Asian Inspirations

Discover the authentic in Asian cuisine food

Deep-Fry

Creamy Butter Chicken (Lai Yao Kei)

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To Prep
Combine chicken cubes and marinade in a bowl. Marinade for a minimum of 1 hour.

To Cook
Deep-fry the chicken cubes. Dish up chicken, drain and set aside.
Heat wok and add butter. Fry chillies and curry leaves till fragrant.
Pour in evaporated milk and bring to a boil. Add in chicken stock powder, salt and sugar to taste.
Add chicken and cook until they are cooked through. Stir to coat chicken pieces evenly in the sauce. If the dish is too spicy, add a pinch of sugar.
Serve hot with rice.

Prawn Fritters (Cucur Udang)

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To Prep
Combine plain and rice flour together in a large bowl.
Add prawns, onions, bean sprouts, spring onions and carrots in the bowl.
Slowly add in the water and mix well. The mixture shouldn’t be too thick or runny. Ensure that all ingredients are coated well with flour.
Season with a pinch of salt, sugar and pepper.

To Cook
Heat up oil in wok. Slowly put in some of the fritter batter into the hot oil and deep fry for a few minutes until crunchy. The size of each fritter is up to you, smaller ones give more crunch, while larger ones have a soft, fluffy texture on the inside.
Drain and remove excess oil. Allow to cool for a bit and serve warm.

Soft Shell Crab 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 125 g of tempura flour and ice water together in a mixing bowl and lightly stir them together. Don’t over mix as pockets of flour will make the batter airy. Pour the remaining 50 g of flour in to a separate bowl.

To Cook
Heat the oil to about 180°C, then dredge the crab halves one by one in the tempura flour, then into the batter and fry till golden brown. Let cool on paper towels to drain the excess oil.

To Make the Roll
Halve the seaweed sheets. Place sushi rice and then the lettuce, cucumber and half a crab onto one side of nori.
Fold the nearest corner of the nori over the filling and start to shape.
The hand roll should be shaped cone shaped to stop any rice from falling out.

Kabocha Tempura

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To Prep
Discard seeds and pith of the Kabocha, leaving the skin on. Slice into 10 thin pieces, about 6mm in thickness. Set aside.
Sift plain flour and add potato starch in a small mixing bowl. In a separate bowl, add ice-cold water and egg, whisk vigorously. Slowly pour egg mixture into the flour, mix the batter for about a minute with chopsticks in a ‘figure 8’ motion. Don’t overmix the batter, leave a few lumps in the mixture.

To Cook
In a deep pan, heat oil over high heat to 180 degrees Celsius.
Dip kabocha slices into the tempura batter one at a time, letting it cook for approximately 2 mins or until batter is light golden brown and kabocha is tender. Avoid deep frying more than 3-4 pieces of kabocha in the pot at any time.
Serve immediately with tempura dipping sauce.

Deep Fried Chicken with Spices (Ayam Goreng Berempah)

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To Cook
Blend the lemongrass, galangal & ginger.
Mix all the ingredients well (except the oil) and marinate chicken for at least 20 mins or better overnight.
Heat oil in a wok and deep fry the chicken for about 15-20 mins on medium heat until golden brown and fully cooked (as chicken drumsticks may take longer to cook, please ensure you check inside to see if it’s well done).
Drain the fried chicken on paper towel to remove excess oil.
Remove the fried spiced crumbs from the oil and set aside to drain off excess oil.
Serve hot and garnish with the fried curry leaves and crispy fried crumbs for extra flavour.

Guinness Stout Pork Ribs

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To Prep
Cut 600g of pork ribs into individual ribs.
Marinate the cut ribs with 100ml of Guinness stout, 2 tbsp oyster sauce,1 tbsp light soy sauce, 1 tsp sugar, ½ tsp white pepper, and ½ tsp salt. Mix well and let it marinate for 1 hour.
After 1 hour of marinating, add 2 tbsp tapioca starch and make sure all ribs are well coated with it.

To Cook
In a wok, heat enough oil to deep fry the ribs until golden brown. Drain and set aside.
In a separate wok or pan, add all of the sauce ingredients and bring to boil until it thickens slightly, then add in the fried pork ribs. Toss and coat pork ribs with sauce.

Spicy Korean Fried Chicken (Yangnyeom Chicken)

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To Cook
In a large bowl, place the chicken, rice wine, minced ginger, salt, black pepper and combine them well.
In a separate bowl, put in 1 cup of starch. Then evenly coat the chicken, piece by piece with the starch and set side.
Add a generous amount of oil in a deep saucepan or fryer, and boil it until the oil temperature reaches 180°C. Add the battered chicken carefully and fry them until they cook, approximately 5-7 mins. Do not overcrowd the pan.
Take out the cooked chicken and place them on a paper towel. Once the deep frying of all chicken is completed, using a skimmer, quickly scoop out any floating remains from the oil. Wait till the oil temperature reaches 175 °C again, then once again deep fry the chicken in small batches for approximately 2-3 mins. Fry until the batter is golden and crisp. Set aside.
In a separate saucepan, add in the Korean fried chicken sauce ingredients. Boil the sauce over low medium heat and stir well. Remove the pan from heat once the sauce starts boiling.
Place the double fried chicken into a large mixing bowl, and then pour the fried chicken sauce over the chicken. Mix them lightly, but thoroughly. Garnish with toasted sesame seeds and finely chopped spring onions. Serve it hot immediately.
Alternatively, fried chicken and the sauce can be served separately where the sauce is eaten as a dipping sauce.

Miso Katsu

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To Prep
Thinly slice or shred the cabbage with a shredder into thin slices. Wash under cold running water and drain completely. Keep it cool in the fridge.
To make miso sauce, heat 1 tbsp mirin and 2 tbsp sake in a small saucepan over high heat and let the alcohol evaporate. Then lower the heat and add 2 tbsp. sugar, ½ cup dashi, and 3 tbsp Hatcho Miso.

To Cook
Combine well with a silicone spatula. Cook for 3 mins on low heat, stir frequently to avoid burning on the bottom of the saucepan. Turn off the heat and set aside when the sauce is thickened.
To make the Tonkatsu, remove excessive fat from each pork loin and make a couple of slits on the sides where the connective tissue is between the meat and fat. This is because red meat and fat have different elasticity, and they will shrink and expand at different rates cooked. This will prevent meat from curling up and will allow the meat to stay flat when deep frying.
Pound the meat with a meat pounder, or you may prefer to use the back of the knife to pound. Using your hands, mold the extended meat back into original shape.
Season both sides of the meat with salt and pepper.
Whisk together 1 large egg and 1 tbsp water in a large bowl. Prepare panko breadcrumbs in a separate plate.
Place flour in a bowl and coat pork loin with flour. Remove excess flour.
Then dip in egg mixture, followed by coating with panko breadcrumbs. After removing excess breadcrumbs, press the loin gently.
Heat oil in a pot over medium high heat and wait till oil reaches 180°C. If you don’t have a thermometer, stick a chopstick in the oil and see if tiny bubbles start to appear around the tip of the chopstick. Alternatively, you can drop one piece of panko into the oil, and if it sinks down to the middle of oil and comes right up, then that’s around 180°C as well.
When the oil reaches to that temperature, gently lower the pork loin into the oil. Make sure that the oil does not go over 180°C or the pork katsu will look burnt.
Deep fry for 1 min on one side and flip to cook the other side for 1min. Reduce to 45 secs for each side your meat is thinner than 1cm.
Remove meat from pot and hold it vertically for a few seconds to remove excess oil. Place on top of wire rack, or paper towel and let it sit for 4 mins. There is no need to check whether the inside is cooked or not at this stage.
After resting for 4 mins, bring the oil back to 180°C and deep fry the meat for 30 secs on each side.
Poke the meat with a chopstick and if clear liquid comes out then it’s done. Drain the oil by holding the meat vertically again for a few seconds. Then leave it on top of a wire rack or paper towel for 2 mins. If you are using a paper towel, keep the meat in a vertical position so that the other side does not get soggy.
Cut the Tonkatsu into large pieces, lengthwise by pressing the knife directly down instead of moving back and forth. This way the breadcrumbs will stay intact. Plate the Tonkatsu and serve with the fresh cabbage on the side. You may like to pour the sauce just before serving or you may serve the sauce on the side.
The sauce can be kept in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks, or alternatively you may freeze it. You can also use this sauce for marinating other meat such as fish or use as a dipping sauce for hot pot and steamed vegetables.

Korean Vegetable Tempura (Yache Twigim)

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To Cook
Add water to the twigim mix. Mix lightly using chopsticks.
Add the vegetable ingredients to the batter and mix.
Heat oil in a wok or saucepan and fry the battered vegetables in small batches, dropping about 2 tbsp of mixture at a time. Take twigim (Korean tempura) out of the oil when they turn pale gold or when the vegetables have started to soften. This should take about 2 mins.
Drain fried vegetables on paper towel. Leave it to cool. Re-fry twigim or tempura in moderately hot oil, until it turns golden and crisp. Drain well on paper towel before serving with dipping sauce.
Note: If not using the Korean tempura flour, substitute with ¾ cup flour, ¼ cup of cornflour, 1-2 tbsp rice flour, 1 egg and ½ tsp salt. You can substitute sweet potatoes or potatoes with other root vegetables.

Cereal Butter Prawn

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To Prep
Clean prawns by trimming off legs and feelers with a pair of kitchen scissors. Cut along the back of the prawn and devein them. Wash, pat dry and marinate the prawn with salt and cornflour.

To Cook
In a wok, heat up enough oil to deep fry the prawns. When the oil is hot, deep fry the prawns for 1-2 mins. Set aside.
Heat up wok in medium heat and melt butter in it. Add in the curry leaves and chilli if you want a bit of a kick. Stir fry until fragrant.
Return prawns into the pan and add in the cereal mixture. Stir fry for about 2 mins, ensuring the prawns are well coated with the cereal.
Serve immediately.

Beehive Cookies (Kuih Rose/ Kuih Loyang)

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To Prep
Add coconut milk, eggs, sugar and salt in a mixing bowl and whip until well combined and all sugar has dissolved.
Sift all-purpose flour and rice flour into the mixture. Whisk until the mixture has the consistency of pancake batter (Add a little water if too thick).

To Cook
Heat up oil in a wok on medium heat.
Place brass moulds in the hot oil, about 2-3 mins. (The moulds have to be hot enough for batter to cling on them).
Dip hot mould into batter for 10 secs. Make sure batter coats only the bottom and sides of mould, never over the top.
Slowly lift it up and dip mould back in hot oil. Shake to release from mould and fry until golden brown on both sides.
Remove from hot oil, and let it cool over paper towel.
Repeat until all batter is used up. Store in air-tight containers.

Yam Basket (Fatt Putt)

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To Prep
Skin off the yam skin, cut into pieces and steam until soft.
Transfer yam (hot) into bowl and combine wheat starch, sugar, five spice powder, cooking oil and salt. Mash the yam and knead it until it forms a pliable dough – add additional wheat starch if it is too sticky; if it is too dry, increase amount of cooking oil.
Place the yam paste in a ziplock bag and seal the opening. Compress until it forms a thick piece and place in freezer for about 20-30 mins.
Once the yam paste is slightly firm (but still pliable), open the ziplock bag. Cut into 3 equal parts of about 5cm wide each.
Take one part and connect both ends together. Pop it back into the freezer until firm for deep frying. Just remember to defrost the ring slightly before deep frying.

To Cook
In a wok, put 1 tbsp of cooking oil and stir-fry the shitake mushrooms. Add the other ingredients and have a quick stir. Dish up and set aside.
Put all the sweet and sour sauce ingredients in the bowl, stir until well mixed. Pour the sweet and sour sauce ingredients in and use medium heat to cook the sauce until it thickens before adding the vegetables. Turn off the heat and stir until well mixed. Set aside.
Heat up adequate oil to cover the whole yam ring under medium heat. Then, deep fry the vermicelli. Once it starts to float upwards, drain and set aside.
Put the yam ring onto a ladle with holes and slowly immerse onto the hot oil (medium heat) until yam ring is submerged. Fry until golden brown and crispy.
After draining, place the yam ring on the serving plate. Pour the vegetarian fillings on the yam ring and the deep fried rice vermicelli surrounding the yam ring. Garnish with roasted cashew nuts, pine nuts and coriander.