To Cook
Make the batter by whisking together the flour, yamaimo, eggs, and dashi until smooth.
Brush sesame oil on the insides of the takoyaki pan to generously coat the entire surface, and then place the pan over low heat. Preheat for about 2 mins.
When the pan is ready, pour batter into each mould to fill in three-fourths full. To each mould, add about 2 pieces of octopus and a pinch of spring onions. Add more batter to each mould until they are full. Make sure to not overflow the moulds.
Cook for about 3 mins. Carefully dip each takoyaki using chopsticks or a skewer.
Cook for about 3 more minutes. At this point, the takoyaki should be nicely browned all over and is springy and soft in the inside.
Use chopsticks or a skewer to transfer the takoyaki to a plate.
Drizzle okonomiyaki sauce over the takoyaki, garnish with aonori and bonito flakes, and serve immediately.
Grill/BBQ
Vietnamese Grilled Pork Noodles (Bun Thit Nuong)
To Prep
Slice the uncooked pork thinly, about 1.5cm.
Mix in the marinade with the pork. Mix until sugar is dissolved.
Marinate the meat for at least one hour, or leave overnight for better results.
To Cook
Bake the pork at 180ºC for 10-15 mins, or until it is about 80% cooked. Finish cooking by broiling pork in the oven until a nice golden brown colour develops, turning the pieces midway.
Nuoc Cham Sauce
Combine water and sugar in a bowl.
Add lime or lemon juice (adjust accordingly to taste)
Add fish sauce in increments (adjust accordingly to taste)
Top with garlic and chilies.
To Assemble
Assemble your bowl with cooked vermicelli noodles, vegetables, noodles, and garnish. You may pour the nuoc cham sauce on top or serve it in a separate bowl to pour in just before eating.
Grilled Chicken Thigh with Coconut Water (Gai Yang)
To Prep
To marinade, add all the ingredients together in a big bowl and mix well.
Marinade chicken and place the bowl in the fridge for at least an hour.
To Cook
Preheat oven at 170°C.
Pan-fry the chicken in a pan on medium-low heat until cooked or sear both sides on medium-high heat pan; then put in oven for 12-14 mins.
Serve with cooked sticky rice or steamed rice, salad and sweet chilli sauce.
Grilled Short Ribs (Galbi Gui)
To Cook
Combine marinated ingredients. Mix well and reserve.
Lightly sprinkle sesame oil and salt onto the mushroom. Cook both sides of the mushroom on a heated flat pan. Set aside.
Spread beef ribs and score them. Pour pear juice onto the scored beef ribs and marinate for about 30 minutes to soften the meat.
Add marinade onto the softened meat and marinate for another 2 hours.
After 2 hours, grill both sides of the marinated ribs until medium rare.
Place lettuce leaves on the base of a serving dish. Top the lettuce leaves with rice that has been shaped into a 2 inch by 2 inch by ¾ inch square patty. Then, add ssamjang and grilled ribs. Garnish with the mushrooms and pine nuts.
Sea Bream with Rice (Tai Meshi)
To Prep
Wipe the dried kombu with a clean cloth to remove any dirt, but not the white powdery substance on the surface.
Combine the water and the kombu together in a pot and let the kombu soak for approx 30 mins.
While the kombu is soaking, rinse the rice with water until the water begins to run clear. Cover the rice with water and let soak for approx 30 mins to 1 hr.
Score the fish on both sides before lightly rubbing in the salt and adding in the sake. Let the fish marinate for 10 mins before patting dry.
After the kombu has finished soaking, turn on the stove and set it to low. Slowly heat up the water until it just begins to boil before removing it from the heat and setting it aside.
To Cook
In a pan or grill, cook the fish for 3 mins on each side or until a nice brown sear has been achieved. The fish doesn’t need to be fully cooked through at this stage.
In a large pot, drain and add the rice, kombu stock, salt, sake, soy sauce, and mirin. Stir until all of the ingredients have been well combined before topping with the grilled fish and grated ginger.
Cover the pot and heat over a medium-high heat until the stock begins to boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook for approx 10 mins before removing from the heat and letting stand for another 5-10 mins.
To Serve
Serve the entire dish as is, in the pot, garnished with chives and white sesame seeds! Enjoy!
Korean Beef and Mushroom Skewers (Songi Sanjeok Gui)
To Prep
Mix 1 tbsp of sugar with 100g of Korean BBQ marinade sauce thoroughly and set aside.
Cut the mushrooms in half. Cut the beef into 10 pieces, each about 6-7cm in length.
Cut the spring onions into strips that are approximately the same in length and thickness as beef.
Thread pieces in order of mushrooms, beef, spring onions and mushroom through each skewer. Repeat until all the ingredients are used up.
To Cook
Brush the skewered ingredients with the sauce and cook on the hot pan with 1 tbsp of cooking oil using a non-stick skillet. Heat until the ingredients are sizzling and leave it to sizzle for 2-3 mins on each side until the beef and mushrooms are cooked. Serve hot.
Bulgogi Pork
To Prep
Marinate pork and onions or spring onion with 100g Korean BBQ marinade, for at least 20 mins.
Separate lettuce leaves and clean thoroughly
To Cook
Pre-heat a BBQ griller and grill the marinated pork and sliced onion or spring onion until cooked.
Serve hot with rice and lettuce leaves
Serving Steps
Place a lettuce leaf in your hand, add a small mound of rice, put some meat on top, and top it off with gochujang.
Wrap the leaf around its contents to form a ball. Best to be consumed in one mouthful.
Avoid making the ball too big otherwise, it will be messy to eat.
Green Papaya Salad with Grilled Chicken (Som Tum Gai Yang)
To Prepare
Prepare the paste by pounding coriander roots, garlic and white pepper in a mortar.
Marinate the chicken with the paste, soy sauce, dark soy sauce, oyster sauce, palm sugar and oil for about an hour.
To Cook
Grill chicken in an oven or charcoal grill.
Peel the green papaya (can be substituted with apples, jicama or carrots), and shred into strips using a grater.
In the mortar, pound the garlic and chilli, then add papaya, lime juice, fish sauce and toss with green beans and cherry tomatoes. Transfer to a serving plate and garnish with peanuts.
Serve grilled chicken with papaya salad on the side.
BBQ Sambal Fish (Ikan Bakar)
To Prep
Thoroughly clean the fish fillet and pat dry with a kitchen paper towel.
Place red chillies, shallots, belacan and lemongrass in a blender, add a little oil and blend to a fine paste.
To Cook
In a frying pan, heat 6 tbsp of cooking oil over medium heat and add sambal paste. Add salt, fish sauce, sugar and lime juice, and stir well.
Saute the sambal paste over medium-low heat for about 10 mins, then evenly spread the paste on both sides of the fish fillet, and place it on one of the banana leaves.
Place the second banana leaf on top of the fish fillets and use the bamboo skewers to pierce and weave in both ends of the banana leaves to hold them together.
Place the ikan bakar parcel on either a hot griddle or BBQ and grill for approximately 8-10 mins.
Place ikan bakar parcel on plate and carefully remove the top banana leaf. Squeeze lime over the fish and serve immediately.
Japanese Chicken Meatballs (Tsukune)
To Make the Sauce
In a pot, combine soy sauce, mirin and sugar and bring to boil. Lower the heat to medium low and simmer for about 4-5 mins or until the quantity is reduced by about ⅓.
To Make Meatballs
In a bowl, combine chicken mince, chicken fat and salt and mix well until the mince turns sticky.
Keeping 1 tbsp of sake and oil aside, add the remaining ingredients and mix well.
While mixing, gradually add the remaining sake to the mince. Stop adding the sake before the mince becomes too soft to form a ball.
In a pot, bring water to boil. Coat a spoon with oil.
With you left hand, take some mince and squeeze them out through the thumb and the index finger. The chicken mince will form into a ball.
Put the mince on the spoon and place it into the pot. Repeat this process for the remaining mince.
Boil the meatballs for 5-7 mins or until cooked through. Remove the meatballs and set aside. You may do this in batches.
To Grill Meatballs
Heat griller in high heat. Oil the rack/grill where you place the meatballs.
With each flat skewer, put through 3 meatballs.
Brush some sauce on the meatballs and cook for 1-2 mins or until slightly charred.
Turn over and cook for another 1-2 mins. Brush some sauce again, cook 5-10 secs on both sides. Serve immediately.
Chicken in Red Sauce
To Prep
Marinate chicken in coconut milk, salt and turmeric for at least 3 hrs.
To Cook
Grill over medium coals for 10 mins on either side until cooked.
Slice chicken into pieces.
Blend onion, coconut milk and sweet paprika to a paste.
Heat a pan and add paste and stir over low heat.
Season the sauce with palm sugar and fish sauce.
Add in the chicken slices and mix well. Remove from heat and garnish with mint.
Wasabi Chicken with Mashed Potato
To Prep
Combine marinade ingredients in a bowl. Add chicken and marinate in the fridge overnight.
To Cook
Boil potatoes until soft. Meanwhile, place cream and butter in a separate pot, bring to boil. Mash potatoes, add cream mixture. Stir in wasabi and salt to taste. Keep warm.
Preheat grill to medium. Grill chicken, skin side down, until browned. Increase heat to high, turn chicken and cook skin side up until meat is cooked through and skin is crisp.
Serve mash and chicken with extra wasabi.