Asian Inspirations

Discover the authentic in Asian cuisine food

Chicken

General Tso’s Chicken

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To Prep
In a bowl, add the rice vinegar, soy sauce, hoisin sauce, water, sugar and 1 tsp cornstarch and mix well. Set aside this sauce mixture for later.
Add your chicken to the 1 tbsp cornstarch and mix. Make sure the pieces of chicken are covered evenly with cornstarch.

To Cook
Heat up some oil in a pan on medium high heat. When the oil is hot enough, add the chicken to the pan and fry until golden brown and crispy.
Remove the chicken from the pan and add the chilli flakes, ginger, and garlic.
Stir fry until fragrant then add the chicken back to the pan and toss to mix.
Then add the sauce mixture to the pan and mix well. Make sure all the chicken is coated with the sauce.
Cook while stirring for about a minute, until the sauce has thickened.
Plate the dish and garnish with sesame seeds. Serve with cooked white rice.

Javanese Fried Noodles

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To Cook
In a pot, cook egg noodles in boiling water for 5 mins, drain and cool under cold running water, set aside.
In a wok, heat 1 tbsp of oil over high heat and stir-fry chicken for 10 mins. Remove chicken from wok and set aside.
Heat 1 tbsp of oil in the wok and add in eggs and scramble. Once cooked, remove from wok and set aside.
With remaining 1 tbsp of oil, stir-fry cabbage and celery leaves for 2 mins.
Add in the cooked noodles, scrambled eggs, stir-fried chicken, bean shoots, ABC Sweet Soy Sauce and light soy sauce, salt, pepper and mix well. Stir-fry for another 3 mins and transfer to a serving plate. Garnish with chilli and serve.

Chicken Karaage

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To Prep
Use paper towels to pat dry the chicken and transfer to a bowl. Add in the sake, soy sauce, ginger juice, sesame oil and marinate for 1 hr or overnight.

To Cook
Transfer the chicken pieces out of the marinade on to a plate and coat them evenly with potato starch. Shake off the excess potato starch.
Heat up a wok/pot of cooking oil. To test that the cooking oil is hot enough, insert a pair of wooden chopsticks into the oil and when you see bubbles appear around the chopstick, it’s hot and ready. When the cooking oil is hot enough for frying, drop the chicken into the oil and quickly deep fry them until they float. Transfer them out onto a plate and wait for a couple of minutes.
Put the chicken back into the oil and deep-fry again until golden brown and crunchy. Dish out to a plate or bowl lined with paper towels to absorb the excess oil.
Serve hot with a slice of lemon and mayonnaise.

Korean Chicken BBQ (Dak Bulgogi)

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To Prep
In a mixing bowl, add all marinade ingredients and mix well until sugar is dissolved.
Add chicken slices to the bowl and coat evenly with marinade. Set aside to marinate for at least 30 mins or overnight in the refrigerator.

To Cook
Preheat a grill pan (or frying pan) over medium high heat. Then, using a pair of thongs or chopsticks, add chicken slices to the pan while reserving the marinade. Cook until slightly caramelised, about 2-3 mins on each side. Reduce heat slightly to avoid burning, and add the reserved marinade spoon by spoon as the pan gets dry.
Serve dak bulgogi on its own, or with leafy greens (iceberg lettuce, cos lettuce or mustard green) as a wrap, or with steamed rice.

Coriander Chicken Curry

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To Cook
Blend all ingredients for coriander paste until fine.
Heat oil in a wok or pot. Add in the cumin seeds, cloves and cinnamon; and fry until fragrant.
Add in coriander paste and fry until fragrant.
Add in tomatoes, curry powder, turmeric powder and chilli powder. Stir well.
Add in chicken pieces, potatoes, coconut milk and water. Stir well.
Add salt to taste. Cook slightly covered, until potatoes are done.
Lastly, add in coriander leaves and garam masala powder. Cover slightly and cook for another 2 mins.
Tip: Feel free to adjust the number of red chillies according to taste!

Belacan Fried Chicken

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To Prep
In a pestle and mortar, grind the belacan, white pepper, coriander powder, sugar and oil to form a paste. Transfer in to a large bowl and add the chicken wings.
Mix the paste thoroughly in to the chicken wings and leave to marinate for 1 hr or overnight.

To Cook
Heat up oil in a deep wok and deep fry the chicken wings for around 15 mins, until light brown, remove and set aside.
Turn the heat up and add the chicken wings to fry again for 5 mins.
Once the wings are golden brown, remove and drain.

To Serve
Transfer the chicken wings on to a plate and garnish with coriander leaves. Enjoy!

Chinese Broccoli with Minced Pork and Preserved Mustard

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To Cook
Heat some oil in a fry pan, sauté the garlic until fragrant.
Add in the minced meat and stir fry until the minced meat changes colour and almost done.
Add in the preserved mustard and stir well for another 1-2 mins until the meat is cooked. Turn off the heat and set aside.
In a pot of boiling water, add a pinch of salt and drizzle some oil. Blanch the Chinese broccoli until cooked. Remove and drain well.
Arrange the Chinese broccoli on a serving plate and pour the meat mixture on top. Serve.

Thai Mango Chicken

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To Prep
In a blender or food processor, blend all ingredients for ‘Mango Sauce’ until smooth.
Taste-test to see if sauce is to your liking. Add more chilli if it’s not spicy enough. If it’s not salty enough, add fish sauce. If the sauce is too sour, add a little sugar or, if it’s too salty or sweet, add more lime juice.
In a mixing bowl, stir the flour and salt together. Then add the chicken pieces and mix to coat evenly.

To Cook
Heat a wok or frying pan over medium-high heat. Add the oil and fry the chicken pieces a few at a time for 1-2 mins until cooked through or lightly browned. Remove chicken from pan with and drain on paper towel.
Briefly saute the sliced scallions and capsicums, and set aside. Pour out remaining oil.
Set wok or pan over medium-high heat and add the mango sauce. Bring to a simmer over medium heat, and then add the capsicums and scallions. Continue to simmer for 3-4 mins. If sauce becomes too thick, add 3-4 tbsp water or coconut milk.
Add the fried chicken pieces, and stir to coat with sauce. Add about 1 tbsp fresh coriander and ½-1 mango cubes (optional), and briefly simmer to heat up entire dish.
Taste-test again and add fish sauce or chilli if desired.
Dish out and transfer to a serving dish. Sprinkle with the rest of the chopped coriander and serve with steamed rice.

Thai Steamed Fish with Chilli and Lime

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To Cook
Boil chicken for 30 mins to prepare the chicken stock. Alternatively, you may also use store-bought chicken stock. Then, set aside.
Clean fish and make a few slits on both sides. Place fish in a deep dish.
Mix chicken stock with red chillies, garlic, coriander root, fish sauce and lime juice. Set aside.
Bring water to a rolling boil to prepare for steaming then reduce heat to moderate. Pour stock over fish.
Spread Chinese celery on top and steam fish for 10 mins or till fish is cooked.
Garnish with fresh Chinese celery, chilli strips and lime slices before serving. Serve hot with rice.

Butter Cereal Chicken

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To Prep
Marinate the chicken pieces with soy sauce and turmeric powder for at least 30 mins.

To Cook
Heat-up oil in a pot or wok. Coat some cornstarch over the chicken pieces. Deep fry till golden brown. Drain off the oil and set aside.
In a wok, melt a tablespoonful of butter and stir-fry the oats until it turns crispy and golden-brown. Remove from wok and set aside.
Melt the rest of the butter in a wok. Stir-fry the shallots until fragrant and golden brown. Then add the curry leaves and bird eye chillies (optional).
Add the fried chicken pieces to the wok and mix well. Arrange the cooked chicken on a serving plate and top with crispy oats cereal (from Step 3).
Serve hot with steamed rice.

Nyonya Fried Chicken (Inche Kabin)

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To Prep
Mix all the seasoning well in a bowl and add in the chicken to marinate overnight.

To Cook
Heat up 4 tbsp of oil to a pan or wok and fry the chicken over low heat till all the seasoning sticks to the meat and the meat cooks through.
Now for the deep frying. Heat the oil until it is very hot and deep fry the chicken for 1 min or till the sizzling subsides. Turn the chicken to ensure it cooks evenly, remove and drain.
Allow the oil to heat up again, deep fry chicken for 1 min, remove and drain. Repeat the process a third time, till the chicken pieces are golden brown. Serve with dipping sauce and prawn crackers.

Penang Nyonya Lam Mee

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To Cook
To prepare the stock, rinse the pork bones with water. Transfer the bones in to a large pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil and cook for 5 mins while scooping out any scum that floats to the surface.
After boiling, drain, rinse again and return to the empty pot. Fill the pot with 4L of water and the crushed peppercorns. Add soaked dried scallop into the stock pot and continue boiling for another 1 ½ hours.
Add the chicken breast and pork belly in to the stockpot and boil till cooked. Once done, remove both from the pot, shred chicken meat and sliced up pork belly. Set aside.
Boil prawns with shell on in the pot until cooked. When the prawns are cooked, remove them from the pot and peel the shells.
Put the prawn’s shells back into the boiling prawn water and boil for another 5 mins before removing them.
Season the stock with salt, pepper and rock sugar and continue to cook for another 30 mins.
While the stock finishes cooking, whisk the eggs to make a thin omelette and then cut it in to strips. Set aside.

To Prep the Sambal Belacan
Using a pestle and mortar, grind all of the chillies and the belacan into a thick paste. Add in the calamansi lime juice and mix well. Adjust according to taste.

To Serve
Blanch the yellow egg noodles and bean sprouts in boiling water for 1 min. Transfer the cooked noodles in to a serving bowl.
Place a serving of the chicken, prawn, pork belly, dried scallop, egg omelette and bean sprouts on to the noodles. Ladle in hot stock and a few pieces of pork ribs.
Garnish with some garlic, oil, fried shallots, spring onions, chives and coriander.
Enjoy the lam mee with sambal belacan!