To Cook
Clean the fish. In a pot, bring 8 cups of water to boil. Add fish and boil for about 10 mins. Transfer the cooked fish into a bowl and let cool.
Strain the fish stock; add the peeled tamarind, ginger torch flower and the mint leaves, continue to boil on low heat. (Tip: put the ginger torch flower and mint leaves in a herb bag)
Pick the flesh of the fish. Break the fish meat into tiny pieces and put the fish back into the stock. Then, cover the pot with a lid and lower heat. Leave broth to continue simmering until fragrant.
Using a food processor or a pestle and mortar, grind or pound the spice paste until fine. Heat up a wok and saute the spice paste with cooking oil for about 6-8 minutes. Transfer the spice paste into the boiling stock.
In a bowl, mix tamarind paste with warm/hot water and add to the stock.
Add salt and sugar to taste. Discard the ginger torch flower and mint leaves from the laksa broth before serving.
In a serving bowl, add in the laksa noodles and pour the fish broth into the bowl. Garnish and serve immediately with a spoonful of prawn paste.
Noodles
Hanoi Style Rice Vermicilli with Grilled Pork (Bun Cha Hanoi)
To Prep
For the pork marinade, combine water, sugar, fish sauce, garlic and shallot together in a small bowl.
Slice the pork shoulder into 2 inch by 2 inch pieces. Add half the marinade in the minced pork and the other half in the sliced pork shoulder.
For the ground pork, add the roasted rice powder and form into golf-ball size patties.
Marinate the pork for at least 30 min or overnight.
Cut the papaya, remove the seeds and slice thinly. Add salt to papaya and let it sit for 30 minutes. Then rinse the salt off under cold running water. Squeeze out the water in the papaya. Pat dry and set aside.
Mince garlic cloves and shallots.
Prepare the bean sprouts by cutting off heads and tails, mint, chillies deseeded and sliced.
Prepare vermicelli as per packet instructions.
Prepare the dipping sauce, combine the hot water and sugar. Mix until dissolved. Add lime, garlic, chillies, fish sauce, coconut soda.
To Cook
Grill the pork over charcoal fire for a more authentic taste. You can also bake them in the oven at 200 degrees for 10 min. Make sure to flip and rotate to evenly cook the pork. Let it rest for 10 min.
To Assemble
When you are ready to serve, add a single portion of meat to a small bowl. Ladle on the sweet papaya chili sauce on the meat. Then serve with a side of rice noodles and top it with fresh Vietnamese herbs.
Vietnamese Beef And Noodle Soup (Pho Bo)
For the Pho Broth
Place onions and ginger on cooking grate (on an open flame a gas stove) and let skin burn. Remove when fragrant. Under warm water, remove charred onion skin and discard blackened bits on the ginger with a knife.
Place bones in a stockpot, add water and bring to boil for a few mins. Dump bones and water into sink and rinse bones with warm water to remove impurities. Clean stockpot and return bones.
Add 6 litres of water to pot, bring to boil over high heat, then lower flame to gently simmer. Use ladle to skim any scum that rises to surface. Add remaining broth ingredients and cook meat, uncovered, for 1 1/2 hrs.
Remove cooked meat and place in bowl of cold water for 10 mins. After draining and cooling the meat, refrigerate it. Allow broth to continue simmering for around 3 hrs.
Strain the pho broth and use ladle to skim as much fat from top of the pho broth. Adjust flavour with additional salt, fish sauce and yellow rock sugar.
For the Noodles and Garnishing
Fill large saucepan with water and bring to boil. Blanch noodles for about 10-20 seconds and arrange into bowls.
Then, blanch bean sprouts for 30 seconds. Drain and add to the garnish plate.
Place slices of cooked meat atop noodles. Garnish with onion, scallion and chopped coriander.
Ladle in broth and serve.
Javanese Fried Noodles
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.
Fried Noodles with Water Mimosa (Sen Mee Pad Kra Shed)
To Prep
In a mortar, pound the garlic, chillies and goat pepper, then mix well with the shrimp paste.
To Cook
In a wok, heat oil on medium and fry the paste mixture. Add a little water, then the prawns and water mimosa, stir-fry well.
Add the oyster sauce, soy sauce and sugar, then the noodles. Add water if it gets too dry, stir-fry well and serve, garnish with sliced chilli.
Mushroom Hot Pot (Beoseot Jeongol)
To Prep
Place beef slices with the Beef Marinade into a bowl, mix well and let sit for 15 mins.
To Cook
Place 4-5 cups of water in a saucepan with the Stock ingredients. Just before the stock comes to a boil, discard konbu. Simmer stock for about 10 mins. Strain the stock, discard the stock ingredients and set stock aside.
To Serve
Arrange mushrooms, vegetables and beef evenly around a small shallow pan (jeongol pan).
Pour stock into the pan and add Chilli Seasoning (optional). Bring the stock to a boil, reduce heat and simmer gently for about 5 mins. Add soy sauce, salt and cooking sake.
Noodles can be added after most of the mushrooms, vegetables and meat has been served.
Bulgogi Stew (Ttukbaegi Bulgogi)
To Prep
Combine marinade ingredients in a bowl.
Mix well until the sugar has dissolved before adding in the beef and stirring to coat before covering and leaving to marinate in a refrigerator for a minimum of 30 mins or overnight.
To Cook
Bring to a boil the water in a clay or earthenware pot before adding in the salt and fish sauce.
When the broth returns to the boil, add in the marinated beef, carrot, onion and spring onions.
Cover the pot and let the ingredients cook for 10 mins. Occasionally open the pot to stir and remove the foam from soup.
After 10 mins, add the noodles in to the pot to cook. After the noodles soften, add in the mushrooms and radish and continue to cook until the radish has cooked through.
To Serve
While still over the stove, crack an egg and put it in to the centre of the bubbling stew. Let simmer briefly before garnishing with the chrysanthemum greens, spring onions and the red chillies.
Remove the pot from the heat and serve with a side of rice, kimchi and other side dishes.
Penang Nyonya Lam Mee
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!
Shortcut Tom Yum Noodle Soup
To Cook
Bring water to the boil. Add noodles and cook for 4 mins.
Add contents of flavouring sachet, tomato, mushroom and prawns; cook for 1 min.
Ladle into soup bowls and garnish with coriander. Serve.
Vietnamese Grilled Pork Noodles (Bun Thit Nuong)
To Prep
Slice the uncooked pork thinly, about 1.5cm.
Mix in the marinade with the pork. Mix until sugar is dissolved.
Marinate the meat for at least one hour, or leave overnight for better results.
To Cook
Bake the pork at 180ºC for 10-15 mins, or until it is about 80% cooked. Finish cooking by broiling pork in the oven until a nice golden brown colour develops, turning the pieces midway.
Nuoc Cham Sauce
Combine water and sugar in a bowl.
Add lime or lemon juice (adjust accordingly to taste)
Add fish sauce in increments (adjust accordingly to taste)
Top with garlic and chilies.
To Assemble
Assemble your bowl with cooked vermicelli noodles, vegetables, noodles, and garnish. You may pour the nuoc cham sauce on top or serve it in a separate bowl to pour in just before eating.
Fried Dace with Noodles
To Cook
Soak noodles in boiling water until soft.
Place fried dace in a bowl. Cover and microwave until warm.
Heat oil in wok, add garlic and fry vegetables until cooked.
Place noodles on a plate, top with dace and arrange vegetables around dace.
Soba Noodle Salad
To Cook
Prepare soba noodles in accordance to packet instructions. Drain and rinse under cold water. Drain well.
Place noodles and salad in a bowl. Add dressing ingredients. Toss well to combine.
Taste test and add extra dressing of choice to personal liking.
Sprinkle toasted sesame seeds over noodle salad.