Asian Inspirations

Discover the authentic in Asian cuisine food

Steam

Japanese Curried Pork Buns

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For the Dough
Mix dry ingredients in a bowl. Slowly add water, mix with hands until combined. Cover, rest at room temperature for 30 mins. Divide dough into 80g balls and cover on a tray.

For the Filling
Slowly saute vegetables in oil until soft. Add pork, cook through. Stir in curry, mix until dissolved, cover and cool in fridge.
Roll dough into small balls, flatten on bench and place 70g of filling in centre. Bring dough up to enclose filling, pinching to seal.
Steam in a lined steamer for 20 mins until cooked through. Serve hot.

Hakka Pork Belly with Taro

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To Prepare Pork
In a pot, boil water and blanch the pork for 2-3 mins.
Use a fork or skewer to prick and loosen the skin.
Pat-dry the meat with kitchen towel, then rub some dark soy sauce on the skin. Set aside to dry slightly.
Heat oil in wok until almost smoky hot, then place pork in, skin side down, until the skin is crispy.
Remove the pork, then soak the meat in cold water to soften the skin and remove oil.
Remove from cold water and slice the pork to about 1cm thick or slightly thicker.
Combine the marinade ingredients and marinade the pork for at least 2 hrs or overnight.

To Prepare Taro
Wash the taro and dry.
Heat oil in wok. Fry taro until golden brown, or skip this step for mushy taro. Set aside.

To Prepare Sauce
Add about 3 tbsp of oil in a wok, saute garlic and shallots until fragrant.
Add in the fermented beancurds, seasoning, marinade sauce from pork and water. Bring to boil. Taste the sauce and adjust if required. The sauce should taste strong and will be diluted later. The taro also absorbs the sauce easily so prepare the sauce amount sparingly.
(Optional) Add corn flour to thicken the sauce.

To Cook
Place taro and pork belly interchangeably into a bowl, skin side down, then pour in the sauce and fill up at least ½ of the bowl. Once the bowl is fully packed, cover with aluminium foil or cling wrap.
After water is boiled in steamer, place the dish and steam for about 3 hrs in the lowest heat or until the pork belly is very tender. The dish tastes better the longer it is steamed. Serve hot with rice.

Steamed Fish Paste and Omelette Roll

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To Prep
Add sesame oil and white pepper powder to fish paste and mix well. Set aside.
Add a pinch of salt into the beaten eggs, mix well.

To Cook
Heat oil in a non-stick pan, pour in ½ of the eggs to make an omelette.
When the omelette is done, remove from pan. Set aside and let cool. Repeat for the remaining eggs.
On a dry and clean chopping board, lay an omelette flat. Spread half of the fish paste onto the omelette and roll tight. Repeat for the other omelette.
Prepare a steamer with boiling water. Place the omelettes on a plate and steam for 8-10 mins or until the fish paste are cooked and turned opaque.
Remove from heat and cut into slices. Serve.

Chinese Steamed Fish Fillet with Soy Sauce

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To Cook
Place the fish on a plate, then on a steaming rack in a wok.
Cover and steam for about 10 minutes or until thoroughly cooked through.
Remove plate from the steamer, carefully pour off all of the liquid accumulated on the plate from steaming.
Spread half the portion of the julienned ginger and the green portions of the spring onions over the fish. Set aside.
Heat 1 tbsp of oil in a frying pan, add the white portions of julienned spring onions and sauté for a few seconds.
Combine water, salt, sugar, soy sauce, and white pepper and add the mixture to the spring onions until it simmers. Pour over the fish.
Next, heat 3 tablespoons of oil in a frying pan. Add the remaining julienned ginger and chopped garlic. Sauté until fragrant and then pour over the fish.
Serve immediately with steamed rice.

Silken Egg Tofu with Bamboo Fungus and Crab Roe

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To Cook
Bring a saucepan of water to the boil, add bamboo fungus. Boil for 2-3 mins, drain well and set aside.
Carefully place egg tofu on a heat-proof dish, sprinkle salt evenly and wrap dish with plastic food wrap. Steam egg tofu for 5 mins.
Remove the dish from steamer, then remove plastic food wrap and drain away water in the dish. Decorate the plate of egg tofu with blanched broccoli and set aside.
In a saucepan, add chicken broth, chicken powder and oyster sauce. Bring the chicken broth to the boil, add cooked bamboo fungus. Simmer for 1-2 mins. Slowly add desired amount of thickener, constantly stirring.
Remove bamboo fungus and arrange on top of egg tofu.
Garnish silken egg tofu with crab roe and serve with steamed Jasmine rice.

Avocado and Cucumber Brown Rice Roll

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To Prep
To begin, cut the avocados in to halves, pit and then peel off the skin. Pour the lemon juice over avocados to prevent browning and then cut in to thick strips.
Cut the cucumber in to thin long strips, and slice to remove cucumber seeds.

To assemble the sushi
Wrap the bamboo mat used to fold sushi with cling film to make cleaning easier and to stop rice granules from getting stuck on the mat.
On the mat, place one seaweed 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.
Turn the sheet over so that the rice now faced down on the bamboo mat.
Arrange the avocado and cucumber in a row, close to the bottom of the 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.
Remove the roll from the mat and place on to a section of cling wrap and sprinkle the rice with the sesame seeds. Roll the cling wrap over the roll to full coat the rice.
Remove the roll from the cling wrap and the use a sharp knife to cut the roll into equal portions.

Steamed Coral Cod with Goji on Lotus Leaf

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To Prep
Score the fish by making 2 cuts on each side of the fish. Use 2 tbsp vegetable oil to brush over the fish.

To Cook
Line bamboo steamer with lotus leaf. Place fish on a lotus leaf and sprinkle goji berries on top of fish. Steam for 15 mins or until cooked.
Heat 2 tbsp vegetable oil in fry pan. Sauté ginger and spring onion. Add seasoning mix, stir through to combine well. Pour over the fish. Serve hot with steamed Jasmine rice.
Enjoy your Steamed Coral Cod recipe!

Stuffed Hairy Gourd in Oyster Sauce

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To Cook
Cook hairy gourd in a pot of boiling water until tender. Drain and let cool.
Combine minced shrimp meat with marinade ingredients. Mix well. Dust the inner part of hairy gourds with corn starch and stuff with marinated shrimp.
Prepare a steamer over high heat. Steam hairy gourds for 8 mins. Remove from heat and discard excess juice.
Sauté mushrooms and pour in sauce mix ingredients. Stir and heat through. Pour over steamed hairy gourds and serve. Garnish with chopped spring onions and red chillies if desired.

Steamed Fish Cake

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To Prep
Separate ½ cup coconut milk into small saucepan, mix with flour, stir until smooth, place over low heat until thickens. Remove from heat and set aside in a container for topping.
Mix light coconut milk with the curry paste in a mixing bowl. Stir well with wooden spatula, combine the fish, stir gently and slowly, pour coconut milk into the mixture little by little, keep stirring until the fish absorb the curry. Add beaten egg and fish sauce, stir through, and then ½ cup basil leaves and 1 tbsp kaffir lime until the mixture becomes smooth.
Put the vegetable or few basil leaves at the bottom of the prepared ramekins or bowls, place 4 tbsp of the fish curry mixture over the vegetable. Top with thick coconut milk and garnish with a little kaffir lime and red chilli.

To Cook
Place the bowls in the steamer, steam over boiling water at high heat for 20 mins or until cooked. Remove from heat.
Your Steamed Fish Cakes are ready!

Otak-Otak

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To Prep
Blend the spice paste ingredients in a food processor until fine.
Chop the fish fillet into small pieces; blend it with rice flour, kaffir lime leaves, salt and sugar until fine.
Combine the blended fish paste and spice paste mix well, add in eggs and coconut milk and stir well.
Spread a tablespoon of the combined paste in the middle of the banana leaves, fold the leaf over the paste, tuck both ends underneath the parcel and secure with toothpicks in both ends. Repeat until all paste is used.

To Cook
Heat up wok and boil water. Steam for 10 mins over rapidly boiling water.
Unwrap the leaves and serve this otak-otak immediately.

Malay Compressed Rice (Ketupat)

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To Cook
Cook all in a rice cooker.
Press hot rice into a square container.
Press with waxed paper/cling wrap until the rice are all tight. Wait till it cool and put in refrigerator.
Serve when cool, cut into squares.
Garnish with cut cubes of red onion and cucumber. Alternately, serve with barbeque satay sauce.
Your Ketupat is ready!