Asian Inspirations

Discover the authentic in Asian cuisine food

Grill/BBQ

Thai Salt-Grilled Fish (Pla Pao)

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To Prep
When buying the fish, ask the fishmonger to remove guts from the gills without slicing the belly open, and leave the scales on. If you’re cleaning the fish yourself and you find it difficult to remove guts through the gills, you can gut the fish by slicing the belly open. Rinse the fish and pat dry with paper towel.
Get the barbie going or heat up the oven while you prep the fish.
Bruise the lemongrass stalks with something heavy and hard, like a mortar. Then roughly chop a handful of kaffir lime leaves.
Fold the lemongrass in half and stuff the fish with a stalk of lemongrass and kaffir lime leaves. Use 2-3 stalks of lemongrass depending on the size of the fish. Do not push too hard until it breaks the flesh of the fish. Alternatively, lemongrass and kaffir lime leaves can be placed stomach cavity if the fish is sliced open at the belly.
In a large mixing bowl, add 500g of coarse salt, 2 tbsp all-purpose flour, and 1 tbsp of water. Use your hands to mix well. The mixture should be a little moist so it holds on the fish.
On a pan, add the fish and start layering it with the salt mixture. Pat and rub it with salt, making sure that the fish is covered entirely from head to tail.
Set the barbie to medium heat, or if using a charcoal grill (tastes best) make sure the heat is steady and quite low. Allow fish to cook slowly for about 1 hr. Wait about 15-20 mins before flipping the fish to make sure the salt is dry and plastered onto the fish and not stuck on the grill. Flip as little as possible to avoid the fish from falling apart.

Preparing the Sauce
In the meantime, prepare the sauce. Pound salt, garlic and chillies using a pestle and mortar. This do not need to be pounded till smooth and fine, but just make sure there are no big chunks.
Transfer the pounded chillies and garlic to a bowl, and add lime juice, water, fish sauce and sugar. Mix until sugar is completely dissolved.
Taste-test and adjust according the preference; add more lime juice if you like it more sour, or add more chillies to make it spicier.

To Cook
Grill until the fish feels firm and the salted skin is crusty and golden brown.
Remove from grill and set on a platter. Use a knife to crack through the skin and lift off the salt crust to reveal the juicy moist meat.
Serve grilled fish with the sauce on the side. Pla pao is best enjoyed with a serving of steamed rice or even sticky rice.

Saikoro Steak

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To Prep
To prepare the steak, trim off fat and tendons and cut into mini cubes of 2-3cm. Season steak cubes with salt and pepper. Lay each steak cube on paper towel to remove excess water.
In the meantime, prepare daikon for garnishing. Cut off 4cm of daikon and grate finely with an oroshi daikon or a fine grater. Drain excess liquid and set aside.

To Cook
In a frying pan or a skillet, heat oil over medium heat. Add garlic and fry till golden brown and crispy. Transfer garlic slices onto paper towel to soak up excess oil.
Using the remaining garlic infused oil, heat pan over high heat until it begins to smoke. Add steak cubes to pan in a single layer and cook for about a minute until browned. Then flip the steak over to continue cooking until the other side is browned.
Add white wine to pan and shake to evenly distribute the wine. At this point, the steak cubes should be cooked to medium rare. Continue cooking if you prefer it medium or well done.
To serve, transfer saikoro steak onto serving plates then top with garlic slices, grated daikon, sliced green onion and chilli thread. Drizzle ponzu sauce over before serving.

Grilled Octopus Balls (Takoyaki)

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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.

Vietnamese Grilled Pork Noodles (Bun Thit Nuong)

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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)

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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)

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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)

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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)

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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

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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)

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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)

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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)

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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.