Asian Inspirations

Discover the authentic in Asian cuisine food

Rice

Glutinous Rice Balls in Ginger Soup (Tang Yuan)

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To Make the Glutinous Ball
In a large mixing bowl, add flour and sugar. Gradually add water (you don’t have to use all of it) and knead the dough until soft and smooth. It should be bouncy and easily kneadable, yet not too wet (sticky to the fingers), nor too dry (crumbling).
Divide the dough depending on the number of different colours you intend to make.
Add food colouring, one drop at a time, to each portion and knead until the colour is well distributed. Shape the dough to even-sized balls.
Bring a pot of water (enough water to submerge the glutinous ball completely) to boil. Add the tang yuan into the boiling water and cook until they float to the surface. Transfer them immediately to a bowl of room temperature water until cooled or ready to serve.

To Cook the Ginger Sweet Soup
To cook the ginger sweet soup, add all the ingredients – ginger, water, palm sugar and pandan to a pot.
Bring to a boil and reduce heat to a simmer until the sugar is fully melted. Simmer for another 30 mins.
To serve, add tang yuan to a serving bowl and ladle the sweet soup over.

Salmon Sushi Rolls

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To Cook
In a large bowl, cover and rinse rice with cool water. Swirl rice around, drain water and then repeat until the water is clear.
In a medium saucepan, place equal parts rice and water over high heat. Leave uncovered and bring to boil. Once boiling, turn heat down and cover for 15 mins.
Remove from heat, but leave covered for another 10 mins.
Combine rice vinegar, sugar and salt in a small bowl. Set aside.
Transfer rice into the big glass bowl. Using a wooden spoon or rice paddle, gently fold in the vinegar mix so that every grain of rice is covered. Be careful not to get the rice too wet.
Allow rice to cool before assembling sushi.
On a sushi mat, take a piece of nori and place it shiny side down, about 2 cm away from the edge nearest to you.
Wet your hands and gently spread about ¾ cup of rice over seaweed, being careful to leave about 2.5 cm borders around all sides.
Line two pieces of finely sliced salmon end-to-end on the rice.
Holding the filling in place, carefully roll the mat over itself, away from you, making sure the nori folds over and seals itself.
Continue with the rest of the nori sheets and filling. Cut rolls into 2.5cm thick pieces and serve with soy sauce, beni shoga (pickled ginger) and wasabi.

Thai Mango Sticky Rice (Khao Neow Ma Muang)

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To Prep
For the sticky rice, rinse it 6 – 10 times, making sure most of the starch is removed until the water is clear. Soak the rice in water for about 6 hrs.

To Cook
Using a steamer basket or other type of steamer, steam the sticky rice for about 15-20 mins until fully cooked. Set aside.
To prepare the coconut cream mixture, add coconut cream into a pot over medium heat and gently stir in one circular direction. Add sugar and salt, and keep stirring until fully dissolved. When the coconut cream mixture comes to a boil, turn off the heat.
Put the fresh sticky rice into a mixing bowl, and begin to slowly add in the coconut cream and sugar mixture. Stir constantly to slowly incorporate coconut mixture into the rice. Once all combined, the rice should look glossy with a grainy pudding-like texture. The hot sticky rice will absorb all the coconut milk.
In a separate saucepan add the other portion of coconut cream with salt and stir on low heat. Bring it to a boil, then turn off the heat and set aside in a bowl. This will be served alongside the mango sticky rice as a topping.
For the yellow mung beans using low heat and with a frying pan or wok, dry-fry the yellow mung beans for a few minutes until they turn golden crispy. Set this aside as a topping.
For the mango, first peels off the skin, then cut off the meat from either side of the mango seed and slice the mango.
On a serving plate, add a portion of sticky rice, top it with mango and a sprinkling of crispy mung beans, and then drizzle coconut cream all over.

Tom Yum Fried Rice with Prawns (Kao Pad Tom Yum Goong)

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To Cook
Combine coconut milk and Valcom Tom Yum Paste in a bowl. Set aside.
Stir-fry prawns in heated oil until cooked. Set 2 prawns aside for plating and the rest to be fried into the rice.
Add onion and green peas and stir-fry until cooked. Stir in tom yum mixture, sugar, prawns, cherry tomatoes and Valcom Kaffir Lime Leaves. Add rice and stir until well mixed and heated through.
Garnish with coriander before serving.
Hint: chicken fillet can be used in place of prawns.

Shiitake Mushroom Sushi (Shiitake Nigiri)

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To Cook
Using a sharp knife, score mushroom caps with an asterisk pattern but avoid cutting through flesh.
Boil mushrooms for 1-3 mins, or until tender and darkened. Sprinkle a little salt on mushroom caps.
Make sushi using nigirizushi method, placing mushrooms either upside-down or right-side up. Serve with lemon wedges. Squeeze on lemon juice before eating.

Mabo Tofu Japanese Style (Mabo Don)

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To Prep
Wash and cook the Japanese rice.
Place the tofu slices on a work surface and lay a clean kitchen towel or cheesecloth over them, then place weight on top of the tofu such as a heavy plate to press out any excess liquid. Set aside for about 30 mins. Then, cut tofu into 3 cm cubes and set aside.
In a bowl, mix together the ginger, garlic, and white parts of the scallion. Set aside.
In another bowl, mix together the torigara stock, sake, sugar, soy sauce and miso. Set aside.
In a smaller bowl, mix together 1 tbsp of the sesame oil, water, katakuriko and vinegar. Set aside.

To Cook
Heat the remaining 1 tbsp sesame oil in a large frying pan or wok over high heat. Fry ginger and garlic until aromatic, then add the pork, scallion mixture and the tobanjan. Cook for about 2 mins. Use a fork to break up the minced pork and stir the ingredients. Add the liquid mixture. When the liquid comes to a boil, reduce the heat to medium.
Add the tofu and cook for 3 mins. Add the katakuriko mixture and stir through to thicken the dish. Cook for another 30 secs.
Divide the cooked rice among 4 bowls and spoon the tofu over. Garnish with the chopped coriander and season with sansho to taste.
Tip: Omit the tobanjan (spicy bean paste) so kids can enjoy this dish too!

Claypot Chicken Rice

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To Prep
First, soak the shiitake mushrooms in warm water until soft for about 30 mins. Rinse the mushrooms and squeeze lightly to remove access water. Remove the stems, thinly slice the caps and set aside.
In a bowl, combine the chicken, sugar, corn starch, oyster sauce, light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, rice wine, sesame oil, salt and pepper. Set aside to marinate for at least 20 mins.

To Cook
Coat a large frying pan or wok with oil and heat over high heat. Add garlic and stir-fry until fragrant. Add in the marinated chicken and stir-fry until lightly browned. Add the sausage and shiitake mushrooms, and continue stir-frying for another 20-30 secs. Then, remove from heat, transfer to a plate and set aside.
Place the rice and chicken stock in a covered claypot and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Cook the rice for 15 mins over reduced heat, or until liquid is almost dried.
Spread the chicken and mushrooms over the rice and continue to cook for another 15 mins with lid covered, over low heat until the chicken is cooked through. Mix the ingredients around one last time before you garnish with spring onions and serve!

Grilled Chicken Thigh with Coconut Water (Gai Yang)

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To Prep
To marinade, add all the ingredients together in a big bowl and mix well.
Marinade chicken and place the bowl in the fridge for at least an hour.

To Cook
Preheat oven at 170°C.
Pan-fry the chicken in a pan on medium-low heat until cooked or sear both sides on medium-high heat pan; then put in oven for 12-14 mins.
Serve with cooked sticky rice or steamed rice, salad and sweet chilli sauce.

Oriental Fried Rice

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To Cook
Heat wok and add oil and diced onion, stir fry for a couple of minutes until fragrant. Add beaten eggs and let it set slightly before scrambling it to break it up.
Add diced luncheon meat, diced carrots and snake beans, stir fry until fragrant. Add in rice, breaking up any big chunks with the back of the spatula.
Season with white pepper, oyster sauce and soya sauce. Stir through. Taste test and adjust taste to personal liking. Sprinkle with spring onion and serve hot.

Sesame Balls

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To Prep
In a mixing bowl, combine the glutinous rice flour, baking powder and sugar. Pour in the boiling water and stir until the water has mixed with the flour before adding the vegetable oil.
Allow the dough to rest for 5 minutes before kneading by hand for a few minutes until the dough is soft and smooth. Allow to rest for another 10 minutes.
Divide the dough into 10 equal pieces, and roll them into balls. Keep the dough balls covered with a cling film to prevent them from drying out.
Flatten the dough balls into disks and then place 1/2 tsp of red bean paste in to the center and gather the sides and roll into a ball. Set aside and repeat with the remaining dough.
Fill one bowl with water and another bowl with the sesame seeds. Transfer one of the sesame balls in to the water and then quickly transfer the wet ball in to the sesame seed bowl. Coat the balls well and then set them aside for frying.

To Cook
In a wok, heat enough vegetable oil to cook the sesame balls. When the oil has reached a temperature of about 150 degrees Celsius, add the sesame balls one at a time, and fry for about 10 minutes or until golden and puffed up
Transfer the sesame balls on to a drying rack and let cool slightly before serving!

Abalone Porridge (Jeonbok Naejang Jook)

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To Prep
Rinse the medium grain (calrose) rice and soak thoroughly in 950ml water for about 2 hrs at room temperature.
Pry the abalone from its shell using a spoon. Take a 1.5cm incision on the end of the abalone closest to the adductor muscle and remove the abalones tooth. Cut open the intestine and remove the debris.
Clean the abalone by rubbing it with salt. Rinse the abalone and separate the intestine. Cut the intestine into small pieces and thinly slice the abalone meat.

To Cook
Heat a flat pan over a medium heat and season with sesame oil. Add the sliced abalone meat and intestine to the pan and saute. Then, add rice and saute for about 1 minute.
Add 1.9L to the flat pan and increase to high heat to make the porridge.
Once the porridge starts boiling, lower to medium heat. Let the porridge continue to cook until the rice grains become extremely soft making the jeonbok naejang jook.
Transfer the jeonbok naejang jook to a serving bowl and garnish with pine nut powder. Serve with salt and soy sauce on the side.

Note: When buying abalone, ensure that they are still alive in their shell, stored on ice or it is still in the water. Make sure your abalone does not have any fishy smell as that is a sign it is not fresh. Quickly refrigerate them in the coldest part of the fridge and store them in a bowl and cover it with a wet cloth. Use within 24 hours.

Fried Rice with XO Sauce

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To Cook
Place diced pork into a bowl and add in marinade ingredients. Mix well.
Heat oil in a frying pan. Add pumpkin and fry until cooked. Drain. Add oil in the pan and fry eggs. Toss in rice and fry until well combined. Dish out and set aside.
Add 2 tbsp oil and stir fry pork until cooked. Then, add mushrooms, prawns, scallops, Chinese broccoli and pumpkin. Stir fry for 2 mins. Mix in sauce ingredients and heat through.
Pour over fried rice and serve.