Asian Inspirations

Discover the authentic in Asian cuisine food

Deep-Fry

Nyonya Fried Chicken (Inche Kabin)

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To Prep
Mix all the seasoning well in a bowl and add in the chicken to marinate overnight.

To Cook
Heat up 4 tbsp of oil to a pan or wok and fry the chicken over low heat till all the seasoning sticks to the meat and the meat cooks through.
Now for the deep frying. Heat the oil until it is very hot and deep fry the chicken for 1 min or till the sizzling subsides. Turn the chicken to ensure it cooks evenly, remove and drain.
Allow the oil to heat up again, deep fry chicken for 1 min, remove and drain. Repeat the process a third time, till the chicken pieces are golden brown. Serve with dipping sauce and prawn crackers.

Five-spice Meat Rolls (Ngoh Hiang Lobak)

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To Prep
In a big bowl mix all the seasoning with 2 tbsp of water. The mixture should be sticky and not runny.
Add in the pork and blanched fat and mix thoroughly. Rest for 15 mins, or preferably overnight before wrapping.
Once ready to assemble, add the spring onions, water chestnuts and garlic to the mixture and a few tablespoons of water if the mixture is dried out.
Lay out a bean curd sheet and spoon 3 tbsp of the marinated meat mixture onto the sheet. Keep mixture in one line and close to the baseline but keeping it 2 cm away from both ends. Roll gently and cut off the bean curd sheet with a knife where the overlap meets. Try to avoid a large overlap as the double layer will cause the meat to cook unevenly. The moisture of the sheet will seal the two ends naturally. Repeat until all the marinated meat is used up.

To Cook
In a wok, heat oil for deep frying. When the oil is hot add in 3 to 4 rolls to the wok at one time. Turn these over after 3 mins or so. The rolls are cooked when they turn golden brown and when the sizzling stops.
Remove the rolls and allow them to cool.
Prepare the dipping sauce by mixing all ingredients till the sugar dissolves, check the flavour and adjust accordingly. Just before serving, sprinkle on the toasted sesame seeds.
To serve, cut each roll into 6 slanted bite-sized pieces and serve with dipping sauce and cucumber slices.

Fried Dace with Noodles

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To Cook
Soak noodles in boiling water until soft.
Place fried dace in a bowl. Cover and microwave until warm.
Heat oil in wok, add garlic and fry vegetables until cooked.
Place noodles on a plate, top with dace and arrange vegetables around dace.

Sesame Balls

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To Prep
In a mixing bowl, combine the glutinous rice flour, baking powder and sugar. Pour in the boiling water and stir until the water has mixed with the flour before adding the vegetable oil.
Allow the dough to rest for 5 minutes before kneading by hand for a few minutes until the dough is soft and smooth. Allow to rest for another 10 minutes.
Divide the dough into 10 equal pieces, and roll them into balls. Keep the dough balls covered with a cling film to prevent them from drying out.
Flatten the dough balls into disks and then place 1/2 tsp of red bean paste in to the center and gather the sides and roll into a ball. Set aside and repeat with the remaining dough.
Fill one bowl with water and another bowl with the sesame seeds. Transfer one of the sesame balls in to the water and then quickly transfer the wet ball in to the sesame seed bowl. Coat the balls well and then set them aside for frying.

To Cook
In a wok, heat enough vegetable oil to cook the sesame balls. When the oil has reached a temperature of about 150 degrees Celsius, add the sesame balls one at a time, and fry for about 10 minutes or until golden and puffed up
Transfer the sesame balls on to a drying rack and let cool slightly before serving!

Fried Scallop Wontons

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To Prep
Combine soy sauce, green onion, palm sugar, coriander and wasabi paste.
Place a wonton wrapper on the palm of the hand. Top with one scallop, then spoon over a little soy sauce mixture.
Brush water around the edge of the wrapper. Press edges to seal. Set aside. Continue with remaining ingredients.

To Cook
Heat oil in wok. Fry wontons, a few at a time for 2-3 mins, turning halfway through cooking.
Drain on paper. Garnish with coriander and serve with extra soy sauce.

Top Hats (Nyonya Pie Tee)

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To Prep
Mix the rice flour, bread flour, salt and pepper in a large bowl. Make a “well” in the flour with your hands and add in the water, oil and egg. Mix into a smooth batter (which should thinly coat the back of a spoon), rest for 15 minutes at room temperature.

To Cook
Heat up a pot of oil, drop in a little batter, when the batter floats the oil is ready.
Dip the pie tee mould into the hot oil for 10 seconds and let the oil drip off. Dip the mould into the batter (if you can hear a sizzling sound the mould is too hot, best is to let it cool down and start again). You can coat 1 time, 2 or 3 times if you want thicker pie tee’s.
Gently dip the battered mould into the hot oil (which should cover 90-95% of the mould). As the batter starts to cook, slowly lower the entire mould into the hot oil (oil will seep around the sides of the pie tee and the crispy top hat should drop off from the mould). If the top hat doesn’t drop off the mould, move it up and down in the oil a few times gently.

For the Pie Tee Filling
In pan over a medium heat, cook the shallots until they turn golden in colour.
Add in the shrimps and continue to cook until they’ve turned pink, before adding in the jicama and carrots. Season with salt, sugar and pepper and continue to cook for another 5 mins.
When the vegetables have cooked, remove from the heat and set aside.
In a non-stick pan over a medium heat, add oil and the eggs and cook the omelette. When the omelette has been cooked, transfer it on to a surface to cool before cutting in to thin strips.

To Serve
In each of the hats, place a serving of the fillings along with some of the omelette strips. Garnish with chillies or spring onions and serve!

Fried Tofu with Chilli Sauce (Tau Hu Tod)

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To Prepare the Sauce
Add water, sugar, and vinegar in a saucepan, and cook over medium heat until sugar is dissolved, stirring occasionally.
Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly, then add in the fish sauce and dried red chili flakes, and stir through.
Set aside.

To Cook the Fried Tofu
Dry the tofu wedges on paper towels for 1 hr.
Heat oil in a pan or wok over high heat until the oil reaches 200°C.
Carefully lower the tofu wedges into the hot oil and fry for 5 mins or until golden brown on all sides, turning the pieces occasionally with long tongs.
Drain the fried tofu on paper towel.

To Serve
Add chopped roasted peanuts, bird’s eye chilli and coriander on top of sauce.
Serve fried tofu with the dipping sauce.

Chinese Vegetable Spring Rolls

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To Cook
Heat oil in a pan and sauté cucumbers, carrots and black fungus. Combine ingredients for seasoning mix and softened vermicelli. Cook until heated through. Set aside to cool.
Then, divide the cooked fillings into 10 portions and wrap with spring roll wrappers. Seal with flour and water mixture.
Deep fry the spring rolls in heated oil until golden brown. Drain. Serve with dipping sauce.

Braised Eel with Chicken Marinade

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To Cook
Cut eel into pieces (around 1cm thick), mix well with marinade.
Deep fry eel in heated oil until golden brown. Drain.
Heat 2 tbsp of oil. Sauté ginger, garlic, mushrooms, red chilli peppers and spring onions until fragrant. Stir in eel until done. Add wine.
Add sauce mix and simmer until thickened.

Deep Fried Taro Cakes with Scallops

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To Cook
Place scallops into a bowl and mix well with marinade.
Prepare a steamer over high heat. Steam taro for 45 mins. Remove and mash while still hot. Add seasoning mix and combine well.
Divide the mashed taro into 10 equal portions. Put a scallop in the middle of the mashed taro and form them into round cakes. Coat taro cakes with corn starch.
Deep fry taro cakes in heated oil until golden brown and serve.

Stewed Pork Balls in Chinese Braising Sauce

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To Cook
Mix minced pork and bean curd with marinade in a bowl and stir until sticky.
Divide the pork mixture into 3 portions and roll into balls. Heat up oil in a pan and semi deep fry meatballs. Dish out and set aside.
Parboil baby cabbage leaves. Then, place half of the cabbage in a pan and top with ginger slices. Add seasoning mix ingredients and bring to a boil. Add in meatballs and simmer over low heat for 1 hr.
Once ready, add in the rest of the cabbage leaves and cook until sauce thickens.