Asian Inspirations

Discover the authentic in Asian cuisine food

Deep-Fry

Tempura Panko Vegetables

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To Make the Tentsuyu Dipping Sauce
Add kombu into a saucepan with ¾ cup water. Bring to a boil, remove from heat and add in the bonito flakes. Allow to steep for 10 mins, and then strain through a sieve.
Return this dashi stock back into the saucepan and add remaining sauce ingredients. Bring to a boil, and then remove from heat and set aside to cool.

To Cook the Tempura Vegetables
Heat oil in a saucepan or pot to 170°C.
Add panko breadcrumbs into a bowl.
In a separate mixing bowl, add flour and egg white. Slowly pour over soda water while whisking slowly until just combined with some lumps in the batter.
Dip eggplant and sweet potato slices into tempura batter and then coat in panko breadcrumbs.
Carefully drop into hot oil and fry until crispy and golden brown. Fry in batches until remaining ingredients are finished. Carefully remove and drain on paper towel.
Serve with Tentsuyu dipping sauce.

Cantonese Salt and Pepper Squid

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To Prepare
Clean the squid well, removing any dark spots. Cut the squid into desired pieces and make sure the squid pieces are dry.
Prepare all the ingredients according to the ingredient list.
Marinate the peppers with salt and pepper for around 10 mins. Add starch and egg, mix well.
Heat up oil in a deep wok or pan until it reaches 170℃. You can test the oil temperature by adding one piece. The squid should float to the top of the oil. Cook in small batches.
In a wok, place 1 tbsp cooking oil and fry garlic, fresh pepper and onion until it is aromatic. Season with salt and pepper. Mix all the ingredients with the squid.
Serve and eat while it is still hot.

Tempura Prawn Soba

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To Prepare
For the stock, combine the water and kombu in a pot to soak for 30 mins. Prepare all the ingredients.
Prepare the shrimp for cooking by making small cuts in the prawn and straightening the prawn flesh.
Add the flour, baking powder, ½ tsp salt and chilled water in a bowl and combine until the mixture is smooth.
Cover the shrimp in batter and deep fry. When it is cooked, ensure that no excess oil is on the shrimp.
Bring the 500ml water to a boil on medium heat.
As the water approaches a boil, remove from heat and add the bonito flakes.
Return to heat and simmer for 1-2 mins, ensuring it does not boil.
Strain the stock into a pot and add the salt, soy sauce, mirin and sake. Once the soup has boiled for 1-2 mins, remove it from heat.
Cook the soba noodles according to the packet instructions.
Divide the prawns, soba noodles and soup between the two bowls and add spring onions for garnish.

Vegan Buddha Bowl

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To Cook
Cover tofu with paper towel to draw out excess liquid for 15 mins, and then cut into small cubes. In a medium-sized bowl, combine cornflour, pepper and salt. Heat oil in a saucepan or pot over medium-high heat. Dip tofu cubes into cornflour mixture and then carefully drop into hot oil. Once golden brown, remove from oil and place onto a plate lined with paper towel.
Combine soy sauce and sliced chillies in a small bowl and set aside.
To assemble, add cooked brown rice into a bowl. Top with carrot, grilled bok choy, cucumber, salt and pepper tofu, avocado and radish. Serve with chilli soy sauce.

Vegetarian Fritter Hand Roll

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To Prep
Add the sushi vinegar to the cooked sushi rice and gentle fold in to the rice until well incorporated.
Combine 3 tbsp of the tempura flour with the ice water in a mixing bowl and lightly stir them together. Try not to over mix the batter.
Put the remaining tablespoon of flour in to a separate bowl along with the cut vegetables. Season lightly before mixing to coat all of the ingredients.
Pour in the batter and lightly mix through to further coat the ingredients.

To Cook
Heat a pan with about 2 cm of oil to deep-fry up to about 180°C.
Place spoonfuls of the vegetable mix in to the pan and cook until golden on both sides. Let cool on paper towels to drain the excess oil.
When the fritters have cooled, cut them in to halves or in to sections that will fit in to the hand roll.

To Assemble
Cut nori sheets in half. Place sushi rice and the rest of the fillings onto one side of nori.
Fold the nearest corner of the nori over the filling and start to shape.
The finished hand roll should be shaped conically to prevent any rice from falling out from the bottom.
Serve with teriyaki sauce or eel sauce on top!

Vegan Tofu and Spring Roll Vermicelli Salad

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To Cook
Combine ingredients for nuoc cham dressing in a medium-sized bowl and stir until sugar has dissolved. Set aside.
Heat 2 tbsp oil in a large pan over medium-high heat. Add garlic, onion, carrots, cabbage, bean sprouts and soy sauce. Cook for 5 mins or until softened. Add salt to taste. Set aside to cool.
Arrange spring roll pastry on diagonal. Place 1 tbsp of filling towards the bottom and roll upwards, making sure to wrap tightly. Fold in the sides before sealing the end with water. Place on a plate seam side down.
Heat oil in a pot or saucepan over medium heat. Deep-fry spring rolls in batches until golden brown, and then drain on paper towel.
Mix salt and five spice powder on a plate. Coat both sides of tofu squares in mixture. Heat oil in a pan over medium-high heat, and then pan fry tofu until golden brown on both sides.
To plate up dish, place a serving of vermicelli in a bowl. Top with lettuce, cucumber, carrots, pan-fried tofu and spring rolls, and then garnish with peanuts. Serve with vegan nuoc cham dressing.

Combination Crispy Noodles (Mi Xao Gion)

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To Cook
Heat oil in a pot over medium-high heat for deep frying.
Heat 2 tbsp oil in a large pan over medium-high heat. Add chicken and stir fry until half cooked. Add in garlic, onion and sliced carrots.
In a bowl, combine oyster sauce, soy sauce, fish sauce, cornflour and chicken stock.
Add bok choy, snow peas and baby corn to pan with chicken and stir through. Pour the sauce and stock mixture and coat ingredients. When boiling, add in prawns and squid. When seafood is cooked, remove from heat.
Grab one handful of egg noodles and tease apart using your hands. Carefully place into hot oil. Working quickly, use chop sticks or tongs to spread out the noodles, separating the individual noodle strands. After 30 secs, turn noodles over. Take out once golden brown and allow to drain on paper towel. Repeat until noodles are all cooked.
To serve, place crispy noodles onto a large plate and spoon over stir fry.

Salt and Pepper Soft Shell Crab

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To Prep
Dry-fry the peppercorns and salt in a pan over medium heat until they become fragrant.
Remove them from the pan and grind them using a pestle and mortar until they become fine.
Combine the salt and pepper mixture in to the tapioca starch.
Dredge the soft shell crab halves with the egg whites before dredging them with the tapioca mixture.

To Cook
Heat a saucepan with enough oil to deep-fry. Add the soft shell crab in batches and cook until golden brown.
Remove the crab from the oil and drain off the excess oil by placing it on a paper towel before serving. Garnish with chilli and spring onions.

Fried Anchovies with Peanuts (Ikan Bilis Kacang)

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To Prep
Remove the heads from the anchovies and then split the body in half lengthwise before removing the gills.
Rinse the anchovies 2 to 3 times with water before draining them and allowing them to dry.

To Cook
Pour enough oil in to a saucepan to deep-fry the ingredients. Over a medium heat, fry the peanuts until crunchy and then transfer them to a plate with a paper towel to absorb the extra oil.
Continue by then deep-frying the dried anchovies. Fry the anchovies until they have become golden brown and the oil stops bubbling.
Remove the anchovies from the oil and allow to drain and cool on a plate with a paper towel.
Finally, fry the onions in the oil until they start to become golden brown before once again removing them from the oil and draining them like the anchovies and peanuts.
Lastly, mix the onions, peanuts and anchovies together and serve.

South Vietnamese Spring Rolls (Cha Gio)

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To Prep
Combine all the ingredients for the dipping sauce in a small bowl and mix until the sugar has dissolved.
Set it aside.

To Cook
Add some salt to the Chinese turnip and mix well in a microwave safe bowl. Microwave the Chinese turnip until slightly soft and remove any excess moisture.
Add the minced pork, noodles, mushrooms, onions, salt, pepper, and sugar in a mixing bowl, and mix thoroughly. Then, add the Chinese turnip and combine all the ingredients.
Place a wrapper on your work surface so that one corner is facing away from you.
Fold the corner closest to you to the centers of the wrapper and place a spoonful of the filling on the wrapper on the edge closest to you.
Fold in the corners on the left and right so that they cover the filling.
Roll up the spring roll so that the filling is closed off.
As you roll towards the top edge, using your fingers to dab some egg white on the edge of the wrapper and roll the rest of the way. The egg white will seal the egg roll.
Repeat until all the filling is used up.
Heat up enough oil to 163 in a deep fryer and deep fry until the spring rolls are golden brown.
Drain and remove any excess oil. Serve with the dipping sauce.

Thai Fried Chicken (Gai Tod)

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To Prep
Combine marinade ingredients and blend into a paste.
Mix paste, oyster sauce and chilli powder and marinade the chicken for at least 1 hour. For best results, marinade overnight.

To Cook
Heat oil in a large wok or deep fryer to 180C.
Mix all batter ingredients until they form a smooth batter. Dip the chicken in the batter and immediately fry in the hot oil until done.