Asian Inspirations

Discover the authentic in Asian cuisine food

Rice

Herb Rice (Nasi Ulam)

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To Prep
For the Vietnamese coriander, basil, and mint pick all the leaves off of the stalks.
For convenience, all the herb leaves should be cut using Chiffonade method. That is to stack a bunch of leaves together and gently roll into a cigar shape and slice thinly from end to end.
Finely slice all of the non-leafy herbs (ginger, torch ginger flower, shallots and galangal).

To Cook
Deep fry the salted fish in some oil until crispy and golden, then shred with a knife.
Using a mortar and pestle, pound the dried shrimps until broken up into fine pieces. Dry fry the dried shrimps in a wok or pan until aromatic.
Toast the grated coconut in a pan until golden brown and then pound with a mortar and pestle.
Add all the prepared ingredients in a large bowl together with the rice and mix well with a wooden spoon.
Add salt and sugar to taste and serve immediately.

Quick & Easy Chinese Fried Rice

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To Cook
Bring a pot of water to a boil, then reduce to a simmer over low heat. Blanch the beans, carrots, peas and corn for 1 min or until just cooked, and then carefully transfer into an ice bath to stop further cooking.
Heat oil in a wok over high heat until smoking. Add chopped garlic and then stir fry for 1 min or until fragrant.
Add cold rice, pressing against the side of the wok to remove any lumps, then add in blanched vegetables and char siu. Stir fry for 2 mins.
Reduce heat to medium, then move fried rice to one side of the wok. Pour in eggs on other side, then combine with rice. Cook for a further 1-2 mins until done. Season with salt to taste.

Japanese California Rolls

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To Cook
While rice is hot, add sugar and rice vinegar and cool.
Place a sheet of seaweed along the bottom of the bamboo sushi mat.
Firmly press ¾ cup of rice onto the mat covering ⅔ of the seaweed. Place a line of mayonnaise along the rice about 2cm from the bottom.
Place on top of each other a row of crab sticks and avocado.
Placing both hands under the bottom of the mat at either end, proceed to roll up the seaweed ensuring the first full roll encloses all of the ingredients. Roll as tightly as possible.
Wrap in cling wrap and place in refrigerator for 15 mins before cutting. When slicing, use a very sharp knife, pierce the seaweed and then slice. Use a hot cloth to wipe the knife between slices.
Serve this Japanese California Rolls with a dish of soy sauce, wasabi and pickled ginger.

Japanese Pickled Plum Rice Ball (Umeboshi Onigiri)

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To Prep
Let the rice cool down so that it is cold enough to handle. While waiting, cut the seaweed sheet in to 4 long strips to wrap the onigiri with.
Once the rice has cooled, add the furikake seasoning and gentle fold in to the rice until thoroughly mixed.
To Make the Onigiri
Wet your hands slightly with water and rub half a teaspoon of salt in to them.
Place about a cup of rice in to one hand and a de-seeded pickled plum in to the centre.
Fold the rice over the plum and begin shaping in to a triangular shape.
Once the shape has been formed, wrap the onigiri in the seaweed strip and serve.

Japanese Beef Bowl with Rice (Gyudon)

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To Cook
Put the oil in a pan over medium-high heat and cook until the onions have softened.
Add the meat and sugar, cooking until any pinkness has faded. Add sake, mirin and soy sauce.
Turn the heat down and let the mixture simmer for 2-3 mins.
Add the egg over the beef, ensuring that the mixture is spread out. Cover the pan with a lid while waiting for the egg to cook. Add the green onion for a few seconds before taking the pan off of the heat.
Divide the cooked rice and beef and egg into the required portions. Drizzle the desired amount of sauce on top and garnish with your sliced green onions and pickled ginger.

Baked Pork Chops with Cheese on Rice

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To Prep
Preheat oven to 220°C.
Rinse and pat-dry pork chops, then tenderize. Mix with marinade ingredients and let sit for 30 mins.
Separate some beaten eggs to a small plate, dip pork chops in egg and coat lightly with plain flour.

To Cook
Pan-fry over high heat until brown on both sides, remove and set aside.
Saute onion until fragrant, add minced garlic. Add in mushrooms and toss slightly, then let cook until dry. Add the capsicums and tomatoes, sprinkle salt and stir-fry until all ingredients are softened. Remove and set aside.
Heat some oil in frying pan, add the rests of the eggs and fry until half-cooked. Add rice and stir-fry briefly. Stir in ⅔ of the cooked vegetables then transfer to a baking dish.
Heat the pan with some oil, saute minced garlic over medium-low heat, then add tomato paste and chicken broth. Add plain flour gradually to thicken the sauce and add salt and sugar to taste. Stir in pork chops and the remaining vegetables, pour sauce over fried rice.
Sprinkle cheese to cover surface evenly, baked for 15-20 mins or until cheese turns golden.

Seaweed Rice Rolls (Gimbap)

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To Prep the Spinach
Combine the blanched spinach, 2 minced garlic cloves, ½ tsp salt, and 1 tbsp sesame oil in a bowl.
Mix well by hand and put it on a large platter with the sliced yellow pickled radish.

To Prep the Carrots
Combine the carrots with ¼ tsp salt. Mix well and let it rest for 5 to 10 minutes. Heat a pan and add a few drops of vegetable oil.
Squeeze out excess water from the carrots, then saute for about 1 minute. Put it on the platter next to the spinach.

To Prep the Eggs
Crack 3 eggs in a bowl and add ¼ tsp salt. Beat with fork and remove the stringy chalaza.
Drizzle a few drops of oil on a heated 25cm non-stick pan. Wipe off the excess with a paper towel so only a thin sheen of oil remains. Turn down the heat to low and pour the egg mixture into the pan. Spread it into a large circle so it fills the pan.
When the bottom of the egg is cooked, flip it over with a spatula. Remove from the heat and let it cook slowly in the hot pan for about 5 mins, keeping the egg as yellow as possible, and not brown.
Cut it into 2cm wide strips. Put it next to the spinach on the platter.

To Prep the Rice
Place freshly made rice in a large, shallow bowl. Gently mix in ½ tsp salt and 1 tbsp sesame oil with a rice scoop or a wooden spoon.
Let it stand until it’s no longer steaming.
Cover and set aside.

To Prep the Steaks
Trim the fat from the skirt steaks and slice into 1cm x 10cm strips. Put the strips into a bowl. Add 2 tsp soy sauce, 1 minced garlic clove, ¼ tsp ground black pepper, 3 tsp sugar, and ½
tbsp sesame oil.
Mix well by hand.
Set aside, and let them marinate for 30 mins
Heat up a pan over medium high heat and cook the marinated beef, stirring it with a wooden spoon until well cooked.
Set aside.

To roll the Gimbap
Place a sheet of gim on a bamboo mat with the shiny side down. Evenly spread about ¾ cup of cooked rice over it, leaving about 5cm uncovered on one side of the gim.
Place beef, carrot, yellow pickled radish strip, a few egg strips, and spinach in the centre of the rice.
Use both hands to roll the mat (along with gim and rice) over the fillings, so one edge of the rice and gim reaches the opposite edge. This centres the fillings in the roll, so they’ll be nicely in the middle when you slice it.
Grab the mat with both hands and press it tightly as you continue rolling the gimbap. Push out the mat as you roll, so it doesn’t get wrapped in the gimbap.
Remove the roll from the mat at the end and set the finished roll aside with the seam down, to seal it nicely.
Repeat 4 more times with the remaining ingredients.
Put some sesame oil on the finished rolls and sprinkle some sesame seeds over the top. Cut each roll into 1cm bite size pieces with a sharp knife, occasionally wiping it with a wet paper towel or cloth to clean the starch off and to ease cutting.
Put it on a plate and serve immediately or pack it in a lunchbox.

Teriyaki Pork Donburi

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To Prep
In a bowl, mix all the sauce ingredients until well combined.
Using a meat pounder, pound the pork chops to tenderize. Try to pound each pork chop into equally thick pieces.
Season the pork chops with salt and pepper, then dust with corn starch. Shake off any excess corn starch

To Cook
In a large, non-stick pan, begin to heat up some vegetable oil on medium heat and add half the sliced garlic before the oil gets hot. Stir the slices of garlic around the oil to coat with oil.
When the oil is hot enough, pan fry 2 of the pork chops until both sides are browned.
Once the pork is browned on both sides, add half of the sauce mixture and cover the pan with a lid and let the pork cook for several minutes until the pork is done.
Add half the spring onions to the pan and spoon the sauce and spring onions over the pork chops and remove from the pan.
Repeat steps 4-7 with the other 2 pork chops. If your pan is large enough to fit all the pork chops, you can go ahead and cook them in one go.
Slice the cooked pork chops into 2cm thick slices.
Prepare your rice bowls by scooping 1 cup of cooked rice into each bowl, then adding a bed of lettuce leaves on top of the rice.
Lay the sliced pork on top of the bed of lettuce and garnish with the cherry tomatoes.
Serve with the pan sauce on the side.

Korean Sushi Roll (Kimbap)

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To Cook
Mix rice with 2 tbsp sesame oil and ½ tsp salt in a bowl and set aside.
Pour 1 tbsp oil to a heated pan and pour in eggs to make a thin omelette over medium heat. The omelette should be pale in colour. Remove and let cool. Cut into thin strips and set aside.
Pour ½-1 tbsp oil to a heated pan and quickly sauté carrots for about 30 secs. Season with salt and set aside.
Saute the zucchini with minced garlic and ½ tbsp sesame oil. Remove and set aside.
Sit a sushi mat on a board and place a nori seaweed sheet on top. Add ⅓-½ cup of rice on nori sheet, covering about ⅔ of the sheet. Place each ingredient on top of the rice, lining them up horizontally and close together. Roll the nori sheet using your mat until you have a cylinder shape. Squeeze the roll inside the mat gently so that the kimbap is not too loose.
Repeat with the remaining ingredients until you have a desired number of kimbap rolls. Cut kimbap into bite sized pieces, usually 8-10. Garnish with sesame seeds.

Korean Mushroom Kimbap

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To Cook
Mix rice with 2 tbsp sesame oil and ½- tsp salt in a bowl and set aside. Also set aside shiitake mushrooms and radish.
Pour ½-1 tbsp oil to a heated pan and pour in eggs to make a thin omelette over medium heat. The omelette should be pale in colour. Cut into thin strips when cooled and set aside.
Pour ½-1 tbsp oil to a heated pan and quickly sauté carrots for about 30 secs and season with salt and set aside.
Mix cucumber with ½ tbsp sesame oil, minced garlic and 2 pinches of salt in a bowl and set aside.
Place sushi mat on a board and a nori sheet on top. Spread ⅓-½ cup of rice on the sheet, covering about ⅔ of the sheet. Place each of the ingredients on top of the rice, lining them up horizontally and close together. Roll the nori sheet using your mat until you have a cylinder shape. Squeeze the roll inside the mat gently so that the kimbap is not too loose.
Repeat with the remaining ingredients until you have a desired number of kimbap rolls. Cut kimbap into bite sized pieces, usually 8-10. Garnish with sesame seeds.

Korean Chicken Bibimbap

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To Cook
Set aside each type of vegetables on a big plate after cooking.
Heat pan and ½ tbsp oil. Add carrot and cook briefly for about 20 secs. Season lightly with salt.
Sauté zucchini as above but add ⅛ tbsp garlic and ½ tbsp green onions.
Sauté shiitake mushrooms as above but season lightly with soy sauce.
Mix spinach with ⅛ tbsp garlic, ½ tbsp green onions and 1½ tbsp sesame oil.
In a saucepan place bean shoots with ⅛ tbsp garlic, 1 tbsp sesame oil and 2 tbsp water. Cook for about 5 mins until cooked. Drain and add ½ tbsp spring onions and ¼ tsp Korean chilli powder. Season with salt.
Heat oil in a pan, fry the beaten eggs to make a thin omelette. Remove and slice thinly.
Heat oil in a pan, pan-fry the chicken pieces with the capsicums.
In a bowl, place 1 cup of cooked rice. Arrange vegetables, chicken and egg on top. Drizzle some sesame oil and garnish with sesame seeds. Serve with gochujang for individual taste. Repeat for another 3 servings. Mix gochujang with rice and topping before eating.

Korean Raw Beef Bibimbap

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To Prep
Cut the beef into strips and mix well with the seasoning sauce. Set aside.

To Cook
Set aside each type of vegetables on a big plate after cooking.
Heat pan and ½ tbsp oil. Add carrot and cook briefly for about 20 secs. Season lightly with salt.
Sauté zucchini as above but add ⅛ tbsp garlic and ½ tbsp green onions.
Sauté shiitake mushrooms as above but season lightly with soy sauce.
Mix spinach with ⅛ tbsp garlic, ½ tbsp green onions and 1½ tbsp sesame oil.
Heat oil in a pan, fry the beaten eggs to make a thin omelette. Remove and slice thinly.
In a bowl, ladle 1 cup of cooked rice. Arrange vegetables, seasoned raw beef and egg on top. Drizzle some sesame oil and garnish with sesame seeds. Serve with gochujang for individual taste. Repeat for another 3 servings. Mix gochujang with rice and topping before eating.