Asian Inspirations

Discover the authentic in Asian cuisine food

Chicken

Buckwheat Porridge (Sobagome Zosui)

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To Prep
Clean niboshi by removing heads and cuts. Then put the niboshi into a straining/dashi bag.
In a pot, add 4 cups of water and put niboshi bag in. Leave to soak for 10 hrs or overnight. This will be the pot of dashi.

To Cook
Rinse sobagome. In a pot, add the rinsed sobagome and enough water to immerse it. Bring to boil for 15 mins, then remove from heat and drain the water. Set sobagome aside.
In the meantime, soak dried shiitake mushrooms in water to rehydrate. Slice shiitake mushrooms, carrot, chikuwa, konnyaku, and chop the spring onions. Rub salt onto konnyaku slices and rinse to remove smell.
Cut chicken thighs into 1cm pieces and rub sake into it. Set aside.
In the dashi pot, add shiitake and bring contents to boil.
Leave to simmer for 2-3 mins before removing the niboshi bag.
Add chicken, carrots, konnyaku, and mirin into the dashi pot and simmer.
Add the cooked sobagome, garnish with spring onions, and flavour with light soy sauce.

Optional step: Add a slice of sudachi or chopped yuzu peels to add more flavour to the dish.

Soy-Braised Chicken with Ginger and Star Anise

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To Cook
Heat wok over medium heat, add oil, ginger and garlic, and cook over low heat for 1-2 mins, or until slightly golden.
Add the chicken, increase the heat to medium and brown for 3 mins.
Add the wine, honey and star anise and soy sauce to the wok and allow to simmer over a low heat for 15 mins until the chicken is tender.
Serve with steamed Jasmine rice.

Korean Ginseng Chicken Soup (Samgyetang)

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To Prep
Mix the salt, sesame seeds, sesame oil, and ground black pepper into a small bowl and set aside.
In another bowl, combine the soy sauce, vinegar, and honey and mix well. Add in the onion chunks and green chilli pepper slices then set the bowl aside.
Strain the water from the rice and
Rinse the chicken under cold running water and then pat dry. Remove any excess fat from the chicken and begin to stuff with the rice, ginseng, jujube, and garlic cloves.

To Cook
Place the chicken into a heavy pot along with enough cold water to immerse the chicken.
Cover and cook over medium high heat for 30 mins before turning down the heat and continuing to cook for about another 30 mins or until the chicken has fully cooked through and the other ingredients have become soft.
While the chicken is cooking, baste the meat with the broth. If thew water gets too low, top up with more.
When the chicken has fully cooked and is soft, remove the pot from the heat.

To Serve
Place chicken into a serving bowl and add broth. Top it with a sprinkle of chopped green onion and ground black pepper. Serve with kimchi and of dipping sauces.

Vietnamese Lemongrass Chilli Chicken (Ga Xao Ca Ot)

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To Prep
Mix together the chicken, half of the minced lemongrass and minced garlic, fish sauce, sugar, red chilli, and salt in to a large mixing bowl. Let the chicken marinate for at least 1 hr, but ideally overnight in the fridge.

To Cook
In a large wok/pan on high heat, add in the vegetable oil, and fry the remaining lemongrass and garlic till fragrant.
Add in the marinated chicken and and cook until the chicken is no longer pink and has begun to turn brown.
Cover the chicken with a lid and cook for at least 5 minutes so that the chickien will be fully cooked through.
Remove the lid and add in the onion and stir fry them until they soften and become translucent

To Serve
Remove the chicken from the heat and transfer it on to a serving plate. Garnish the dish with chilli flakes and, or coriander. Serve with a bowl of hot steamed rice and enjoy!

Ehime Hotchpotch  (Imotaki)

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To Prep
Gently clean the kombu with a damp cloth, but don’t scrub off its layer of white powdery coating. This coating will contribute to the umami flavour of the broth.
In a medium pot, put the kombu and water in, and heat up the pot slowly on medium low heat for about 20-25 mins.
Just before the dashi starts boiling, remove kombu.
Line the sieve with paper towels (or cheese cloth) and set over a large bowl. Strain the dashi through the sieve.

To Cook
Add konnyaku pieces in water and bring it to boil. Continue cooking for a minute, then drain and set aside. This helps the konnyaku absorb more flavours and improves its texture.
In a large pot, bring dashi, soy sauce, sake, mirin, and salt to boil.
When soup boils, add in the rest of the ingredients and bring the konnyaku to boil.
Then set heat to low to keep content in pot warm. Scoop out cooked ingredients from the pot and serve. This dish is also perfect to be enjoyed at the table. Place pot on a portable stove at the dining table to keep the imotaki warm and have your guests help themselves to its contents.

Chicken in Satay Sauce

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To Cook
Heat oil in a wok, add chicken in batches, stir-fry until browned all over. Drain on absorbent paper.
Drain oil from wok. Add sauce, water, sugar, spring onion and half the coriander to wok, bring to the boil.
Add chicken, simmer and cover for 20 mins.
Remove the cover, simmer for about 5 mins, or until chicken is tender and sauce is slightly thickened.
Remove the chicken, skim excess oil from surface of sauce.
Stir in remaining coriander.
Pour sauce over chicken, garnish with red capsicum strips, spring onions and crushed peanuts.

Korean Spicy Chicken (Buldak)

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To Prep
Marinate chicken with the marinade for at least 30 mins.
Put the Sauce ingredients in a blender and blend into paste.

To Cook
Add ½ tbsp oil into a heated pan and quickly sauté onions, zucchinis, carrots and capsicums, about 10 secs. Set aside.
In the same pan, pour the rest of the oil and cook the chicken until they start to caramelize on the outside and the liquid from the meat evaporated.
Pour in the sauce and gently cook over medium heat for 3- 5 mins or until the sauce is well mixed with the chicken. Add the cooked vegetables and spring onions. Pour chicken onto a hot plate and sprinkle with sesame seeds.

Thai Stir Fried Vermicelli with Chicken

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To Cook
Heat 1 tbsp oil in a wok, scramble eggs until cooked, remove and set aside.
Heat 2 tbsp oil over high heat, stir-fry chicken for about 3 mins or until just cooked through. Remove from wok and set aside.
Add 1 tbsp oil and ginger to sauté for 1 min, then add vegetables to the wok and stir-fry for another 2 mins.
In a mixing bowl combine chicken stock, soy sauce, oyster sauce and corn flour.
Add egg, chicken, noodles, coriander and broth mixture to wok and stir-fry for 3 mins or until everything is cooked and heated through.
Drizzle some sesame oil for added flavour. Transfer to serving plate and sprinkle some chilli powder, serve.

Green Curry Fried Rice with Chicken (Kao Pad Gaeng Keo Wan Gai)

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To Cook
Stir-fry coconut milk over low heat until oil appears. Stir in Valcom Green Curry Paste until fragrant. Turn up the heat. Add chicken fillet and stir-fry until well cooked.
Add fish sauce and sugar, and stir-fry until the sauce reduces. Stir in eggplant and pea eggplant and cook until tender, then add rice and mix through. Add Valcom Kaffir Lime Leaves, basil leaves and red chilli, then remove from heat.

Green Papaya Salad with Grilled Chicken (Som Tum Gai Yang)

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To Prepare
Prepare the paste by pounding coriander roots, garlic and white pepper in a mortar.
Marinate the chicken with the paste, soy sauce, dark soy sauce, oyster sauce, palm sugar and oil for about an hour.

To Cook
Grill chicken in an oven or charcoal grill.
Peel the green papaya (can be substituted with apples, jicama or carrots), and shred into strips using a grater.
In the mortar, pound the garlic and chilli, then add papaya, lime juice, fish sauce and toss with green beans and cherry tomatoes. Transfer to a serving plate and garnish with peanuts.
Serve grilled chicken with papaya salad on the side.

Thai Rice Noodles with Chicken (Guay Tiew Kua Gai)

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To Prep
In a bowl, combine all marinade ingredients with chicken, and set aside to marinate for at least 20 mins.

To Cook
In a wok, add oil and heat over medium heat. Add chicken and garlic and let it sear on one side until browned. Then toss them all together and cook until done. Remove them from the wok and set aside.
Add soy sauce, fish sauce, sugar and tang chai (optional) and toss until well combined. Add in the noodles and mix well again until they are coated in oil.
Still on high heat, spread the noodles out in the wok and let them sit for about 15-30 secs, until some of the noodles have browned. Once the noodles are toasted on one side, flip noodles over to the other side let it brown. Repeat until the noodles are crisp and browned to your liking. Add chicken, spring onions and white pepper, and toss to combine.
To cook the runny egg, crack an egg on top of the noodles, sprinkle about 1 tbsp of water over the noodles and cover wok with lid. Leave to cook for about 30 secs or until egg white is no longer transparent.
Remove from heat and serve on a plate lined with romaine lettuce and Sriracha sauce on the side.

Thai Chicken Green Curry (Gaeng Kiew Wan Gai)

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To Cook
Clean the chicken and pat dry with paper towel. Slice vertically into thin slices. Add 1 cup light coconut milk into a pot and bring to boil. Add chicken and reduce the heat to simmer the chicken until meat is tender. Dish out the chicken and set aside.
Add the vegetable oil into a pan and heat over medium heat. Once the oil is hot, add the curry paste and stir-fry until fragrant. Slowly add 1⁄2 cup of thick coconut milk and stir-fry until fragrant. Add chicken to the pan and stir-fry to evenly coat chicken in the curry paste. Remove pan from heat.
Transfer curry and chicken into a large pot and heat over medium heat. Add in 3 1⁄2 cups light coconut milk and kaffir lime leaves. Bring to boil then add fish sauce and sugar.
Add pea eggplant and make sure they are submerged in the curry. Continue cooking until eggplant is cooked through, then add the remaining 1⁄2 cup thick coconut milk. Bring to boil and add Thai basil leaves and red spur chillies.
Taste the curry and adjust the spiciness to your liking. If the curry is too spicy, add some coconut milk to bring down the heat level. Turn off the heat and remove from the stove. Dish out the curry into a bowl and garnish with Thai basil leaves. Enjoy with steamed rice or rice noodles.

Tips: When cooking the chicken, make sure the thin coconut milk is boiling before adding the chicken meat. This will tenderise the meat and remove any foul smell. The thin coconut milk that was used to boil the chicken should be discarded as it will contain a foul smell.