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.
Deep-Fry
Vegemite Chicken
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)
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
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
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)
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
To Cook
To make spinach tofu, salt chopped spinach and set aside for 15 minutes. Using clean hands, squeeze out liquid from the spinach. Then place the spinach on a square or 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 minutes over medium heat. Remove and leave to cool for 15 minutes.
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.
Jing Du Style Peking Pork Ribs
To Prep
Marinate the pork ribs with Shaoxing wine, 1 tsp sugar, salt, ground white pepper and egg white for 1 hr in the refrigerator. Take out and bring the marinated pork ribs to room temperature.
To Cook
In a wok or cast-iron pan, heat about 2cm oil over medium heat. Just before frying, mix in an additional 2 tbsp cornstarch to the pork ribs if you’d like the pork to be crispier. Fry the pork ribs in batches for about 5-8 mins each batch until golden brown. Drain fried pork ribs on a wire rack.
In the same wok, leave about 2 tbsp of oil used for frying the pork earlier. Add in garlic and cook for about 1 min. Add ketchup. Stir for 2 mins, be careful not to burn the sauce. Then add in water, soy sauce, ½ tsp sugar. Bring the sauce to a simmer at medium heat until sauce thickens. Toss in the pork ribs at medium low heat, stir to coat the ribs well with the sauce. Add in a few drops of sesame oil and continue to stir for 1 min.
Transfer to serving plate and garnish with sesame seeds and some coriander leaves. Serve immediately with steamed rice.
Hokkien Style Fried Pork Meatballs (Soh Bak Ngee)
To Prep
In a large, deep bowl, put in minced pork. Combine thoroughly with soy sauce, sesame oil, corn flour, salt and white pepper. Add minced mushrooms, carrots, garlic and shallots. Mix thoroughly until well combined. Marinate the meatball mixture in the refrigerator for at least 3 hrs or best, overnight.
Remove from the refrigerator and mix again. Using hands, press the mixture together so that the ingredients will bind well. Prepare soy sauce mixture. Roll meatball mixture into balls of 3-4cm in diameter.
To Cook
Heat oil in a wok just enough to cover half of the pork meatballs. Dip meatballs with soy sauce mixture and slap the meatball from one palm to the other about 3-4 times. Put into the hot oil and fry until golden brown. Turn when needed.
Drain fried pork meatballs on wire rack. Serve hot with sweet chilli sauce or ketchup.
Marmite Pork Spare Ribs
To Prep
Mix all the marinade ingredients and marinade the pork ribs for 1 hr in the refrigerator. Take out and bring the marinated pork ribs to room temperature.
To Cook
In a wok or cast-iron pan, heat about 2cm oil over medium heat. Just before frying, mix in additional 2 tbsp corn starch to the pork ribs if you’d like the pork to be crispier. Fry the pork ribs in batches for about 5-8 mins each batch until golden browned. Drain fried pork ribs on a wire rack.
In the same wok, remain about 1 tsp of oil used for frying the pork earlier. Add in all the sauce ingredients except salt and sugar. Bring the sauce to a boil over medium heat. Stir occasionally, until sauce starts to thicken. Then add in salt and sugar according to taste if needed.
Over medium high heat, toss in the fried pork ribs and stir to coat each piece with the sauce.
Transfer to serving plate and garnish with sesame seeds and some coriander leaves. Serve immediately with steamed rice.
Japanese Crispy Pork Cutlet (Tonkatsu)
To Cook
Combine beaten egg and milk in a bowl.
Coat pork in order of flour, egg and milk mixture and Obento Panko Breadcrumbs.
Deep fry crumbed pork in 180℃ hot oil until golden and pork is fully cooked. Place on kitchen paper or resting rack to absorb excess oil.
Cut the pork cutlet into 1cm strips. Serve on a bed of cabbage with a side of Obento Tonkatsu Sauce in a small dish for dipping.
Salted Egg Yolk Chicken
To Prep
Marinate chicken with salt, pepper and rice wine for 1 hr.
Add the beaten egg to the chicken thighs and mix well.
Coat chicken in potato starch, shake off excess and transfer onto a dry plate.
To Cook
Deep fry the chicken till golden brown and crispy.
Transfer onto paper towel to remove excess oil.
Heat 3 tbsp oil in a separate pan and melt butter until foamy.
Add curry leaves and fry till fragrant and crisp.
Add garlic, ginger, chillies and mix well.
Add salted egg yolks and cook till the mixture becomes bubbly.
Return the fried chicken to the pan and toss until evenly coated with sauce.