Asian Inspirations

Discover the authentic in Asian cuisine food

Steam

Easter Bunny Steamed Custard Bun

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For the Custard Filling
In a small pot, combine custard powder, wheat starch, cake flour and granulated sugar together. Heat over low heat and then add milk. Stir continuously until all ingredients mixed well.
In a mixing bowl, crack 1 egg and add in 1 egg yolk and beat using a fork. Stir in beaten egg mixture slowly into the pot, constantly stirring while throughout the time. Next, add in butter and heat until well mixed. Remove the mixture from the heat and fold the custard over and over again using your hands, until it forms a smooth ball.
Place the custard filling in fridge for at least 1 hour or until hardened.

For the Bun Dough
Add sugar and yeast to the warm water, leave it for around 10 minutes until the yeast is well activated. Mix in all other ingredients to the warm yeast water. Combine everything together and knead until the dough becomes smooth.
In a large bowl, brush on some oil and transfer the dough in for proofing. Let it sit for 2-3 hours until the dough raises and doubles in size.

For the Custard Buns
When the dough is doubled in size, transfer to a slightly floured board. Using your hands, knead the dough until the surface becomes very smooth. Roll the dough until it forms a long log, then cut into 12 equal portions.
Divide the hardened custard filling into 12 equal portions and shape each portion in to a small ball.
Return back to the dough, take one single portion and press down slightly. Then using a rolling pin, roll the dough into a round wrapper, 10cm in diameter, edges thinner than the centre.
Place one portion of the custard filling in the centre of the round dough wrapper and then seal completely. Slightly wet the tip of a toothpick to attach the black sesame seeds as the eyes of the bunnies. Repeat the process until all buns are finished.
Set up the wok or steamer on high heat, place buns in to steam for approximately 15-20 minutes. Turn heat off and let it sit in the steamer for a further 5 minutes. Remove from heat and slit the surface of the bun with a small knife to form the ears. Serve immediately.

Steamed Three Eggs

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To Prep
Break up the egg in a measuring cup. Then crack the salted egg yolk, carefully pour the yolk into the other half of the shell, letting the white drip into the measuring cup. Repeat this step, shifting the yolk from one shell to the other, until all of the white is sitting in the measuring cup. The cracked egg and salted egg white will be measuring at about 100ml. If so then add 150ml water into the egg mixture, gently stir well and set aside. Ratio of the eggs and water should be 1:1.5
In a separate bowl, break up the raw salted egg yolk using a fork. Then peel and cut up the century egg. Place both the salted egg yolk and the century egg in a shallow plate. Set aside.
Heat up the steamer or wok with boiling water.
While waiting for water to boil, gently stir the egg mixture in the measuring cup again and pass through a sieve into the shallow plate. Place a piece of aluminium foil on top of the shallow plate to prevent the water drips from the lid onto the egg mixture.

To Cook
Put the dish into the steamer or wok. Lower the heat to medium and steam for 5 minutes and then another 3 minutes at low heat to just set. Occasionally lift up the lid to let the steam to escape.
Garnish with chopped spring onions, a dash of pepper and drizzle with some sesame oil. Serve immediately.

Steamed Minced Pork with Salted Fish

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To Cook
Place minced pork in large bowl, and mix in ingredients for seasonings. Set aside.
Rinse the salted fish, then pan fry briefly for about 2-3 minutes in a small pan. Remove from heat and cut into small pieces.
Mix in the chopped shiitake mushrooms, chopped water chestnuts, half of the salted fish and 1 tsp of the grated ginger in the bowl of marinated minced pork. Mix thoroughly.
Transfer the minced pork mix on to a shallow plate and level the surface with a wet spoon without pressing the mixture down. Cover with cling wrap and let it chill in the fridge for at least an hour.
Sprinkle the remaining salted fish and 1 tsp shredded ginger on top of the meat patty. Drizzle with fried garlic oil or fried onion oil.
In a wok or steamer, steam on high heat for about 10 to 12 minutes, or until well cooked through.
When done, garnish with chopped spring onions and serve immediately with steamed rice.

Steamed Chicken with Salted Fish and Black Fungus

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To Prep
Chop 500g chicken thighs cutlets into bite sized pieces.
Marinade the chopped thigh cutlets with 2 tsp oyster sauce, 2 tsp sesame oil, 1½ tbsp Shaoxing wine, 2 tsp ginger juice, 1 tsp soya sauce, ½ tsp sugar and ½ tbsp cornflour.
Cover with cling wrap and let it marinate overnight in the fridge.
Soak 10g black fungus in hot water for about an hour or overnight in room temperature water until soften. Discard or cut away the hard ends of the soften black fungus. For the soaked black fungus, cut into bite sizes and set aside.
Slice 40g salted fish and heat 3 tbsp oil on medium heat and fry salted fish until golden brown and crispy. Drain on kitchen towels and set aside.
Remove marinated chicken from fridge. Add in the soften black fungus, half of the julienned ginger and half of the crispy fried salted fish. Mix well.
Scatter the rest of julienned ginger and salted fish on top.

To Cook
Steam for 25 minutes, or until chicken is thoroughly cooked.
Garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot with steaming white rice.

Korean Steamed Eggplant (Gaji Namul)

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To Cook
Cut the eggplants into 4 pieces, lengthwise. Then cut crosswise into about 5cm pieces.
In a pot with, bring some water to boil, then place a steaming tray or basket in the pot. Place the eggplant pieces in the steamer, and steam for about 3 minutes, until tender but still slightly firm.
Remove from heat, transfer to a separate bowl to cool.
Then add all remaining ingredients to the eggplant, and gently toss everything together.

Steamed Minced Pork with Preserved Mustard Greens

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To Cook
Rinse the mui choy thoroughly to remove any sand and dirt. Soak in water for 10 mins in order to decrease the saltiness. Rinse thoroughly again and then squeeze out any excess water with your hands. Roughly chop the mui choy and then fry them in a wok or pan over low heat for a few minutes, without any oil to bring out the aroma. Remove from wok or pan and let it cool.
Once the fried mui choy has cooled down, mix in the marinade for mui choy. Set aside.
In a big bowl, place the minced pork, finely chopped water chestnuts, minced ginger and mix in all the ingredients for minced pork marinade. Add the water bit by bit so that the pork absorbs all the water well. Combine well and stir towards one direction. Set aside for 20 minutes. And then stir in the marinated mui choy to the minced pork mixture.
Transfer the pork mixture onto a shallow plate and level the surface with a wet spoon without pressing the mixture down. Use a pair of chopsticks to poke some holes in the meat so that it is thoroughly cooked. Cover the plate with foil and for about 10-12 mins over high heat, or until well cooked through. Turn the heat off but let the pork stay in the wok or steamer for further 5 mins before removing. Serve immediately with steamed rice.

Chinese Steamed Fish

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To Prep
Make sure that the fish is properly cleaned (scales, guts, gills, etc. to be removed), thoroughly rinsed and then pat dry.
Place the fish on a plate and drizzle 1 tbsp Shaoxing wine on top of the fish. Then spread half of the finely cut ginger strips onto the top of the fish.

To Cook
Prepare a wok or steamer and heat up enough water for steaming. As soon as it boils, place your plate of fish inside the wok on top of a steamer rack or on the steamer. Cover your wok or steamer tightly and steam it for 8 mins for a small fish, and a couple more mins for a bigger fish.
While waiting for the fish, in a small bowl, mix the soy sauce mixture and set aside.
As soon as the fish is done steaming, transfer it out from the wok or steamer. Drain and discard the fish water and ginger strips. Lay the remaining fresh ginger strips over the top across the fish.
Using a separate pan, heat 2 tbsp of cooking oil over high heat, swirl around until it’s hot. Pour the hot oil over the steamed fish. Put the pan back onto the stove, add the soy sauce mixture and stir well. As soon as the sauce boils, pour the soy sauce over the fish.
Top the fish with a handful of spring onions and coriander leaves and serve the steamed fish immediately with steamed white rice.

Steamed Korean Kimchi Dumplings (Kimchi Mandu)

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To Prep
Finely chop the kimchi and squeeze out as much liquid as possible by hand. Then using a cheesecloth, squeeze out water from tofu. Blanch the bean sprouts in boiling water, drain, then finely chop and squeeze out water. Finely chop the onion and spring onions. The ingredients, especially the ones where liquid has been squeezed out, should be dry and crumbly.
Combine all of the filling ingredients in a large bowl and mix well by hand.
Place the other half of the egg in a separate bowl, to be used for sealing the dumpling wrappers in the next step.
Place one teaspoonful of the filling on a dumpling wrapper. Wet the edges of the wrapper with the egg wash and seal tightly, pushing the air out with your fingertips, and into a half-moon shape. Then, join the two ends together, by applying the egg wash to one end and then press tightly to create a round shape.
Repeat this process until all the fillings and wrappers are used. This recipe should make about 25 – 30 pieces of mandu.

To Cook
Line baking paper or cheesecloth on the steamer to prevent
mandu from sticking to the base of the steamer. Freshly made Kimchi mandu can be steamed for about 8 minutes in a steamer. Alternatively, the mandu can be freezed, and cooked later by placing in steamer for about 12 mins or until cooked.
Combine all the sauce ingredients and mix well. Serve the mandu with the dipping sauce.

Steamed Prawns with Garlic

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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 and pat dry the prawns. Set aside.
Marinate prawns with salt, white pepper and Chinese rice wine for at least 15 mins.
Mix sesame oil, soy sauce and 1 tbsp of shaoxing wine to the fresh garlic.
Place spring onions (uncut) as a base on a plate and arrange the prawns on top of the spring onions.
Scoop the garlic mixture and pour 1 tbsp shaoxing wine over the prawns.

To Cook
Steam prawns for about 6 mins before sprinkling some spring onions on top. Serve immediately.

Emperor Herbal Chicken

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To Prep
Steam the herbs with 500ml water for 5 mins.
Place chicken over an aluminium foil and stuff half of the herbs in chicken. Place the rest around the chicken.
Pour the water used to steam the herbs inside foil with the chicken.

To Cook
Wrap the foil up into bundle and steam chicken for 2 hrs.
Add salt to taste, then serve.

Teochew Style Steamed Fish

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To Prep
Clean the fish, make a few cuts and rub a little salt all over. Set aside for 15-30 mins.
Mix marinade and set aside.
Line the bottom half of the green onion and some sliced ginger on a plate. Place fish on top. Insert the rest of the sliced ginger into the cavity of the fish.
Scatter julienned ginger, tomato wedges, mushrooms and cubed pickled mustard evenly over the fish. Line diced tofu and crushed salted plum on both sides of the fish.
Drizzle the marinade all over the fish.

To Cook
Bring water to boil. Lower fish into steamer and steam on high heat for 8-10 mins.
Garnish with green onion and finely sliced ginger. Serve hot.

Lotus Leaf Wrapped Sticky Rice (Hor Yip Fan)

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To Prep
In a medium bowl, stir together the marinade ingredients and add the chicken pieces. Stir well and refrigerate. Soak the sticky rice for 2 hrs, drain and mix with 2 tbsp dark soy sauce and set aside.

To Cook
Over high heat, add 2 tbsp oil to your wok. When the wok is smoking slightly, add half the mushrooms and stir-fry until they’re browned, tender, and most of the moisture has evaporated.
Heat your wok over high heat again with a couple tablespoons oil. Fry until chicken is golden brown before mixing in the mushrooms, scallions and salt. Stir-fry for a couple minutes to let the flavors meld together.
Combine with the soaked rice. Now you’re ready to wrap them in the lotus leaves. Brush a small section on one end of each leaf lightly with oil. Put about ¾ cup of the mixture on the oiled area. Wrap each into a rectangle, tie with kitchen string, and steam for about 90 mins.
You can serve with a little chili oil or allow them to cool, place into freezer bags, and freeze for later! When you’re ready to eat them, just steam them right out of the freezer for about 30 mins.