Asian Inspirations

Discover the authentic in Asian cuisine food

Chicken

Malaysian Chicken Curry with Potatoes

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To Prep
Mix chicken pieces with the meat curry powder mixture. Set aside to marinate for 1 hr.
Blend all the curry paste ingredients together until fine. Set aside.
Combine the thin coconut milk ingredients and mix well. Set aside.

To Cook
Deep-fry the potatoes in hot oil until half cooked. Drain and set aside.
Heat 2 tbsp oil in a wok, put in curry leaves and curry paste mixture, then stir-fry until the oil is rendered.
Add chicken pieces and stir-fry for about 5 mins. Add thin coconut milk and potatoes, then cook until the chicken and potatoes are done.
Add evaporated milk and thick coconut milk, continue to cook for 4-5 mins.
Remove from heat and serve immediately.

Hainanese Chicken Rice Balls

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To Make the Sauces
In a blender or a pestle and mortar, grind the garlic chilli sauce ingredients together to make the sauce.
Clean the blender or pestle and mortar and then repeat with the ginger sauce ingredients. Store both and set aside.

To Prepare the Chicken
Season the entire chicken with the salt. Stuff with the spring onion, garlic and ginger and lower in to a large pot.
Cover the chicken with water and heat over a medium-high heat until the water begins to boil.
Lower the heat and allow the chicken to simmer for 10-15 mins before turning off the heat, covering with a lid and letting sit in the broth for another 25 mins while preparing the rice.

To Prepare the Rice
Heat oil in a pan and add the garlic. Saute until the garlic becomes aromatic before adding in the rice and mixing to coat all of the grains.
Remove the pan from the heat and transfer the rice in to a rice cooker. Add in the stock from the chicken, salt and pandan leaves and let cook.
When the rice has cooked, use a rice spoon to fluff up and scoop out a serving. Roll the rice in to a ball and set aside while you make the rest of the rice balls.

To Serve the Chicken
Remove the chicken from the stock and cut in to serving sized pieces. Transfer on to a plate along with the rice balls and garnish with the items of your choice.
Finish with a side serving of the sauces and top the chicken pieces with a sprinkling of light soy sauce mixed with sesame oil.

Steamed Fish Fillet with Fragrant Preserved Mustard

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To Prep
In a bowl, mix the fish fillets with the cooking wine, set aside.

To Cook
Heat some oil in a wok, add in the minced meat and stir fry until the meat changes colour.
Add in the preserved mustard and stir for another 1-2 mins until the meat is cooked. Turn off the heat and set aside.
Prepare a steamer with boiling water. Arrange the fish fillets onto a serving plate, top with the meat mixture. Place the plate of fish in the steamer and steam on medium high heat for 3-5 mins or until the fish is cooked.
Remove from heat and garnish with coriander. Serve immediately.

Crispy Chicken and Prawn Gyoza

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To Prep
In a bowl, combine salt, ginger and garlic with the minced chicken. Mix well. Add chopped prawns and mix to combine. Add white pepper, sesame oil, soy sauce and Chinese cooking wine. Mix well.

To Cook
Fry a teaspoon of filling in a hot pan and taste. Adjust filling mixture with salt and pepper to taste.
Place a rounded teaspoon of filling into the centre of a dumpling skin. Dip your finger in water and moisten the edges of the wrapper. Fold the dumpling wrapper in half and press around the edges to seal. Alternatively, you may want to pinch a small portion of the edges together to form a pleat. This will help seal the edges and prevent the filling from falling out during cooking. Continue to form 4-5 pleats.
Heat a fry pan with a drizzle of oil. Add dumplings to the hot pan in a single layer and fry for 3-4 mins until deep golden brown. Add 50ml of water and cover with a lid. Allow to steam for a further 5 mins or until water has evaporated.
Serve immediately with soy sauce, vinegar and ginger.

Spicy Green Curry Chicken

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To Cook
Heat oil in a pan and add green curry paste. Stir fry until fragrant. Add chicken cubes and cook until lightly browned. Pour in coconut milk and stir gently, bringing to a light boil. Then, add in green beans, capsicum and mushrooms. Bring heat down to a simmer and cook for 1 min.
Add soy sauce, lime leaves, ½ the coriander and chillies into the curry. Mix well. Cook for another 5 mins or until vegetables are tender.
Transfer to serving dish and garnish with remaining coriander. Serve hot with steamed rice.

Roast Chicken with Sichuan Peppercorn Salt

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To Cook
Preheat oven at 205°C.
Tie chicken legs with a kitchen twine. Rub the chicken generously with Sichuan peppercorn salt inside and out. Stuff the cavity with the oranges, spring onions and ginger.
Put the chicken breast-side down on a roasting tray and brush the visible parts of the chicken with oil. Roast for 30 mins.
Remove from oven and turn the bird breast-side up. Brush visible parts of the bird with oil and continue to roast for another 30 mins.
Remove from oven and allow to rest for 15 mins before carving. Serve.

Vietnamese Curry Chicken

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To Prep
Season chicken with salt. Cover loosely with cling film and refrigerate overnight.

To Cook
Heat 3 tbsp oil in a pot over medium heat. Fry chicken pieces until browned on all sides. Set aside.
Heat 60ml oil over medium heat. Sauté onions until softened and caramelised, about 20 mins. Add shrimp paste and garlic and sauté for 1 min until fragrant. Add in coriander, turmeric, cayenne and black pepper. Stir fry for 1 min.
Pour in wine and tomatoes and cook for 5 mins until the liquid has evaporated. Put in chillies, curry leaves, bay leaves, crushed lemongrass and galangal. Pour in chicken stock and bring to a boil. Then, simmer uncovered for 1½ hrs, until the liquid is reduced by half.
Once ready, pour the liquid through a fine sieve placed over a bowl. Press the sieved mixture with a spatula to squeeze in remaining liquid.
Pour the strained liquid back into the pot and bring to a boil. Carefully place in browned chicken, carrots and potatoes. Simmer uncovered for 25 mins until the chicken is cooked through and the carrots and potatoes are tender.
Serve hot with steamed rice or cooked rice vermicelli.

Indonesian Chicken Congee with Soto Sauce

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To Cook
In a pot, put in rice, chicken stock, salt, bay leaves and pandan leaves. Bring to a boil and then turn the heat to medium and tilt the lid. Allow to simmer while stirring occasionally for 30 mins. If congee becomes too thick at any point, add in ½ cup water and stir to dilute.
Meanwhile, place candlenuts, coriander seeds, white peppercorns and cumin into a grinder and grind until fine. Remove and set aside. Then, place shallots and garlic cloves into a blender and blend until almost paste like.
Add oil into wok and bring to medium heat. Add in onion paste and slowly fry until fragrant and translucent. Put in grounded spices and continue to fry until well combined. Add lemongrass, galangal and bay leaves. Crumple or tear the kaffir lime leaves to release its aroma and add into the wok. Bring fire to a low and stir fry the ingredients for 2 mins. Put in turmeric powder and salt. Pour in chicken stock and allow to simmer, stirring gently. Once the sauce starts to simmer, pour in coconut cream. Allow to simmer for 5-10 mins. Remove and discard lemongrass, galangal, bay leaves and kaffir lime leaves. Set aside.
Once the porridge is ready, remove and discard bay leaves and pandan leaves. The porridge should have a thick consistency. Ladle porridge into individual serving bowls. Pour in soto sauce as the base or serve at the side. Top with shredded chicken, crispy fried shallots, roasted peanuts, cakwe and spring onions. Drizzle some soy sauce if desired.

Torch Ginger Fried Chicken (Ayam Goreng Bunga Kantan)

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To Prep
Using a food processor or mortar and pestle, add garlic, chillies and shallots and pound/blitz into a fine paste.
Add in turmeric and ground coriander seeds, and mix until well combined. If too dry, add a little water to moisten the paste.
Transfer to a large mixing bowl and stir through torch ginger.
Add in chicken, and stir through to coat chicken. Cover in cling film and refrigerate overnight to marinate.

To Cook
In a large mixing bowl, combine rice flour, salt and pepper.
In a large sauce pan or wok, heat oil over medium-high heat to 165°C.
Drain drumsticks from marinade, then dip in flour to completely coat chicken. Shake excess.
Carefully drop chicken into hot oil in batches of 2-3 drumsticks. Cook for 10-12 mins or until golden brown and cooked through.
Transfer to a plate lined with paper towel to drain, then transfer to a wire rack. Garnish with torch ginger petals and serve immediately.

Blue Butterfly Pea Rice Salad (Nasi Kerabu)

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To Cook
In a rice cooker, add in rice, water, lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves and salt. Strain blue butterfly pea flowers, reserving the blue water. Add blue extract into the rice cooker and cook according to manufacturer’s instructions.
To make the sambal, blend the chillies together with sugar. Alternatively, use a mortar and pestle. Transfer into a small bowl. Season with salt and lime juice to taste. Cover and set aside.
For the fish and coconut floss, blend together the red onion and lemongrass into a fine paste. In a dry pan, add the onion and lemongrass paste with the mackerel and shredded coconut. Cook on medium heat until the mackerel dries and turns into a floss. Set aside.
In a large mixing bowl for the salad, combine the ingredients.
To assemble, line a plate with banana leaves. Place blue rice in the centre of the plate, and arrange sambal, fish and coconut floss, salad, fried chicken, fish sausage, prawn crackers and salted egg around. Serve immediately.

Thai Minced Chicken Salad

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To Cook
In a small saucepan, add the water and cook the chicken over high heat, stirring well to break up the chicken. Do this for 5 mins or until the chicken is cooked.
Remove from the heat and add the fish sauce, lime juice and chilli powder, and stir to mix well. Set aside to cool.
Add the spring onion, shallots, coriander, mint and Vietnamese coriander to the chicken mixture and stir to combine. Gently mix this together with the ground roasted rice.
Transfer to a serving bowl and serve.

Thai Chicken and Lemongrass Salad

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To Prep
For the dressing, create a coarse paste by using a pestle to pound the garlic, chillies and palm sugar in a mortar. Combine with the fish sauce and lime juice and set aside.

To Cook
In a saucepan, place the chicken inside and cover with water. Bring to a boil over medium heat, cover the saucepan and then reduce the heat to low and simmer for 5 mins.
Remove the pan from the heat and leave the chicken to rest in the liquid for 40 mins to cook completely.
Remove the chicken and drain well, and then shred into thin strips.
Meanwhile, in a saucepan, heat up vegetable oil for deep frying. Deep fry the cashews for 1 min or until golden brown. Remove immediately with a mesh skimmer and leave to drain on a paper towel.
Place the chicken in a bowl with the spring onion, lemongrass and ¾ each of the ginger, chilli and coriander.
Roughly crush 2⁄3 of the cashews, then add to the chicken mixture. Pour over ¾ of the dressing and toss well.
Place the salad on a serving plate and garnish with the remaining cashews. Drizzle with a little more salad dressing and scatter with the remainder of the ginger, chilli and coriander. Serve with the remaining dressing in a bowl to the side.