To Cook
Add oil into a wok and heat over medium heat. Put in garlic and sauté until fragrant. Add in minced pork and mushrooms and stir fry until cooked.
Mix together water, corn starch, oyster sauce, soy sauce, sugar, sesame oil and ground white pepper in a bowl. Pour sauce ingredients into the wok. Stir fry to mix well then, allow to simmer for 3 mins or until the sauce reduces slightly and thickens. Put in carrots and spring onions and cook for 2 mins. Season with salt if needed. Keep aside and allow to cool.
Place wheat starch into a large bowl and slowly pour in boiling water while gently stirring. Combine well until a thick dough forms. Allow to rest for 5 mins. Pour in glutinous rice flour and sugar, mixing well to combine. Slowly pour in water with one hand and gently mix it using the other hand to form a dough.
Pinch out about a small palm sized dough, about 5cm in diameter. Flatten the dough with your palm and scoop some filling into the dumpling wrapper. Fold the dumpling wrapper into half to seal. Keep aside and repeat with the remainder of the dough.
Heat enough oil for deep frying in a wok. Once hot, deep fry dumplings over medium heat until golden brown. Dish out and drain out excess oil by placing fried dumplings on paper towels. Serve once slightly cooled.
Deep-Fry
Fried Sesame Balls (Jian Dui)
To Begin
Scoop 2 tbsp glutinous rice flour and place into a small bowl. Mix in 10ml water and knead until smooth. In a pot, boil some water and place in the small dough. Cook for 3 mins. Meanwhile, prepare a bowl of cold water. Once the small dough has cooked, remove and place into the cold water.
Now in a large bowl, pour in the remaining flour and add in sugar and baking powder. Put in the cooked small dough. Using your hand, break and knead while slowly pouring in water. Knead until a smooth dough is obtained.
Dust your workbench with some glutinous rice flour and roll dough in a long log. Cut into 20 equal sizes. Roll each piece into a ball. Gently flatten a small dough ball with your fingers or palm and scoop in 1 tsp red bean paste in the middle. Then, shape the dough into a ball again, sealing the red bean paste filling completely. Repeat with remaining small dough balls.
Prepare sesame seeds in a bowl and water in another bowl. Dip a filled ball into the water quickly and roll it with sesame seeds. Repeat with remaining filled balls.
In a deep pan or wok, heat enough oil to cover the balls over medium high temperature. Carefully lower in the sesame balls and quickly turn the heat down. Deep fry the balls slowly until slightly golden brown. Dish out fried sesame balls and place them on paper towels to drain off excess oil.
Serve once cooled.
Thai Fried Bread (Pa Thong Ko)
To Prep
Combine yeast with warm water and set aside until foam forms. Mix flour and oil in a bowl and pour in yeast mixture. Combine until dough forms.
Dust your worktop with flour and knead the dough for 3 mins. Place into a bowl and cover with cling wrap. Set aside to rise for 1 hr.
Once the dough has risen, place on a floured worktop and knead for another 1 min. Roll it into a long log then, cut into smaller strips (2.5cm x 5cm)
Dip your finger with some water and rub onto the middle of a strip of dough. Quickly stick another strip of dough on top at the spot where the water is. The water will glue both dough strips together. Repeat with all remaining dough strips.
To Cook
Heat enough oil for deep frying over high heat. Place in the doughs and turn the heat down to medium high. Fry dough sticks until golden browned then, place them on a wire rack to drain off excess oil. Allow to cool slightly.
Serve Thai fried bread with sweetened condensed milk or Thai coconut custard (sangkhaya).
Japanese Curry Buns (Kare Pan)
To Prep
Prepare your choice of Japanese curry the day before. Ensure the meat, vegetables or potatoes used in the curry are cut into small pieces. Refrigerate overnight to create a solid and pasty texture.
Take the Japanese curry out from the refrigerator and bring to room temperature. Also bring unsalted butter to room temperature.
Place bread flour, cake flour, salt and sugar into a large mixing bowl. Whisk until combined. Add instant dry yeast and pour in warm milk. Combine until a rough dough forms then, shape the dough into a ball. Add butter on top and knead the dough until there is no big pieces of butter left. Place the dough on a lightly floured worktop and continue to knead until it’s smooth. Form into a ball and put it into a bowl. Cling wrap and leave to proof until doubled in size. To test the dough if it’s ready, dust your finger with flour and poke the centre of the dough. The dough is ready if the hole does not close up.
Lightly dust your worktop with flour and place the dough on top. Gently press the dough down and fold it into thirds, width wise. Then, fold the dough again into thirds, length wise. Flip the dough so that the seam is facing down. Twist the dough to form a smooth ball.
Weigh the dough on a kitchen scale and divide the weight by 8. Cut the dough into 8 equal pieces and weigh each piece. Cut off extra dough it if weighs more than the calculated figure and add more dough if it weighs less. Roll each dough into a rough ball and place them on a baking tray lined with parchment paper. Cover with cling wrap and allow to sit for 15 mins at room temperature.
Put seam side of the dough facing upwards. Flatten the dough with your palm and fold it in thirds, width wise. Then, fold in thirds length wise. Flip the dough around so that the seam side is facing down. Flatten again and turn the dough upside down so the seam side is up. Using a rolling pin, roll into a 9cm circle and place on a baking tray lined with parchment paper. Repeat with all dough balls. Cover them with cling wrap and allow to sit for 10 mins.
Press the edges of the dough with your fingers to thin the dough out. The centre should be thicker than the edges. Each dough should be roughly 10cm in diameter. With the seam side facing upwards, scoop about 1½ tbsp curry paste in the middle of the dough. Fold the dough into half, ensuring no curry paste touches the edges. Pinch the edges tightly to seal properly. Fold the pinched edges and press again to secure. Place the wrapped dough seam side down on the baking tray lined with parchment paper and cover with a damp tea towel. Repeat with remaining dough and curry paste.
Pour panko into a shallow tray and prepare a beaten egg. Brush egg over the dough, coat with panko and place it back to the lined baking tray. Repeat with remaining formed dough. Cover with cling wrap and leave to rise until 1½ times in size.
To Cook
Heat enough oil for deep frying in a pot. Carefully place the curry buns, seam side down, for 5 secs before turning them around. Continuously flip them around to deep fry until they are golden brown. Drain and continue to fry remaining curry buns.
Serve hot or warm.
Shanghai Smoked Fish
To Prep
Wash and then dry fish steaks thoroughly with kitchen paper.
Chop the steaks in half, chopping just to the side of the spine bone.
Mix salt, five spice powder and white pepper, then sprinkle all over the fish steaks. Let marinate for 10 mins.
For the sauce
Add all ingredients for the sauce into a small pot and stir over low heat until the rock sugar is melted.
Pour into a bowl big enough to fit all the fish and let cool to room temperature.
To Cook
Heat up 2 cups of oil in a small pot.
Slide the fish into the hot oil, a couple of pieces at a time, and fry until the fish is a golden brown.
Remove to kitchen paper covered plates to let excess oil drain off. Repeat for all pieces of fish.
When the fish has cooled, add them to the sauce, making sure the pieces are submerged into the sauce and let sit at room temperature for 2 hours before serving or cover and let it marinate overnight in the fridge.
Place the fish on to a serving plate and drizzle with the sauce.
Hanoi Sweet Potato and Prawn Fritters
To Prep
Combine flour, 1½ tsp salt, turmeric, cayenne, spring onions, egg, soda water and iced water in a bowl and mix until just blended. Do not overmix. The batter will be slightly lumpy. Add 1 tbsp iced water at a time if the batter is too thick.
Place prawns in a separate bowl and season with a pinch of salt and black pepper. Add 120ml batter over the prawns and mix well to coat evenly. Then, add sweet potatoes to the bowl of remaining batter and mix well.
To Cook
Heat enough oil for deep frying in a wok or deep-frying pan over high heat. Place round metal rings into the oil and pour in the sweet potato batter into each metal ring and top with a battered prawn each. Fry until golden browned and cooked through. Drain off excess oil. Repeat with remaining batter.
Serve with lettuce leaves and sweet chilli sauce.
Vegetable and Prawn Fritters Rice Bowl (Kakiage Don)
To Cook
Season prawns with a pinch of salt.
Place all sauce ingredients in a small pot and bring to a boil. Set aside.
Sift flour, baking powder and salt into a large bowl. Mix eggs with iced water and sake then, pour into flour mixture. Stir the bowl 10 times lightly in circular motion.
Heat enough oil for deep frying and sesame oil in a wok over medium high heat. Meanwhile, place prawns and vegetables into a bowl and dust with corn starch, coating ingredients well. Pour batter over the ingredients and mix gently. Ladle a scoop of ingredients into a wire sieve and drain off excess batter. Carefully place the battered ingredients into the hot oil and work quickly to collect pieces of stray ingredients into a big piece using chopsticks. Once the fritter is golden browned, dish out and drain off excess oil by placing the fritter on paper towels. Repeat with remaining battered ingredients.
To serve, reheat sauce. Meanwhile, divide rice into individual serving bowls. Pour some sauce over the rice. Top each bowl with a fritter and drizzle with more sauce. Serve immediately.
Northern Vietnam Spring Rolls (Nem Ran)
To Prep
Combine all the ingredients for the dipping sauce and mix until the sugar has dissolved.
Set it aside for serving later.
To Cook
Combine the minced pork and shrimp in a mixing bowl.
Season with salt, pepper and sugar before adding the shallots and garlic.
Next, add the shredded vegetables, mushrooms, and glass noodles and mix well.
Mix in the egg white and let the spring roll filling sit for 10 mins.
Soften the rice paper wrapper with a damp cloth. Then, scoop a spoonful of the filling on one edge of the rice paper wrapper.
Roll up the wrapper like you would roll a burrito but with the ends of the wrapper tucked in.
Heat up some oil in a pan over medium heat. Fry the spring rolls until they are golden brown.
Remove the excess oil from the cooked spring rolls using a paper towel.
Serve the spring tolls hot with the dipping sauce.
Lotus Root (Renkon) Chips
To Prep
Fill a large mixing bowl with water and stir in rice wine vinegar. Add sliced lotus root and soak for 10-15 mins.
To Cook
Drain sliced lotus root, rinse well, then pat dry thoroughly with paper towel.
In a large pot or wok, heat oil over medium-high heat to 170°C.
Deep fry lotus root slices in batches until crispy and golden brown.
Transfer to a plate lined with paper towel to drain excess oil. Season with salt and nori. Serve immediately.
Torch Ginger Fried Chicken (Ayam Goreng Bunga Kantan)
To Prep
Using a food processor or mortar and pestle, add garlic, chillies and shallots and pound/blitz into a fine paste.
Add in turmeric and ground coriander seeds, and mix until well combined. If too dry, add a little water to moisten the paste.
Transfer to a large mixing bowl and stir through torch ginger.
Add in chicken, and stir through to coat chicken. Cover in cling film and refrigerate overnight to marinate.
To Cook
In a large mixing bowl, combine rice flour, salt and pepper.
In a large sauce pan or wok, heat oil over medium-high heat to 165°C.
Drain drumsticks from marinade, then dip in flour to completely coat chicken. Shake excess.
Carefully drop chicken into hot oil in batches of 2-3 drumsticks. Cook for 10-12 mins or until golden brown and cooked through.
Transfer to a plate lined with paper towel to drain, then transfer to a wire rack. Garnish with torch ginger petals and serve immediately.
Blue Butterfly Pea Rice Salad (Nasi Kerabu)
To Cook
In a rice cooker, add in rice, water, lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves and salt. Strain blue butterfly pea flowers, reserving the blue water. Add blue extract into the rice cooker and cook according to manufacturer’s instructions.
To make the sambal, blend the chillies together with sugar. Alternatively, use a mortar and pestle. Transfer into a small bowl. Season with salt and lime juice to taste. Cover and set aside.
For the fish and coconut floss, blend together the red onion and lemongrass into a fine paste. In a dry pan, add the onion and lemongrass paste with the mackerel and shredded coconut. Cook on medium heat until the mackerel dries and turns into a floss. Set aside.
In a large mixing bowl for the salad, combine the ingredients.
To assemble, line a plate with banana leaves. Place blue rice in the centre of the plate, and arrange sambal, fish and coconut floss, salad, fried chicken, fish sausage, prawn crackers and salted egg around. Serve immediately.
Thai Chicken and Lemongrass Salad
To Prep
For the dressing, create a coarse paste by using a pestle to pound the garlic, chillies and palm sugar in a mortar. Combine with the fish sauce and lime juice and set aside.
To Cook
In a saucepan, place the chicken inside and cover with water. Bring to a boil over medium heat, cover the saucepan and then reduce the heat to low and simmer for 5 mins.
Remove the pan from the heat and leave the chicken to rest in the liquid for 40 mins to cook completely.
Remove the chicken and drain well, and then shred into thin strips.
Meanwhile, in a saucepan, heat up vegetable oil for deep frying. Deep fry the cashews for 1 min or until golden brown. Remove immediately with a mesh skimmer and leave to drain on a paper towel.
Place the chicken in a bowl with the spring onion, lemongrass and ¾ each of the ginger, chilli and coriander.
Roughly crush 2⁄3 of the cashews, then add to the chicken mixture. Pour over ¾ of the dressing and toss well.
Place the salad on a serving plate and garnish with the remaining cashews. Drizzle with a little more salad dressing and scatter with the remainder of the ginger, chilli and coriander. Serve with the remaining dressing in a bowl to the side.