Asian Inspirations

Discover the authentic in Asian cuisine food

Chicken

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.

Mung Bean Vermicelli Salad with Chicken (Yum Woon Sen)

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To Prep
For the dressing, create a paste in a mortar and pestle by pounding the garlic, chillies and coriander root.
Add the palm sugar and lightly grind until dissolved.
Add the fish sauce and lime juice and pound until well combined.
Set aside.

To Cook
Cook the minced chicken in a small saucepan of boiling water for 3 mins or until cooked through. Drain and set aside.
Place the vermicelli in a heatproof bowl, then cover with boiling water and leave to soak for 2 mins. Drain well and place in a mixing bowl.
Add the dressing, chicken and dried shrimp and mix well, then add the spring onion, coriander, shallot and peanuts and combine.
Use the chilli and extra coriander as garnish on top and serve.

Thai Chicken Rice (Khao Man Gai)

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To Make the Chicken and Broth:
Pour 10-12 cups of water in a large pot and bring to boil. Add salt, coriander roots and the chicken. Add more water if needed to cover the chicken, then lower the heat to simmer about 30-45 mins or until the chicken is cooked through.
Remove the chicken and set aside to rest. De-bone and slice to pieces to serve.
Strain the chicken broth and reserve for later.

To Make the Rice:
In a rice cooker, place the rice and add the fried garlic, ginger, and bruised cilantro roots on top. Add additional salt (adjust from chicken broth’s taste) or ground white pepper if desired.
Add chicken broth (adjust if needed) and cook the rice in your usual fashion until it is done.

To Make the Dipping Sauce:
Mix all sauce ingredients until well combined (adjust taste as needed).

To Make the Soup:
Heat the chicken broth and water over medium heat.
Add in the chopped vegetable and cook about 10 mins or until tender. Adjust the taste with fish sauce if needed and serve with chopped cilantro.

To Serve:
Plate a serve of rice with sliced chicken at the side.
Serve with the soup, dipping sauce, cucumber slices, and garnish with a sprig of coriander.

Lemongrass Fried Chicken

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To Prep
Mix chicken wings with Marinade ingredients evenly and leave in the fridge for at least 30 mins.
Combine the plain flour and corn flour, mix well.
Remove chicken wings from fridge and toss in flour mixture to coat evenly.

To Cook
Heat cooking oil in a wok on medium, making sure that the amount of oil covers the chicken wings completely when deep frying.
Deep-fry the sliced lemongrass until golden brown and set aside. Remove residual from oil.
Add in the chicken wings and deep-fry until cooked thoroughly. Remove and drain.
Serve on a plate and sprinkle with deep fried lemongrass. Garnish with stalks of fresh lemongrass (optional).

Devil’s Curry Chicken

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To Prep
Boil the potatoes until soft, then drain and set aside.
Grind curry paste ingredients together into a smooth paste.
Heat up 4-5 tbsp vegetable oil in a pan, and fry spice paste until fragrant.
Add chicken and fry for 3-4 mins, adding water occasionally if needed.
Add potatoes, then season with sugar, salt, pepper and vinegar, then continue cooking until chicken is fully cooked.
Add ground mustard seeds and cook for 1 min.
Serve with steamed rice.

Hot and Spicy Fried Chicken Casserole

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To Cook
Combine sauce mix ingredients in a bowl. Heat oil in a casserole. Sauté shallots, garlic, dried red chilli peppers, onions, star anise and ginger slices until aromatic. Add oyster sauce and chilli bean sauce. Stir fry until fragrant.
Add chicken pieces. Stir fry until almost cooked. Add sauce mix ingredients and drizzle in wine.
Cover the lid and simmer over medium heat for 5 mins until chicken is done.
Add green chilli peppers and Chinese celery. Toss well until cooked through. Dish out and serve.