Asian Inspirations

Discover the authentic in Asian cuisine food

Rice

Tuna Mayo Onigiri

by Leave a Comment

To Prep
Let the rice cool down so that it is cold enough to handle. While waiting, cut the seaweed sheet into 4 long strips to wrap the onigiri with.
Drain any water or oil from the canned tuna, add the mayonnaise and pepper and mix well.

To Make the Onigiri
Wet your hands slightly with water and rub ½ tsp of salt in to them.
Place about a cup of rice into one hand and place a tablespoon of the tuna mayo into the centre.
Fold the rice over the tuna and begin shaping into a triangular shape.
Once the shape has been formed, wrap the onigiri in the seaweed strip and serve.

Easy Sushi Roll

by Leave a Comment

To Prepare
Rinse rice until water runs clear, then drain well in a colander/sieve.
Place rice and water in a pot and bring to a boil, give a quick stir and then turn down the heat to the lowest possible and let it cook by absorption for 10 mins. Remove pot from heat, cover with a lid and let it stand for 10 mins.
When the rice is slightly cool, use a pair of chopsticks to gently fluff up the rice while stirring in the sushi seasoning. Let the rice cool before assembling the sushi.

To Assemble
Place a nori sheet onto the mat.
With damp hands, spread ¾ cup rice over the nori sheet, spreading it to the left, bottom and right edges of the sheet, leaving a 2cm gap of nori at the top.
Place sushi fillings of choice in the middle of the rice, horizontally.
Using the mat as a guide, bring the bottom of the nori sheet to the top edge where the rice ends and press firmly, and give it a slight roll to the top to enable the nori to seal itself.
Repeat with the other remaining nori sheet and ingredients.
Cut into 1.5cm slices and serve with Obento Sushi & Sashimi Soy Sauce and S&B wasabi.

Chicken Green Curry Fried Rice (Kaow-Pad Kang-Kiew-Waan Gai)

by Leave a Comment

To Cook
Heat vegetable oil in a wok over medium heat. When the oil starts to turn hot, add green curry paste and stir-fry until the green curry paste is cooked (about 1-2 mins).
Add coconut milk into the wok and stir until the mixture is well combined and the coconut milk is boiled.
Add chicken slices, fish sauce, sugar, green peas and sliced red chillies into the wok and stir well.
Add 1 cup of cooked rice into the wok. Stir-fry until the rice absorb the green curry.
Transfer the green curry fried rice to the serving plate. Garnish the dish with basil leaves, sliced chillies and salted egg. Serve.

Hainanese Chicken Rice Balls

by Leave a Comment

To Make the Sauces
In a blender or a pestle and mortar, grind the garlic chilli sauce ingredients together to make the sauce.
Clean the blender or pestle and mortar and then repeat with the ginger sauce ingredients. Store both and set aside.

To Prepare the Chicken
Season the entire chicken with the salt. Stuff with the spring onion, garlic and ginger and lower in to a large pot.
Cover the chicken with water and heat over a medium-high heat until the water begins to boil.
Lower the heat and allow the chicken to simmer for 10-15 mins before turning off the heat, covering with a lid and letting sit in the broth for another 25 mins while preparing the rice.

To Prepare the Rice
Heat oil in a pan and add the garlic. Saute until the garlic becomes aromatic before adding in the rice and mixing to coat all of the grains.
Remove the pan from the heat and transfer the rice in to a rice cooker. Add in the stock from the chicken, salt and pandan leaves and let cook.
When the rice has cooked, use a rice spoon to fluff up and scoop out a serving. Roll the rice in to a ball and set aside while you make the rest of the rice balls.

To Serve the Chicken
Remove the chicken from the stock and cut in to serving sized pieces. Transfer on to a plate along with the rice balls and garnish with the items of your choice.
Finish with a side serving of the sauces and top the chicken pieces with a sprinkling of light soy sauce mixed with sesame oil.

Japanese Lamb Curry with Panda Shaped Rice Balls

by Leave a Comment

To Cook
In a pan over medium heat, add butter and stir fry lamb until cooked. Then, add garlic, carrots, celery and onions. Stir fry the ingredients for 1 min.
Pour in diced tomatoes and beef stock. Allow to simmer over low heat for 10 mins. Add in curry and stir well. Allow to simmer for another 10 mins until sauce thickens.
To prepare the rice, wash with cold water thoroughly until water is almost clear, about 4-5 rinses. Cook rice according to packaging instructions in a rice cooker. Once ready, add in salt, sugar, rice wine vinegar and mix well. Allow to sit covered for a further 5 mins to steam.
Scoop rice into panda shaped rice mould. Prepare the eyes, nose, mouth and ears by cutting the shapes out from nori sushi seaweed sheet.
Ladle lamb curry into individual serving bowls and place panda shaped rice balls on top.

Thai Rice Soup (Khao Tom)

by Leave a Comment

To Begin
Cook rice a day before and leave to refrigerate overnight.
In a large bowl, mix pork, garlic, coriander, salt, black pepper and fish sauce until well combined. Slowly stir in beaten egg and mix the meat mixture again until thoroughly combined. Roll pork mixture into balls.
Prepare a pot of boiling water and cook pork balls batch by batch. Cook for another 2 mins once the pork balls float to the surface to ensure they are cooked through.
In a large pot, bring chicken broth to a boil. Add in galangal and lemongrass and simmer for 15 mins. Then carefully ladle in cooked rice and simmer for 5 mins. Season with soy sauce, fish sauce and white pepper. Add more according to your liking.
Remove and discard galangal and lemongrass. Ladle rice soup into 4 serving bowls until half full. Crack in an egg into each bowl. Then ladle more hot rice soup into each bowl. If you like the eggs to be cooked before cracking them in, place eggs into a small pot of water and bring to a boil. Turn off the heat and allow to sit for 15 mins before cracking them into the rice soup.
Garnish with ginger, spring onions and coriander leaves. Serve hot with some soy sauce if desired.

Simple Chinese Sausage Rice

by Leave a Comment

To Cook
Heat oil in a wok over medium high heat. Fry sliced Chinese sausages until crispy. Drain and set aside.
Toss in onion and garlic and fry in the remaining oil until fragrant. Put in rice and fry for 1-2 mins. Pour in chicken stock, put in half the fried Chinese sausages and add dashes of white pepper. Stir to mix then cover. Allow to simmer for 15 mins until rice is cooked.
Once ready, fry the rice for 1-2 mins. Crack in eggs and continue to fry until mixed through. Add in the remaining fried Chinese sausages and quickly mix through.
Dish out and garnish with spring onions. Serve.

Shanghai Stuffed Sticky Rice Balls (Ci Fan Tuan)

by Leave a Comment

To Begin
Place short grain rice and sweet rice with 1½ cups water into a rice cooker. Cook.
If using frozen Chinese crullers, refry until crispy.
Line a sushi rolling mat with cling wrap and spread ½ of the rice across the mat into a thin layer. Top with a piece of fried Chinese cruller in the middle and sprinkle ½ the pork floss and ½ the zhacai.
Roll the rice using the sushi mat to cover the filling, squeezing the mat to ensure the roll is compact. Repeat with remaining ingredients.
Cut into half if desired and serve.

Steamed Pork with Rice Powder (Fen Zheng Rou)

by Leave a Comment

To Prep
In a bowl, mix pork belly slices with marinade ingredients. Set aside.

To Cook
In a pan over medium heat, place in rice, peppercorns and star anise. Fry until lightly browned. Then, pulverize the mixture using a food processor until fine.
Add the fine rice mixture to the marinated pork. Mix well.
Line the base of a heat proof steaming plate with lettuce leaves and then layer with potato cubes. Spread out the pork belly slices on top of the potato cubes. Steam over high heat for 30 mins.
Transfer to a serving dish and garnish with spring onions. Serve.

Vegetable and Prawn Fritters Rice Bowl (Kakiage Don)

by Leave a Comment

To Cook
Season prawns with a pinch of salt.
Place all sauce ingredients in a small pot and bring to a boil. Set aside.
Sift flour, baking powder and salt into a large bowl. Mix eggs with iced water and sake then, pour into flour mixture. Stir the bowl 10 times lightly in circular motion.
Heat enough oil for deep frying and sesame oil in a wok over medium high heat. Meanwhile, place prawns and vegetables into a bowl and dust with corn starch, coating ingredients well. Pour batter over the ingredients and mix gently. Ladle a scoop of ingredients into a wire sieve and drain off excess batter. Carefully place the battered ingredients into the hot oil and work quickly to collect pieces of stray ingredients into a big piece using chopsticks. Once the fritter is golden browned, dish out and drain off excess oil by placing the fritter on paper towels. Repeat with remaining battered ingredients.
To serve, reheat sauce. Meanwhile, divide rice into individual serving bowls. Pour some sauce over the rice. Top each bowl with a fritter and drizzle with more sauce. Serve immediately.

Yam Rice

by Leave a Comment

To Prep
Place pork belly slices into a bowl and mix well with all pork marinade ingredients. Set aside.

To Cook
Heat up oil in a wok or large pan. Sauté shallots until aromatic. Dish out and set aside. Toss dried shrimps into the remaining oil and fry until fragrant. Add marinated pork belly slices and stir fry for about 2 mins. Then, place in mushrooms and yam and stir fry for another 2 mins.
Add in rice and rice seasonings. Turn the heat to medium-low and gently stir fry to mix well.
Carefully pour in rice mixture into a rice cooker and pour in water. Cook the rice in the rice cooker and allow to rest for at least 5 mins once ready. Gently mix the rice to loosen the grains.
Serve yam rice with sprinkles of spring onions and fried shallots.

Korean Fist Rice (Jumeok-bap)

by Leave a Comment

To Begin
Cook rice according to packaging instructions.
Heat 1 tsp oil in a pan over medium heat. Fry luncheon meat until crispy and browned. Set aside.
Heat 1 tbsp oil in the same pan. Sauté garlic, toss in carrots and kimchi and season with a pinch of salt. Cook until carrots soften. Set aside.
Place cooked rice into a large bowl. Top with luncheon meat, fish roe, kimchi-carrot mix, sesame oil, sesame seeds, Japanese mayonnaise and toasted laver strips.
Wearing gloves, mix all the ingredients together until well combined. Season with salt accordingly. Then, form the rice mixture into bite-sized balls. Enjoy!