To Cook
Mix the duck breast in 2 tbsp of the oil, sliced garlic, chilli and lemongrass and marinate for 15 minutes.
Place 2 tbsp of the oil in to a pan and cook the duck skin side down until it has become crispy. Once the skin is crispy begin searing on all sides before placing the duck in to an oven and baking for 10 minutes at 180 degrees Celsius.
Add the last of the oil in to the pan and fry the onions till they start to brown. Add the coconut milk to the pan and let the sauce reach a simmer.
When the sauce has reached a simmer, add the fish sauce, oyster sauce, tamarind and palm sugar. Stir and continue to simmer until the palm sugar has dissolved fully.
In a separate bowl, blanch the vermicelli noodles.
When the sugar has dissolved, remove the pan from the heat and add the Thai basil leaves and mix.
To serve, spoon the sauce mixture on to a plate, place the vermicelli noodles on top of the sauce, and finish with slices of the duck. Garnish with more basil and chillies.
Noodles
Fried Loh Shi Fun with Minced Pork
To Prep
Combine all sauce ingredients and mix well.
To Cook
In a wok, heat the oil and sauté garlic and shallots until fragrant. Add in the minced pork and ½ of sauce mixture, stir-fry until the meat is cooked.
Add in the noodles and remaining sauce, stir until well combined. Add in the bean shoots and choy sum and toss for 1-2 mins until well combined. Transfer to serving plates, garnish with spring onions, fried shallot, chilli and white pepper. Serve hot.
Vietnamese Prawn Bowl
To Cook
In a saucepan, add hoisin sauce, peanut butter, sesame oil and garlic. Bring to a simmer over medium heat. Slow stir in a little bit of water at a time until sauce is glossy and texture is smooth and slightly runny. Remove from heat and set aside to cool.
Heat oil in a pan over medium-high heat. Fry off garlic until fragrant. Add prawns and pan fry for 30 secs. Add lemon juice to pan to coat prawns. When prawns are fully cooked, remove from pan onto a plate and set aside.
To assemble, add cooked vermicelli into a bowl. Top with red cabbage, pickled carrot and daikon, cucumber, mint leaves, prawns and peanuts. Drizzle over peanut hoisin sauce and serve.
Vegan Char Kway Teow
To Cook
Heat oil in a wok or pan over medium heat. Stir-fry dried chillies until fragrant.
Increase heat to high, and then add in bean sprouts and cabbage and stir-fry until softened. Add rice noodles and combine.
Add dark and light soy sauces and stir-fry for 5 mins. Pour over the water and stir through.
Serve immediately with spring onion and chillies.
Vegan Spicy Soy Milk Ramen
To Prep
To make vegan dashi, soak shiitake mushrooms and kombu in hot water for at least 30 mins.
Pour liquid with shiitake and kombu into a saucepan and bring to a boil over low heat. Remove kombu just before the liquid reaches a boil. Once boiling, remove from heat and set aside.
To Cook
In a saucepan or pot, heat sesame oil over medium-low heat. Add garlic, ginger and spring onion whites and stir-fry until fragrant.
Stir through miso and chilli bean paste. Add in sake to deglaze the bottom of the saucepan or pot.
Next, add sesame seeds and soy sauce.
Slowly add soy milk, and then ½ cup of vegan dashi. Add salt and pepper to taste.
To serve, add a serving of cooked ramen noodles into a bowl. Ladle over ramen broth, and then top with corn, spring onion greens, bok choy and nori.
Vietnamese Rice Vermicelli Salad
To Cook
Soak rice vermicelli in hot water for 2 mins. Drain and set aside.
Saute prawns in a pan with oil. Cool slightly, slice in half length-ways and set aside.
Dissolve brown sugar in lime juice over low heat. Remove from heat; add fish sauce and water and cool.
Add prawns, celery, capsicum, mint, basil and bean sprouts to the lime juice mixture. Place rice vermicelli on plate and top with salad mixture.
Garnish with peanuts and serve.
Combination Crispy Noodles (Mi Xao Gion)
To Cook
Heat oil in a pot over medium-high heat for deep frying.
Heat 2 tbsp oil in a large pan over medium-high heat. Add chicken and stir fry until half cooked. Add in garlic, onion and sliced carrots.
In a bowl, combine oyster sauce, soy sauce, fish sauce, cornflour and chicken stock.
Add bok choy, snow peas and baby corn to pan with chicken and stir through. Pour the sauce and stock mixture and coat ingredients. When boiling, add in prawns and squid. When seafood is cooked, remove from heat.
Grab one handful of egg noodles and tease apart using your hands. Carefully place into hot oil. Working quickly, use chop sticks or tongs to spread out the noodles, separating the individual noodle strands. After 30 secs, turn noodles over. Take out once golden brown and allow to drain on paper towel. Repeat until noodles are all cooked.
To serve, place crispy noodles onto a large plate and spoon over stir fry.
Malaysian Pan Mee
Making the dough
In a large bowl, mix the flour and salt together. Make a well in the centre and add in the egg. Mix the egg with the flour.
Add 1 cup of water and mix. Add more water as needed to form a soft dough.
Knead the dough for 8-10 minutes until elastic. Pick up the dough and throw onto the work surface 10 times in between kneading the dough. Do this 3-4 times throughout kneading.
Divide the dough into 4. Place into 4 bowls and wrap each with cling wrap. Set aside and allow to rest for at least 1 hr.
Making the broth
In a large pot, add the anchovies and water. Bring the water to boil over high heat.
Once boiled, turn the heat to medium and let simmer uncovered for 15 minutes.
Remove the anchovies with a sieve or a slotted spoon. Season with salt, white pepper and sugar to taste.
Meat and Mushroom Topping
Heat a pan over high heat. Once hot, add the oil and fry the garlic and meat. When the meat is almost cooked, add the mushroom.
Turn the heat to medium high and add the oyster sauce, soy sauce, thick caramel sauce, sugar, salt, sesame oil and white pepper. Stir to combine well. Once cooked, add the water, taste and adjust seasoning if necessary. Remove from heat and set aside.
Cooking the Noodles
Flour pasta machine and work surface. Starting at the highest setting on your pasta machine, roll out your dough. Fold dough in half and roll out again. Gradually lower setting until your dough is about 2-3mm in thickness.
Cut dough into fettucine-sized strands using your pasta machine or a sharp knife. Toss your noodles into a bowl with flour.
Over high heat, bring a pot of water to boil and add your noodles, cooking a handful at a time.
Once the noodles float, let it cook for 1-2 more minutes (depending on the thickness and size). Remove cooked noodles with a slotted spoon and set aside.
To Assemble
Add noodles, bok choy and soup into a bowl. Top with meat and mushroom and fried anchovies. Serve immediately.
Cold Soba (Zaru Soba)
Prearing the mentsuyu (dipping sauce)
Prepare mentsuyu according to this recipe. Allow to cool in the refrigerator for 1 hr.
To cook
Cook the soba only right before serving. Drain the soba in a colander and rinse the noodles under cold, running water until the noodles are cooled. Transfer to a bowl filled with cold water.
To serve, divide the soba among 4 plates and sprinkle nori on top. Pour the dipping sauce into 4 small cups with the 1 tbsp spring onions and a dab of wasabi paste (optional) on the side of each plate. Reserve the remaining mentsuyu for top-ups.
To eat, add the spring onions to the mentsuyu. Dip the soba into the mentsuyu and make sure to slurp when enjoying the noodles!
Vietnamese Beef Noodle Salad (Bun Bo Nam Bo)
To Prep
Combine the sliced beef with oyster sauce, salt, pepper, lemongrass, chicken stock granules, half the minced garlic and 1 tbsp vegetable oil.
Mix well and let the beef marinate for about 30 mins
Heat the rest of the vegetable oil in a wok over high heat. Add the garlic and stir fry until fragrant.
Add the beef and stir fry it. Set the beef aside when it’s done.
To Cook
Cook the rice vermicelli according to packet instructions.
Mix all the vegetables together in a large mixing bowl. Then, place some of the vegetables in a serving bowl.
Add some cooked rice vermicelli on top of the vegetables, followed by the beef and pickled daikon and carrot.
Garnish with the deep fried shallots and crushed peanuts.
Drizzle over with some dipping fish sauce. Ready to serve.
Hoi An Style Noodles (Cao Lau)
To Cook
Begin by preparing the pork broth. In a pot, bring water to a boil. Add in soup pork meat, onion, salt and sugar. Bring to a boil again. Remove any scum floating on the water’s surface. Once it is boiling again, bring the heat down to a low and simmer the broth for at least 2 hrs.
Meanwhile, place the pork bellies into a bowl and mix in all other marinade ingredients. Combine well until meat is evenly coated. Set aside in the refrigerator until the pork broth is ready.
Heat up some oil in a large frying pan. Lightly shake the pork bellies to remove garlic pieces. Put them into the pan, reserve the marinade. Sear the pork belly pieces until browned. Set aside. Pour in reserved marinade and add 2 ladles of pork broth. Allow to boil and bring the pork bellies back into the pan. Simmer on low heat for 1½ hrs, turning the meat constantly.
Transfer pork bellies to a cutting board then, pour in 500ml of pork broth into the pan with the marinade. Bring to a boil and season accordingly. Slice the pork bellies into smaller strips.
Cook noodles according to packet instructions without any salt. Drain and set aside. Using the same water, blanch bean sprouts if desired.
Portion out the noodles into individual serving bowls. Top with bean sprouts, lettuce, spring onions and fresh herbs. Arrange a few slices of the barbecue pork belly on top of the noodles and ladle in a scoop of Xa Xiu broth.
Serve with sambal oelek, a squeeze of fresh lime juice and crackers.
Shio Ramen
Preparing the Chicken stock
Place all the chicken bones, onions, carrots, and onions in a large stock pot and cover with water You want at least 3cms of water covering all the ingredients.
Start to boil the water and skim off any scum that rises to the top. Skim until no more scum rises to the top.
Add the sake and mirin to the stock.
Lower the heat to the point right before the stock boils. If you have a thermometer, this should be 80°C. Maintain at this temperature for at least 6 hours.
Strain the stock and set aside for later use.
Preparing the Dashi
Add the water and kombu to a pot and let it soak for 30 minutes.
Next, place the pot onto medium heat and let it slowly come to a boil.
Just before the water boils, remove it from the heat and add in the bonito flakes.
Return to the heat and let it simmer for a minute or two. Take care not to let it boil over.
Strain the dashi stock into another pot.
Add the salt, soy sauce, mirin, and sake to the dashi stock. Let the soup boil for a minute or two and remove from the heat.
Preparing the Tare
Soak the kombu in the mirin and sake overnight.
When done soaking, place all the contents into a small pot and simmer for 5 minutes. Take care to not let the liquids boil over.
Remove the kombu and add the chicken stock and ground chicken meat.
Allow the stock to boil until the meat is cooked. Turn off the heat and then let the ingredients soak for at least 30 minutes.
Strain the liquid into another pot. Begin seasoning with salt by adding at least 50gms of salt to the tare. Keep tasting and adding salt until the tare is salty, but not unbearably salty. Let it cool and store for later use.
Preparing the Ramen
Make sure your eggs are at room temperature. Then add them to boiling water for 6 minutes.
At the end of 6 minutes, remove the eggs from the boiling water and immediately transfer them to a bowl of ice water.
Once the eggs have cooled, peel the shells off.
Cook the corn kernels by boiling in water for 5-10 minutes
Then, in a pot, add 150 ml of dashi and 150 ml of chicken stock and heat up over medium heat. This is soup for 1 serving or Shio ramen.
Start off by mixing in 1 tbsp of the tare to the soup, and add more to adjust the saltiness and flavor.
Cook the ramen noodles as per packet instructions and place in a bowl.
Add the corn kernels, and 6-minute eggs to the bowl of ramen noodles and pour the soup over.
Garnish with nori seaweed and serve.