Asian Inspirations

Discover the authentic in Asian cuisine food

Steam

Steamed Chicken with Black Fungus and Dried Lily Buds

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To Prep
Make sure your chicken is dry then mix with the seasoning ingredients in a mixing bowl. Cover and allow the chicken to marinate for 20 minutes.

To Cook
Blanch the soaked lily buds and black fungus in boiling water for a couple of minutes.
Cut the soaked mushrooms and blanched black fungus into strips.
Add the lily buds, black fungus, mushrooms, and ginger to the marinated chicken and mix well.
Steam the chicken in a steamer until the chicken is cooked through (about 20 minutes). Make sure the water is boiling in the steamer before placing the chicken in.
Garnish with the chopped spring onions and serve hot with some white rice.

Steamed Chinese Lunar New Year Cake with Coconut (Steamed Nian Gao Balls with Coconut)

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To Cook
Place sugar, palm sugar, knotted pandan leaves and water in a pot and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally.
Remove pandan leaves, strain and set aside to cool.
Combine grated white coconut, palm sugar flavoured grated coconut and salt in a shallow bowl. Set aside.
Cut hardened nian gao into thin slices and place on a large, heat-proof plate lined with oiled banana leaf.
Prepare steamer and bring water to boil. Place the plate of sliced nian gao into the steamer. Cover with lid and steam on medium heat for 10 mins.
Remove the soft and melted nian gao from steamer. Using two teaspoons, roll the nian gao piece by piece in the coconut mixture while shaping it to form a ball. To evenly coat the nian gao.
Place the coconut coated nian gao into the prepared casing and serve warm.

Chinese Lunar New Year Cake (Nian Gao)

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To Cook
Get ready steamer, put water and bring to boil under high heat.
For the nian gao base, cut up the banana leaves into sections of 15-20 cm. If using fresh leaves, boil a pot of water and blanch the leaves first. This will make the leaves less brittle and easier to mould. Pat leaves dry with cloth or kitchen towel.
Using a recycled tin can, wrap one banana leaf at a time around the can and fold the access leaf on top, into the can. Use a smaller can to press excess leaf firmly into the bottom of the can to form part of the base. Repeat steps with another 1-2 banana leaves. Use a rubber band to secure the banana leaves around the can. Then, cut a round piece of banana leaf, slightly bigger than the diameter of the can, and press it to the bottom of the can to form the base. You’ll need to prepare 5-7 of these moulds for this recipe, depending on the size of the cans you use.
In a pot over medium heat, add sugar and water to cook until it turns golden brown and forms a thick syrup. Keep stirring to avoid burning. Then, pour the syrup in a big mixing bowl, add glutinous rice flour, and stir until as well combined.
Strain the mixture and portion them into the banana leaf moulds. Cover each mould with aluminium foil and steam in the steamer for 1-2 hrs or until the nian gao is set.
Nian gao is sticky and soft when hot. It will gradually harden as it cools. It is rarely enjoyed on its own but it’s cut into slices (when cold and set) and made into other delectable snacks; deep-fried with egg, steamed with coconut, deep-fried with potato and yam or baked in puff pastry.

Kuih Abok-Abok

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To Cook
Wash sago and soak it for 5 mins. Drain the water and set aside.
In a bowl, mix the shredded coconut with sago and salt.
To soften banana leaves, dip the leaves in a pot of boiling water. Get banana leaves and roll them up into a cone.
Put 1 tbsp of mixed sago ingredients into the banana leaves cone. Then add ½ tsp palm sugar. Finally, top it with another 1 tbsp of mixed sago ingredients.
Seal the opening of the cone with a toothpick.
In a big wok or steamer, steam the kuih for about 15 mins.

California Crab Maki Roll

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To Prep the Fillings
Firstly, cut avocado into half, pit and scoop out with a spoon and slice to 0.5cm thick slices. Squeeze lemon juice over avocado to prevent browning.
Then cut cucumber into thin long strips, and slice to remove cucumber seeds.
In a bowl, add crab meat and Japanese mayonnaise, and mix well.
Trim nori sheet according to intended size of the California Crab Maki Roll.

Assembling the sushi:
To prevent rice from sticking to the bamboo mat, wrap mat with cling film.
Tip: Also, rub both hands with mayonnaise before handling rice to prevent them from sticking.
On the bamboo mat, lay one nori sheet down and spread about 1 cup of rice evenly onto the nori sheet. Use your fingers to press and push to rice to form an even layer of rice.
Sprinkle the rice with toasted sesame seeds.
Then, turn the nori sheet over so that the rice now faces down towards the bamboo mat. Align the edge of the nori sheet to the bottom of the bamboo mat.
Add crab meat and arrange avocado and cucumber in a row, close to the bottom of the nori sheet.
Then, pull up the bottom edge of the mat, while using your fingers to roll and tuck the fillings in. Lift the mat slightly to go over the roll, and continue rolling forward while keeping a firm hold.
Using a sharp knife, cut the roll into equal portions. To ensure a clean cut every time, keep a damp cloth handy and clean the knife after every cut.
Serve up your California Crab Maki Rolls on a platter or, stack them up and decorate your very own Sushi Christmas Tree as shown in the video below!

Water Chestnut Cake (Ma Tai Gou)

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To Prep
Soak rock sugar and white sugar with half of the water.
Use remaining water to mix water chestnut flour. Strain mixture.
Lightly grease a stainless steel pan with cooking oil.

To Cook
Bring sugar mixture to boil before adding the cane sugar. Keep stirring until all sugar has melted.
Add in chopped water chestnuts and mix well.
Add in water chestnut flour mixture all together, stirring quickly to mix thoroughly.
Keep stirring quickly on low heat, be careful not to let the mixture burn. When the mixture forms a batter, remove from heat.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan and steam under high heat for 45 mins.
Lightly pan fried at low heat until the sides are golden brown. Alternatively, slice and serve as a cold dessert. The cake is best eaten after refrigeration overnight or for a few hours.

Salmon Sushi Rolls

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To Cook
In a large bowl, cover and rinse rice with cool water. Swirl rice around, drain water and then repeat until the water is clear.
In a medium saucepan, place equal parts rice and water over high heat. Leave uncovered and bring to boil. Once boiling, turn heat down and cover for 15 mins.
Remove from heat, but leave covered for another 10 mins.
Combine rice vinegar, sugar and salt in a small bowl. Set aside.
Transfer rice into the big glass bowl. Using a wooden spoon or rice paddle, gently fold in the vinegar mix so that every grain of rice is covered. Be careful not to get the rice too wet.
Allow rice to cool before assembling sushi.
On a sushi mat, take a piece of nori and place it shiny side down, about 2 cm away from the edge nearest to you.
Wet your hands and gently spread about ¾ cup of rice over seaweed, being careful to leave about 2.5 cm borders around all sides.
Line two pieces of finely sliced salmon end-to-end on the rice.
Holding the filling in place, carefully roll the mat over itself, away from you, making sure the nori folds over and seals itself.
Continue with the rest of the nori sheets and filling. Cut rolls into 2.5cm thick pieces and serve with soy sauce, beni shoga (pickled ginger) and wasabi.

Pork Belly with Preserved Mustard Greens

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To Cook
Fry the drained preserved mustard greens and half of the ginger without water and oil in a pan or wok at low-medium heat, until the aromatic and dry. Put aside.
Bring a pot of water to boil and add the pork belly, blanching for 5 mins.
Dry the pork belly and fork small holes in the skin. Cover in the dark soya sauce. Put aside for 30 mins.
Cook the pork belly in a pan heated up with 2 tbsp of oil. Brown all sides of the pork. Remove from the pan.
Leave the pork for 10 mins and cut into 1cm slices.
Heat up a pan or wok with 1 tbsp of oil. Fry the garlic and the rest of the ginger till it is aromatic.
Add the preserved mustard greens to the pan. Stir-fry briefly.
Add the star anise, soy sauce, oyster sauce and cooking wine. Simmer for 15-20 mins.
Season according to taste.
Place the pork belly skin side down on a bowl and layer the preserved mustard greens on top. Steam for 2 hours.
Serve while hot with rice.

Thai Steamed Fish with Chilli and Lime

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To Cook
Boil chicken for 30 mins to prepare the chicken stock. Alternatively, you may also use store-bought chicken stock. Then, set aside.
Clean fish and make a few slits on both sides. Place fish in a deep dish.
Mix chicken stock with red chillies, garlic, coriander root, fish sauce and lime juice. Set aside.
Bring water to a rolling boil to prepare for steaming then reduce heat to moderate. Pour stock over fish.
Spread Chinese celery on top and steam fish for 10 mins or till fish is cooked.
Garnish with fresh Chinese celery, chilli strips and lime slices before serving. Serve hot with rice.

Glutinous Rice with Pandan Custard (Kuih Seri Muka)

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To Cook
Place soaked rice in a 23cm metal tray.
Add coconut milk making sure it is enough to cover rice, add water if insufficient. Add salt.
Steam rice mixture until cooked. When cooked, mix well and press down in tray until firm.
In a mixing bowl, add in eggs and sugar and mix well. Then, add coconut milk and pandan juice.
Mix in plain flour.
Sieve mixture and add to the top of cooked rice and steam for another 30 mins.
Leave to cool entirely before slicing. Serve with coffee or tea.

Traditional Steamed Sponge Cake (Kai Tan Koh)

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To Prep
In a mixer on a low speed setting, add the egg and sugar and mix till well combined before increasing to a medium to high speed and beating till the mixture has doubled in size.
Reduce the speed back down to a low and continue to beat for 2 mins to get rid of some of the air bubbles.
Remove the mixing bowl from the mixer and sift in the flour. Hand mix until well combined before pouring in to a baking tin lined with baking paper. Set aside to rest for 10 mins.

To Cook
Set the baking tin in to a steamer and let steam for around 40 mins or until the cake has cooked through.
When the cake has cooked, remove from the steamer and let cool.

To Serve
When the cake has cooled, cut in to several pieces and serve!