Asian Inspirations

Discover the authentic in Asian cuisine food

Melbourne

In the Kitchen with Lillie

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Join Chef Lillie Giang for a culinary experience at home as she cooks two amazing chicken dishes in our Facebook LIVE event “In the Kitchen with Lillie”.

Chef Lillie will demonstrate two easy-to-follow Japanese Karaage Amazu and Thai Red Curry Grilled Chicken with Spicy Tamarind recipes, which you can enjoy as your lunch by the end of the show!

If you wish to follow along, check out the recipes below and get the ingredients beforehand:

Tune in 10 minutes before the start of the class for a chat with Chef Lillie. She will then stay on after to take any questions.

Want more FREE cooking classes and exciting cooking tips from Asian Inspirations? Be sure to LIKE our Facebook page.

Lunar New Year 2018 at Crown

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If you can only go to one event this LNY, the Crown Lunar New Year party is without a doubt, one of the largest celebrations in Melbourne!

We’ll be kicking off it off with an epic fireworks show on February 16th at 9:45pm. There’s something for everyone! Pick up some tips from Chef Mod and Chef Lillie Giang (The Food Affectionist) or treat yourself to something at our Hawkers’ Bazaar. While you are here, check out the lantern display, grab a souvenir from one of the trinket stalls and be wowed by the cultural performances. There will be free wine too. So, come early!

Mid-Autumn Lantern Festival at Crown 2018

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Now in its eighth year, the Mid-Autumn Lantern Festival will once again light up the Crown Riverwalk with lanterns, vibrant cultural performances and delicious Asian foods.

This year’s festival will feature over 30 market stalls selling trinkets and food, a wall of lanterns, Asian cooking shows and plenty of activities for the kids.

And guess what… Panda is coming to town!

Join Asian Inspirations at the Mid-Autumn Lantern Festical with a free meet & greet with Panda and celebrate Lee Kum Kee’s 130th anniversary with us. Take a photo with Panda and tag us to redeem FREE gifts on the spot!

#LKKPANDAAUS #LEEKUMKEE #ASIANINSPIRATIONS

Find out what else is happening at Crown: https://www.crownmelbourne.com.au/

Springvale Snow Fest 2018

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It will be snowing again in Springvale this July. The award winning Springvale Snow Fest is back on Sunday 29 July from 12pm-7pm and is one of the must-see attractions in the heart of Springvale on Buckingham Avenue.

The streets will be filled with fun, snow, rides, free kids activities and market and food stalls. The highlight of the festival will be the 80 tonnes of real snow straight off the slopes from Mt Buller!

Cultural Diversity Week 2018

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Cultural Diversity Week is Victoria’s largest celebration of multiculturalism. Championing the many peoples who have settled in Victoria and the original owners of the land, the festival runs from March 17th–25th.

Almost half of all Victorians were either born overseas or have at least one parent who was. With over 200 countries, 260 languages and 130 different faiths all represented, Victoria is truly a cultural melting pot.

This year’s theme is “Proud to Belong”. The idea is to emphasise belonging, not just to our own cultures but to society at large, and to take ownership of being inclusive and respectful of everyone.

“Cultural Diversity Week celebrates our rich diversity and promotes a harmonious society,” said the Minister for Multicultural Affairs, the Hon. Robin Scott MP.

“Our thriving multicultural community groups work tirelessly to promote diversity and cohesion.”

“We’re home to one of the most multicultural societies on earth – and Victorians are proud of it.”

What’s On

The highlight of Cultural Diversity Week is the Multicultural Festival, held on Saturday 24th March at Fed Square. With great food, a market, kids activities and live performances on the main stage, it’s a chance to experience a little bit of everything Victoria has to offer.

And then stay into the evening to catch Culture Waves, a concert showcasing some of Melbourne’s hottest up and coming artists.

There’s also a whole heap of great events on during the rest of the week, all over Melbourne. Check out the events calendar for more information.

It’s really important that Australians understand how diverse and wonderful our country is, and all the benefits that come from sheltering so many different cultures under one flag. The food alone is gift enough! There are so few countries around the world where you can eat the range of cuisines you can here, and we think that’s something to celebrate.

If you’re in Melbourne next week, take some time to go check it out.

The Glen Waverley Chinese New Year Festival 2018

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A hot spot for the Asian community’s Lunar New Year celebration is in Glen Waverley. For those living in Victoria’s eastern suburbs, do drop by The Glen Waverley Chinese New Year Festival to pick up some cooking tips and tricks from Chef Lillie Giang (The Food Affectionist) and Uncle Buffalo! There will also be plenty of free samples to go around.

Stringybark Sustainability Festival 2017

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Global food loss and waste is a serious issue and an estimated 32% of all food produced in the world is lost or wasted from farm to fork. This huge level of inefficiency has economic, social and environmental impacts. Around the world, food loss and waste costs about $940 billion per year. In Victoria alone, food waste costs the average family around $2,200 a year.

Organised by the Knox City Council in Victoria, the Stringybark Festival is a sustainability event whose aim is to educate and empower the community with information and guidance on how to achieve practical change in daily life to create a more sustainable way of living.

The festival attracts over 13,000 visitors over the weekend and continues to be Australia’s longest running sustainability event bringing together community organisations, companies, groups and individuals who believe that small changes and adjustment in attitudes can help achieve sustainability in everyday life.

Love Food Hate Waste is a Sustainability Victoria campaign that raises awareness of the problem of food waste and supports Victorian households to waste less. In partnership with Love Food Hate Waste, Asian Inspirations is proud to support one of the program highlights at this year’s festival dubbed the Kitchen Revolution. Run in conjunction with the Compost Revolution, the Kitchen Revolution will playfully challenge the community to look at their role in wasting food and what they can do to bring change. Chef Lillie Giang, a.k.a. the Food Affectionist, will be at the Kitchen Revolution stage on Saturday and Sunday for tasty demonstrations and a fun “cook-off” competition.

Through art and science, food and technology, using interactive learning devices, visitors at the Compost and Kitchen Revolution will be able to explore complex issues and find that some solutions can be quite simple and accessible.

Meet Asian Inspirations, Love Food Hate Waste and Chef Lillie Giang at the Kitchen Revolution stage during the Stringybark Festival to learn tips and tricks on how to reduce food waste whilst creating delicious Asian recipes.

Knox Festival 2018

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Join us for a day of fun and good food at the Knox Festival and learn some new cooking tricks to bring home! Chef Mod and Chef Lillie Giang (The Food Affectionist) will be conducting food demonstrations, so feel free to drop by and sample the very best of Asian food from across the region and be dazzled by all flavours we have on offer.

Korea Week Festival 2018

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From Saturday 10th to Sunday 11th November, the critically acclaimed Korea Week Festival 2018 is once again returning to Queensbridge Square at Southbank!

Whether it’s K-Pop or Korean food, the increasingly popular “Korean Wave (Hallyu)” seems to have spread across the world, transcending both the worlds cultural and language boundaries.

To showcase this phenomenon and give Australia a little taste of Korean culture, the Korea Week Festival offers a wide-range of activities including Taekwondo demonstrations, B-Boying and Hip-Hop, Classic K-Pop DJing, energetic K-Pop dances, Korean food cooking shows as well as Korean food stalls.

There is no doubt that Hallyu is captivating audiences all around the world, so come down to Southbank on Nov 10th and 11th to celebrate one of Victoria’s most multicultural events and be a part of the Korean wave!

Double Delicious at Geelong Arts Centre

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“We understand the language of love through food,” says Heather Jeong, famed Korean chef who has her unique recipes appear in SBS, ABC, Asian Inspirations, Daily Telegraph and SMH; as well as spellbinding cooking demos at Museum of Contemporary Art Sydney, Four Seasons Hotel Sydney and Federation Square Melbourne. Now, Heather joins four other esteemed chef-storytellers to bring you a live-cooking banquet of exquisite dishes and the intimate tales behind them in Double Delicious.

Double Delicious is a special theatrical culinary experience at Asia TOPA from Contemporary Asian Australian Performance (CAAP). But unlike other theatre shows, you’ll be seated at large round tables with fellow audiences, as Chef Heather Jeong, actor Valerie Berry, dancer Raghav Handa, celebrities Benjamin Law and Elizabeth Chong share their personal stories of living in Australia and connecting with their respective Asian heritages through each unique cuisine. Heather will be serving Kimchi and Budae Jjigae, Valerie with her Filipino specials, Raghav with his Indian flavours, Benjamin Law and Elizabeth Chong with their Chinese delicacies.

Beyond the sumptuous food, however, are the rich and touching life experiences that shape Australia’s multiculturalism, showing us how our hearts and taste-buds bring us closer to each other. So, don’t miss out on this gastronomical and cultural feast at Geelong Arts Centre. Get your tickets now!

Image credit Ashley de Prazer and Alison Laird.

Melbourne World Rice Festival

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A Culinary World Tour

Rice is one of the most widely used ingredients in World cuisine; from the East to West, and everywhere in between. Rice dishes come in a wide range of varieties, taking the form of main meals, dessert and even drinks!

Head on down to Birarrung Marr in Melbourne CBD on the 7-9 December 2018 and join Asian Inspirations in a celebration of multicultural cuisine. Karen Chan will be on stage to show you easy-to-follow recipes—Japanese Sushi, Thai Green Curry and Korean Bibimbap. Be sure to catch us! There will be goodie bags to be given away during the show! Check out our cooking demo times in the itinerary*.

For more info of the event, visit www.ricefestival.com.au

*Note the revised cooking demonstration times.

Glen Waverley Chinese New Year and Lantern Festival 2019

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Celebrate the Year of the Pig at this free community festival, which is a feast of colour, music and food.

The annual Chinese New Year celebration is the most important cultural festival for the Chinese community. It celebrates the coming of the New Year and has rituals, traditions and ceremonies designed to bring new luck and good fortune for the upcoming year.

The event is organised by the Monash Chinese Events Commitee in conjunction with Monash Council. It is a celebration of the traditional Chinese Lunar New Year and will include outdoor stalls of food and merchandise, entertainment and cultural activities.

Traditional Chinese lion and dragon dance performances are a highlight, delighting all ages.

Asian Inspirations will be there too! Come see Chef Lillie Giang host a free live cooking demonstration, learn a few kitchen tips and tricks, and get to taste some of her delicious food.