken pieces and mix thoroughly until they are well coated with sauce. Dish out and garnish with white sesame seeds if desired. Serve with steamed rice.

Sichuan Fragrant Crispy Duck (Xiang Su Ya)

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To Cook
Heat up a pan and lightly roast peppercorns until aromatic. Transfer to a grinder and ground into powder. Mix Chinese 5-spice powder and salt together with grounded peppercorns.
Rub the ducks with the marinade, thoroughly massaging into the skin. Place a wire/cooling rack on parchment paper and put the ducks on top of the rack. Loosely cover the ducks with parchment paper and leave inside the refrigerator to marinade and dry out for 48 hrs.
Remove the ducks from refrigerator and rub Shaoxing wine all over. Scatter ginger and spring onions onto a steaming plate and rest the ducks on top. Steam over boiling water for 1½ hrs, checking water levels occasionally and refill as needed.
Transfer the ducks on a cooling rack placed over a parchment paper and let them air dry for 3 hrs.
Combine starch solution ingredients in a bowl. Rub the starch solution all over the duck and allow to dry for 10 mins. In a wok or deep-fryer, heat up oil enough to almost cover the ducks. Carefully put the ducks in and fry until evenly browned both sides. Remove and place on kitchen towels to drain off excess oil. Serve hot.

Hokkaido Soup Curry

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To Cook
In a large pot over medium heat, melt butter. Then add in ginger, garlic and onion. Cook until softened. Pour in flour and mix well. Stir in curry powder, garam masala and cayenne, mix well. Gently pour in chicken stock, sake, soy sauce and mirin. Throw in bay leaves and bring up the heat to allow the soup to simmer vigorously.
Add in chicken legs and readjust the heat to allow soup to simmer gently. Leave to cook with lid partially covered for 45 mins until chicken is tender.
Meanwhile, cook rice and heat up oil over medium heat for deep frying in a wok or heavy bottomed pot. Ensure vegetables are dry before putting them in. Fry in batches until lightly browned and crisp. Dish out and drain off excess oil on kitchen towels.
To serve, ladle some soup into individual serving bowls. Place 1 piece of chicken leg at the bottom of each bowl. Then, top each bowl with fried vegetables equally. Serve hot with steamed rice.

Vegemite Chicken Wings

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To Prep
In a large bowl, combine chicken wings with marinade ingredients. Mix well and leave to marinade in the refrigerator for at least 1 hr.

To Cook
Heat up oil in a heavy-bottomed pan or wok. Coat chicken wings once through the marinade again and deep fry the wings until golden brown. Remove and drain off excess oil on paper towels.
In a clean pan or wok, heat up 1 tbsp oil and add in all the sauce ingredients. Stir constantly over medium heat until the sauce bubbles and thickens. The process may take about 5-8 mins. Toss in the fried chicken wings and mix thoroughly until the wings are well coated with sauce. Dish out and garnish with white sesame seeds if desired. Serve with steamed rice or eat them on its own!

Filipino Anchovies Fritters (Ukoy Na Dilis)

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To Cook
Mix together the egg, cornstarch, flour, water, fish sauce, salt and pepper until it is combined well and smoothly.
Add the anchovies, shallots and green onions, stirring gently.
Fill a pan with about 1.5cm of oil at 175°C.
Scoop about 2-3 tbsp of the mixture into the hot oil, making sure that you do this quickly so that it becomes one fritter.
Cook for 2-4 mins per side. The fritters are ready when they are golden and crisp.
Remove the fritters from the oil once they are done and place on a baking sheet or paper towels to drain the excess oil.
Repeat in batches until you have used up the mixture.
Serve while hot.

Homemade Fried Spinach Tofu

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To Prep
Salt chopped spinach and set aside for 15 mins. Using clean hands, squeeze out liquid from the spinach. Then place the spinach on a square / rectangular baking tin lined with baking paper. Leave aside.
Beat eggs and slowly whisk in soy milk. Then whisk in chicken stock powder. Pour the egg mixture through a fine-mesh sieve into the baking tin. Place the baking tin into a steamer and steam for 10 mins over medium heat. Remove and leave to cool for 15 mins.

To Cook
To make the sauce, heat oil in a pan and cook the Shimeji mushrooms until lightly browned. Then add in sugar, soy sauce and pepper. Mix well. Pour in thickening mixture and allow to cook until the sauce thickens.
Cut the tofu into squares or rectangles. Deep fry until lightly browned. Transfer to a serving dish and spoon over the mushroom sauce. Serve hot.