To Cook
Marinate pork slices by combining salt, light soy sauce, sugar and sesame oil. Add in egg white and mix well.
Sprinkle potato starch on pork pieces and mix well.
Heat oil in a wok or large frying pan over medium-high heat.
Fry pork until golden brown. Transfer pork to a plate.
Stir-fry onion for 5 mins. Pour in Lee Kum Kee Sweet and Sour Chicken Sauce. Add pork and stir fry until pork is cooked through.
Garnish with spring onion.
Rice
Japanese Salmon Fried Rice
To Cook
Pan fry salmon for 2 mins on each side or until it turns opaque.
Flake salmon with a fork to break it into pieces, set aside.
Heat a non-stick wok and add the cooking oil. Crack eggs in the wok and scramble them.
When the salmon is about 80% cooked, remove from wok and set aside.
Keep wok on medium high heat and add the sesame oil and spring onions.
Stir fry until nicely coated with oil.
Add rice and slightly increase the heat and cook for 2 minutes, stirring often.
When rice is coated with oil, add the salmon and continue stirring until the salmon is well mixed. Be gentle so that the salmon doesn’t break up too much.
Add the eggs and mix well.
Stir in soy sauce, salt, white pepper, and freshly ground black pepper and remove from heat.
Serve immediately.
Fragrant Oil Rice (Yau Fan)
To Cook
Heat oil in a wok over medium heat.
Add in shallots and saute until lightly browned without burning them.
Add in uncooked rice that has been washed, and stir fry. Add salt and mix well, stirring constantly for 2-3 minutes.
Transfer the rice into the rice cooker to cook.
The yau fan (oil rice) is typically served with Malaysian Bak Kut Teh.
Thai Basil Fried Rice (Khao Pad Horapa)
To Cook
Heat up some vegetable oil in a wok over high heat. Add the garlic and chilli and stir-fry until the garlic starts to color.
Add the chicken to the wok and stir-fry until the chicken is cooked.
Then add the long beans and capsicum before quickly adding the oyster sauce, dark soy sauce, and light soy sauce.
Add the onions when the long beans and capsicum are almost cooked and stir fry until they begin to be translucent.
Now add the rice to the wok and stir/toss until the rice and sauce are mixed well.
Finally, remove the wok from the stove and stir in the Thai basil leaves before transferring to a serving plate.
Steamed Rice Cake (Chwee Kueh)
To make the Topping:
Heat up a ½ a cup of vegetable oil in a wok and fry the shallots until they begin to colour.
Squeeze out any excess moisture from the preserved radish and add to the wok. Cook for about 5 minutes.
Add the sugar, white pepper and soy sauce. Mix well and taste to make sure the topping is well seasoned.
Transfer to a bowl and allow to cool.
To make the Rice Cake:
Add all the ingredients together in a mixing bowl and stir well until combined.
Make sure there are no lumps in the flour mixture by straining through a sieve.
Cook the flour mixture in a pan over medium heat until it thickens. You can test if the mixture is thick enough by coating the back of a spoon and running your finger over. The mixture is thick enough if the line remains.
When it is ready, remove the mixture from the heat and pour into greased moulds or bowls.
Place the bowls into the steamer on medium heat for 20 minutes. Make sure the water is already boiling before placing the bowls into the steamer.
Once cooked, allow the rice cakes to cool completely before removing from the bowls.
Top with the radish topping and serve.
Soft Shell Crab Hand Roll
To Prep
Add the sushi vinegar to the cooked sushi rice and gentle fold in to the rice until well incorporated.
Combine 125 g of tempura flour and ice water together in a mixing bowl and lightly stir them together. Don’t over mix as pockets of flour will make the batter airy. Pour the remaining 50 g of flour in to a separate bowl.
To Cook
Heat the oil to about 180°C, then dredge the crab halves one by one in the tempura flour, then into the batter and fry till golden brown. Let cool on paper towels to drain the excess oil.
To Make the Roll
Halve the seaweed sheets. Place sushi rice and then the lettuce, cucumber and half a crab onto one side of nori.
Fold the nearest corner of the nori over the filling and start to shape.
The hand roll should be shaped cone shaped to stop any rice from falling out.
Deep-fried Bean Curd Pockets (Inari Sushi)
To Prep
Split the bean curd pouches, and then squeeze gently to remove any excess liquid.
Stuff ‘pockets’ with sushi rice, being sure not to over-fill or they will tear.
Serve with wasabi and soy sauce.
Salted Fish and Chicken Fried Rice
To Prep
Combine the chicken ingredients in to a mixing bowl and allow to marinate for at least 15 minutes.
To Cook
Add 1 tbsp of the oil in to a wok over a high heat. Allow it to warm up before adding the chicken and cooking until the meat has cooked through. Remove the chicken and set aside.
Add the remaining 2 tbsp of oil and add the salted fish. Cook the fish until it becomes fragrant before adding the rice.
Stir-fry the rice until it has evenly mixed with the fish before making an open space in the centre of the wok for the egg.
Add the beaten eggs in to the centre of the wok and cook the eggs until they have cooked through and then mix them into the rice.
Finally, add the diced chicken back in to the wok and stir-fry it in to the rice before seasoning with salt to taste and serving.
Miso Katsu
To Prep
Thinly slice or shred the cabbage with a shredder into thin slices. Wash under cold running water and drain completely. Keep it cool in the fridge.
To make miso sauce, heat 1 tbsp mirin and 2 tbsp sake in a small saucepan over high heat and let the alcohol evaporate. Then lower the heat and add 2 tbsp. sugar, ½ cup dashi, and 3 tbsp Hatcho Miso.
To Cook
Combine well with a silicone spatula. Cook for 3 mins on low heat, stir frequently to avoid burning on the bottom of the saucepan. Turn off the heat and set aside when the sauce is thickened.
To make the Tonkatsu, remove excessive fat from each pork loin and make a couple of slits on the sides where the connective tissue is between the meat and fat. This is because red meat and fat have different elasticity, and they will shrink and expand at different rates cooked. This will prevent meat from curling up and will allow the meat to stay flat when deep frying.
Pound the meat with a meat pounder, or you may prefer to use the back of the knife to pound. Using your hands, mold the extended meat back into original shape.
Season both sides of the meat with salt and pepper.
Whisk together 1 large egg and 1 tbsp water in a large bowl. Prepare panko breadcrumbs in a separate plate.
Place flour in a bowl and coat pork loin with flour. Remove excess flour.
Then dip in egg mixture, followed by coating with panko breadcrumbs. After removing excess breadcrumbs, press the loin gently.
Heat oil in a pot over medium high heat and wait till oil reaches 180°C. If you don’t have a thermometer, stick a chopstick in the oil and see if tiny bubbles start to appear around the tip of the chopstick. Alternatively, you can drop one piece of panko into the oil, and if it sinks down to the middle of oil and comes right up, then that’s around 180°C as well.
When the oil reaches to that temperature, gently lower the pork loin into the oil. Make sure that the oil does not go over 180°C or the pork katsu will look burnt.
Deep fry for 1 min on one side and flip to cook the other side for 1min. Reduce to 45 secs for each side your meat is thinner than 1cm.
Remove meat from pot and hold it vertically for a few seconds to remove excess oil. Place on top of wire rack, or paper towel and let it sit for 4 mins. There is no need to check whether the inside is cooked or not at this stage.
After resting for 4 mins, bring the oil back to 180°C and deep fry the meat for 30 secs on each side.
Poke the meat with a chopstick and if clear liquid comes out then it’s done. Drain the oil by holding the meat vertically again for a few seconds. Then leave it on top of a wire rack or paper towel for 2 mins. If you are using a paper towel, keep the meat in a vertical position so that the other side does not get soggy.
Cut the Tonkatsu into large pieces, lengthwise by pressing the knife directly down instead of moving back and forth. This way the breadcrumbs will stay intact. Plate the Tonkatsu and serve with the fresh cabbage on the side. You may like to pour the sauce just before serving or you may serve the sauce on the side.
The sauce can be kept in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks, or alternatively you may freeze it. You can also use this sauce for marinating other meat such as fish or use as a dipping sauce for hot pot and steamed vegetables.
Beehive Cookies (Kuih Rose/ Kuih Loyang)
To Prep
Add coconut milk, eggs, sugar and salt in a mixing bowl and whip until well combined and all sugar has dissolved.
Sift all-purpose flour and rice flour into the mixture. Whisk until the mixture has the consistency of pancake batter (Add a little water if too thick).
To Cook
Heat up oil in a wok on medium heat.
Place brass moulds in the hot oil, about 2-3 mins. (The moulds have to be hot enough for batter to cling on them).
Dip hot mould into batter for 10 secs. Make sure batter coats only the bottom and sides of mould, never over the top.
Slowly lift it up and dip mould back in hot oil. Shake to release from mould and fry until golden brown on both sides.
Remove from hot oil, and let it cool over paper towel.
Repeat until all batter is used up. Store in air-tight containers.
Lotus Leaf Wrapped Sticky Rice (Hor Yip Fan)
To Prep
In a medium bowl, stir together the marinade ingredients and add the chicken pieces. Stir well and refrigerate. Soak the sticky rice for 2 hrs, drain and mix with 2 tbsp dark soy sauce and set aside.
To Cook
Over high heat, add 2 tbsp oil to your wok. When the wok is smoking slightly, add half the mushrooms and stir-fry until they’re browned, tender, and most of the moisture has evaporated.
Heat your wok over high heat again with a couple tablespoons oil. Fry until chicken is golden brown before mixing in the mushrooms, scallions and salt. Stir-fry for a couple minutes to let the flavors meld together.
Combine with the soaked rice. Now you’re ready to wrap them in the lotus leaves. Brush a small section on one end of each leaf lightly with oil. Put about ¾ cup of the mixture on the oiled area. Wrap each into a rectangle, tie with kitchen string, and steam for about 90 mins.
You can serve with a little chili oil or allow them to cool, place into freezer bags, and freeze for later! When you’re ready to eat them, just steam them right out of the freezer for about 30 mins.
Nian Gao Baked Puff Pastry
To Cook
Preheat oven to 180°C. Roll out the puff pastry until thin.
Lay and space out the strips of Nian Gao on the pastry sheet before cutting it up into rectangles.
Tip: Wet your fingers slightly if the Nian Gao becomes a bit too sticky and difficult to handle.
Place nuts on top of the strip of Nian Gao.
Fold the sides and enclose filling into a little roll.
Brush egg wash or melted butter on surface and sprinkle sesame seeds on top.
Bake in oven for 15 mins or until golden brown.