Asian Inspirations

Discover the authentic in Asian cuisine food

Steam

Thai Steamed Glass Noodles with Crab (Poo Aob Woonsen)

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To Prep
Using a mortar and pestle, grind garlic, black pepper and half of the sliced ginger until a paste is formed. Set aside.

To Cook
Coat a non-stick clay pot with a small amount of cooking oil. Neatly place the uncrushed sliced ginger on the based on the pot and place the celery leaves on top of the sliced ginger.
Using a small mixing bowl, mix sugar, oyster sauce, fish sauce, and soy sauce.
Add the paste from your mortar and pestle into the mixing bowl and mix well.
Add the crab into the mixing bowl, allow to marinate for 10-15 mins, and then remove and set aside.
Drain the glass noodles to get rid of the excess water, then add the glass noodles into the mixing bowl and mix well so they can absorb the sauce evenly.
Place the noodles in your clay pot on top of the ginger and celery leaves. Create a flat top by patting the glass noodles down. Then, neatly lay the crab on top of the glass noodles.
Cook for 15 mins over medium-high heat.
Garnish with celery and serve.

Bananas in Coconut Milk (Kluay Buad Chee)

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To Cook
Steam unpeeled bananas on high heat for 3 mins.
After these bananas are steamed, cut them into 3 pieces lengthwise and carefully peel their skin.
Heat 500ml of coconut milk into a pot over medium heat and add 2 pandan leaves (optional).
Stir and wait until coconut milk starts to bubble.
Add ¼ teaspoon of salt, 25g palm sugar and 25g white sugar. Stir well to make sure that sugar is completely dissolved.
Add bananas and gently stir the dessert for about 2-3 mins.
Transfer the dessert to serving plate and sprinkle white sesame on top. Serve.
This dessert can be served hot or cold. If you prefer the cold version, put it in the fridge for 2-3 hrs before serving.

Avocado Nigiri

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To Make
Prepare the rice and the avocado as instructed. For the avocado, slowly peel off the skin and then use the lemon juice to prevent the flesh from browning before slicing in to thin strips.
To form the sushi, roll a small amount of the rice in to small roll. Place a couple slices of the avocado on to the top of the rice and then wrap with a strip of the seaweed. Wet the ends of the seaweed to help them to stick together.

Green Tea Yatsuhashi

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To Prep
In a large bowl, mix 30g shiratamako and 75ml water. Whisk well to combine so that there are no lumps of flour. We mix these two first, before adding the remaining dry ingredients.
Add 60g caster sugar and 50g joshinko, mix well with spatula. The sugar will make the dough watery. You should be able to see the bottom of the bowl for a second when you draw a line. Add more water to reach that consistency, if necessary.

To Cook
In a pot that is large enough to fit the bowl, put a steamer rack inside. Fill the bottom of the pot with water (make sure water won’t reach to bowl when boiling) and bring to boil. Once boiling, place the bowl inside. Wrap the lid with a kitchen towel so that the condensation won’t drop into the mixture. Cover the lid and steam for 12-15 minutes, until the mixture becomes mochi like – sticky, white, and thick when you mix with a wet spatula.

To Make Yatsuhashi
Spread some soybean powder on the working surface.
Cut the dough in half. Keep the other half in the bowl and cover with plastic wrap so that it won’t dry out.
To make the cinnamon flavour, flatten the dough and sprinkle 2 tsp cinnamon powder.
Knead the dough to evenly distribute the cinnamon powder.
With a rolling pin, roll out the dough to a thin sheet. Try to stretch it out into a rectangular (or square) shape, so it’ll be easier to cut into squares.
Create an 8 x 8cm square cardboard paper. Place on the dough and cut out with a knife. Sprinkle soybean powder in between the wrappers so they don’t stick together.
With leftover pieces, knead and roll flat again to create more pieces.
For matcha flavour, use the other half of the dough, replacing step 3 with 2 tsp matcha powder and 1 tsp cinnamon powder. Repeat the process.
Once you finish cutting the dough in squares, place 1 heaping teaspoon (15 g) of red bean paste at the center of the dough.
Fold into a triangle shape. If the dough edge won’t stick, wet it with water and fold to seal. Enjoy within 24 hours. Keep it in a cool room temperature and avoid putting in the refrigerator, as it will harden.

Steamed Fish with Soy Sauce

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To Cook
Using a small, sharp knife, make small slits in the fish skin.
Add water to a wok to reach a depth of 5cm. Place a steaming rack over the wok.
Combine the spring onions, ginger and chilli in a bowl. Sprinkle ¼ of the mixture over a large heatproof plate, place the fish on top. Sprinkle another ¼ of the mixture evenly in the fish cavity, another ¼ over the top of the fish. Reserve the rests for garnish.
Mix Lee Kum Kee Premium Soy Sauce, Seasoned Soy Sauce, Pure Sesame Oil and Chinese rice wine in a small bowl until well combined. Pour evenly over the fish. Carefully place the plate on the steaming rack.
Place the wok over high heat and bring to the boil. Reduce heat to medium and steam, covered, for 12-15 mins or until fish flakes easily when tested with a fork in the thickest part. Remove from heat.
Carefully place fish on serving plate, sprinkle the fish evenly with remaining spring onion mixture and coriander, serve immediately with limes.

Sweet Potato Steam Buns (Mantou)

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To Prep
Combine yeast ingredients in a bowl. Mix well and set aside for 20 mins.

To Cook
Place all ingredients in a large bowl, mix with a mixer on low speed for 20 mins. Cover with a damp cloth and let rest for 45 mins.
Transfer to a clean floured surface, divide the dough into 3 and roll each dough to make a log.
With a rolling pin, flatten the dough to a rectangle and wet the surface slightly. Roll the dough tightly into a log.
Cut each log into 4-5 equal portions and place standing on baking paper. Steam in batches, each for 12-15 mins.

Kuih Pelita

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For the Bottom Layer
Prepare banana leaves by cutting 8x9cm rectangles and folding into little “boats”. Fasten with either staplers or wooden toothpicks. Set aside.
To prepare for the bottom layer, you will need to get the extract from the pandan leaves. To do this, simply blend the pandan leaves with the water in a blender then strain to get the extract. If you are unable to get pandan leaves, store bought pandan extract will be fine. Place pandan extract into a pot, sift flour in and stir until well mixed.
In a pot, stir the rice flour into the pandan extract until smooth. Over medium heat, continue stirring until the mixture thickens.
Arrange the banana boats onto a steaming rack and put 1 tsp of sugar in each boat. Then spoon the pandan extract mixture into each boat until about just over half full and steam for about 10-15 minutes and check to make sure the bottom later is set.

For the Top Layer
In separate pot, combine all ingredients while stirring over low heat until the mixture is smooth and thickened. Then fill the boats the rest of the way with the top layer mixture.
Steam for another 10 minutes then remove from heat and allow your kuih pelita to cool before serving.

Japanese Pudding (Purin)

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For the Caramel Sauce
In a saucepan, dissolve sugar and 100ml water over low heat. Let it simmer for 10 mins and when the sauce starts to thicken and turns dark brown, turn off heat. Carefully add 2 tbsp of boiling water and stir to slightly thin out the sauce (mixture might splatter due to the heat).
Pour the caramel into 7-8 ramekins. Set aside and let the caramel thicken naturally.

For the Custard
Combine 10g of gelatine powder and 60 ml of water and let it stand for 1 minute. Then microwave on high for 30-40 seconds and stir. Set aside until ready to use.
In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and sugar until pale and creamy.
In a medium saucepan, heat 200ml milk over medium heat until the milk is warm to the touch. Add the warm milk to the egg yolk while whisking constantly. Furthermore, add gelatine mixture and mix well. Remove from heat.
Strain the mixture to get a smooth creamy texture. When done, add the remaining 200 ml milk and vanilla extract and continue to whisk it all together.
Pour the mixture into the ramekins and over the hardened caramel sauce. Cover the ramekins and steam for about 10-15mins or until they start to jiggle and not liquid.
Cool ramekins till room temperature, transfer to fridge and chill for minimum 3 hours.
To serve, run a small sharp knife around the edge of each ramekin to loosen the custard. Invert a plate over the ramekins and flip over quickly. The purin should slide out, otherwise tap the bottom of the ramekins to push it out.
Top the purin with fruit slices or berries and whipped cream and serve cold.

Teochew Vegetarian Rolls (Kwang Chian)

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To Prepare
Mix the yam, jicama, white turnip, carrot, ½ cup of cornflour, rice flour, roasted peanuts, white pepper, five spice powder, sugar, salt and sesame oil together properly. Leave to the side for 10 mins.
Combine the 1 tbsp of cornflour and the 1½ tbsp water in a small bowl as this will act as the sealant for the rolls.
Scoop ½ cup of the filling onto the beancurd sheet and apply the sealant on the borders of the beancurd sheet. Pull one of the long sides over the filling, push in the sides and roll into a cylindrical shape. Repeat with the other beancurd sheets.
Steam the rolls for 30 mins.
Remove and let it cool fully. Chill it in the fridge overnight to let it set properly.
Remove from the fridge and cut into 2.5cm thick slices diagonally.
Over medium heat, heat up some cooking oil in a pan. Fry the rolls until they appear golden brown and crispy. Once out of the pan, use a paper towel to absorb any excessive oil and serve with chilli oil.

Kuih Talam

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To Prep
Prepare a steamer large enough to fit an 8 inch square baking pan.
Grease an 8 inch baking tin with a generous layer of cooking oil.
In a saucepan, combine all ingredients for pandan layer and stir over medium heat until batter starts to thicken. Remove from heat.
Pour batter into the prepared tin, steam for 20 mins on medium heat.
Carefully remove lid of the steamer every 6-8 mins to wipe away water forming on the lid to prevent from dripping on the kuih.
In a saucepan, combine all ingredients for coconut layer and stir over medium heat until batter starts to thicken. Remove from heat.
Pour coconut layer batter onto pandan layer and steam for 20 mins on medium heat.
Cool completely, or overnight before slicing the Kuih Talam to serve.

Steamed White Pomfret Fish with Mushrooms

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To Prep
Lay half of the fresh ginger strips on a steaming tray, then place the fishes over.
Place the remaining fresh ginger strips on top of the fish and inside the gills.
Scatter the mushrooms on top of the fishes.
Combine the sauce ingredients in a bowl and set aside.

To Cook
Boil water in a wok or steamer.
Place the steaming tray with the fishes into the wok and steam for approximately 12 mins.
Use a chopstick to poke through the flesh. If it goes through the fish, then the fish is cooked. Else, steam for a few more mins.
Pour the sauce over the fish. Continue to steam for 1 min then turn the heat off.
Remove the tray from the wok, drizzle the garlic oil, and sprinkle with chopped spring onions. Serve immediately.

Steamed Taro Cake

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To Cook
Stir fry the onions and dried shrimp in some oil in a pan on medium high heat until fragrant.
Next, add the yam and fry until they start to color.
Separately, combine the rice flour, wheat starch and water in a mixing bowl and mix until you get a smooth paste with no lumps. Sieve the flour and wheat starch before adding to the water to minimize any lumps.
Slowly add the flour paste into the pan while stirring the contents of the pan continuously. Continue stirring until everything is well combined and you have a thick paste.
Next add the Chinese five-spice powder, salt and pepper. Mix well and taste to make sure the paste is well seasoned.
Pour the mixture into an appropriately sized and greased loaf pan or baking tin and steam for 45 minutes on high heat.
When the yam cake is cooked, sprinkle liberally with the toppings and garnish to your liking and serve with a side of sambal chilli sauce for dipping.