Asian Inspirations

Discover the authentic in Asian cuisine food

Rice

Moon-viewing Dumplings (Tsukimi Dango)

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To Prep
Knead the rice flour while adding warm. The more you knead the dough, the chewier the dango will turn out to be.
Prepare and heat a bamboo steamer.

To Cook
Tear dough into several pieces, and place in steamer to steam on high for 20 mins until the dough centers are warm. Remove from steamer and allow to cool until temperature of dough is cool enough to handle.
Combine the pieces and knead until dough is springy and glossy. If the dough gets hard, add some water while kneading.
Divide the dough and roll into balls of 3-4cm in diameter.
Line a bamboo steamer with parchment paper to avoid the dango from sticking to the base of the steamer. Steam on high for 15 mins. Remove dango from heat, and set aside to cool. They will become glossy when cool.
To serve, arrange and stack dango to form a pyramid – as offering to the moon.

Indonesian Rice Pudding (Bubur Sumsum)

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For the Palm Sugar Syrup:
Tear pandan leaf into strips and tie strips together in a knot. In a small saucepan, add pandan leaf, sugar and ¼ cup of water, and simmer to about 5 mins. Keep stirring until sugar is completely dissolved. Discard pandan leaf and pour syrup through a sieve into a bowl. Set aside to cool.

For the Bubur
In a mixing bowl, combine the coconut milk, rice flour and ½ tsp salt. Pour mixture through a fine sieve to get rid of lumps.
Place mixture in a non-stick saucepan, add pandan leaves and cook the mixture on low heat for about 15-20 mins. While cooking, stir constantly until the mixture thickens and start to boil. Remove from the heat and pour into serving bowls.
Combine the grated coconut and salt, and mix well.
To serve, top bubur sumsum with the salty shredded coconut and a drizzle of Palm Sugar Syrup.

Slow-cooked Pork Belly (Moo Sam Chun Tom Khem)

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To Cook
In a large pot, stir-fry the coriander roots, garlic and white pepper with oil on medium heat until fragrant.
Add all the remaining ingredients except baby carrot and broccolini and bring to a boil.
Lower the heat, put a lid on and continue to cook for 25 mins.
Add carrot and broccolini, and continue to cook with the lid off for another 25 mins.
Serve with steamed rice.

Basic Congee

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To Cook
Rinse and drain the rice to clean the grains and remove the excess starch. Repeat until the drained water is clear.
Transfer the rice in to a pot and top with 9 cups of water. Cover the pot with lid and heat over a high heat until the water reaches a boil.
At this point, reduce and let simmer while partially covered for at least 25-30 mins or until the congee has reached a thick and creamy consistency. If the congee becomes too thick, add water back in to the pot.
When the congee is at your desired level of consistency, remove from the heat and get ready to plate.

To Serve
Spoon some of the congee in to serving bowls. Garnish with sesame oil, green onions, ginger and yew char koay. Serve with soy sauce and white pepper on the side.

Minced Pork with Century Egg and Salted Egg Congee

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To Prep
Rinse and drain the rice to clean the grains and remove the excess starch. Repeat until the drained water is clear. Set aside.
Make the garlic oil by combining the vegetable oil, sesame oil, and minced garlic in a small pan and heating over a low heat.
Continue to cook the garlic until they turn golden. Take care not to burn them as the oil will become bitter. Set aside.
In a bowl, combine the minced pork, soy sauce, ¼ tsp ground pepper and stir until well combine. Set aside and let marinate.

To Prep Salted Eggs
If salted eggs are coated in salted charcoal, thoroughly remove and clean the black substance. In a saucepan, boil the salted egg in water for 15 mins.
Drain the eggs and let cool slightly before removing the shells and then cutting in to small pieces.

To Prep Century Eggs
If century eggs are coated in a caustic mixture of mud and rice husk, clean thoroughly before cracking them open. Cut the eggs into small pieces and set aside.

To Cook
In a large pot, combine the rice with 10 cups of water and add the ginger in to the pot.
Cover the pot with lid and heat over a high heat until the water reaches a boil. At this point, reduce and let simmer while partially covered for at least 15-20 mins.
Transfer the marinated pork in to the pot and break the pork in to smaller chunks. Cook for 5 mins.
Add in the salted eggs, century eggs, salt, and the last of the pepper into the pot. Return to a simmer and continue to cook for another 10 mins or until the congee has reached a thick and creamy consistency. If the congee becomes too thick, add water back in to the pot.
When the congee is at your desired level of consistency, remove from the heat and get ready to plate.

To Serve
To serve, ladle congee into bowls. Garnish with the garlic oil, green onions and ginger.

Chicken Katsu Hand Roll

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To Prep
Cut the cucumber in to thin horizontal strips before removing the seeds. This should leave strips of just the flesh that should be trimmed to fit the hand roll.
Add the sushi vinegar to the cooked sushi rice and gentle fold in to the rice until well incorporated.
Pound the chicken using a meat tenderiser to make it thinner and flat.
Dip into the flour, then the egg and finally the breadcrumbs.

To Cook
In a pan with enough oil to fry, cook the chicken until golden and then drain on paper towels.
When the chicken has cooled slightly, cut it in to sections that are small enough to fit on to the hand roll.

To Make the Roll
Cut nori sheets in half. Place sushi rice and then the lettuce, cucumber and chicken slices onto one side of nori.
Fold the nearest corner of the nori over the filling and start to shape.
The finished hand roll should be shaped conically to prevent any rice from falling out from the bottom.
Sprinkle some tonkatsu sauce over the top and serve!

Japanese Chicken Curry from Scratch

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To Cook
Season chicken with salt, pepper and S&B Curry powder.
Heat oil in a saucepan and add the grated garlic, the grated ginger and the onion stir-fry until lightly browned.
Add chicken and other vegetables into the saucepan except for tomatoes. Stir-fry for a couple of minutes, then add the green peas, tomatoes, water, soup stock cube and simmer until vegetables are tender.
To make the curry roux: Melt butter in a frying pan and pan-fry the wheat flour or corn starch over medium heat, making sure that it does not burn. Add curry powder and mix well.
Now, gradually combine the curry roux (step 4) into the saucepan (step 3). Add sugar and simmer. Remember to keep stirring to avoid curry from sticking to the bottom of the saucepan. Add more salt and pepper to taste (optional).
To serve, fill half of each individual plate with rice and scoop curry to fill the other half. Serve with hard-boiled eggs and fukijinzuke (radish pickle).

Scattered Sushi (Chirashizushi)

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To Prep the Rice
Cook sushi rice according to instructions on rice packaging. Add ¼ cup rice vinegar, 2 tbsp sugar and 1 tsp salt to the cooked rice. Using a wooden spatula, fold the seasoning into the rice.

To Prep the Shiitake
Gently squeeze shiitake mushrooms to drain water, remove stems and slice thinly.
In a medium pan, heat 160ml water used for soaking the mushrooms. Then add shiitake, soy sauce, sugar, and mirin.
Simmer on low heat until the liquid is almost dried up. Set aside.

To Cook the Omelette
In a bowl, beat eggs and add ½ tbsp sugar. Continue mixing until the sugar dissolves.
In a medium skillet, evenly oil the surface and heat over medium heat. Pour a scoop of egg mixture into the skillet to make a thin crepe-like omelette.
Repeat until egg mixture is used up. To slice, roll up the omelettes and slice into thin strips.

To Serve
Serve sushi rice on a large plate or individual bowls. Scatter simmered shiitake, shredded crab sticks, sliced omelette, and cucumber over rice. Top with sashimi slices, ikura and sesame seeds. Serve with pickled ginger on the side.

Pork Cutlet with Curry Sauce (Pork Katsu Kare)

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For the Tonkatsu
To tenderize the meat, pound with a meat pounder, or just use the back of the knife to pound in a crisscross pattern from top to bottom, then left to right.
Season meat with salt and pepper.
In a large bowl, add ½ tbsp of oil and whisk. With oil added, the meat and panko coating will not fall apart when while deep frying.
Dredge meat in flour making sure that it is coated evenly then, remove excess flour. Dip into egg mixture and dredge in panko. Remove excess panko.
In a wok, heat oil over medium heat to about 180ºC.
Tip: If you don’t have a thermometer, stick a wooden chopstick in the oil. If you see tiny bubbles appearing around the tip of the chopstick, then the oil is hot enough.
Gently lower tonkatsu into the oil. Keep a close watch on the oil’s temperature to avoid burning the tonkatsu. Deep fry until golden brown; about a minute on each side.
Remove tonkatsu from oil and leave to drain on top of a wire rack for about 5 mins. Do not be tempted to cut into the tonkatsu crust to check if the meat is ready as we need it closed to retain heat.
After 5 mins, bring the oil back to 180ºC and return tonkatsu to fry for another minute.
Make a small incision on the meat with the chopstick. If you see clear liquid oozing out then the tonkatsu is ready. Drain on wire rack or, paper towel.
Tip: If you use a paper towel, try to keep tonkatsu upright so it does not get soggy on one side.
Cut tonkatsu into 3 pieces (or more) by pressing the knife directly down instead of moving back and forth. This way, the crusts will not come off. Then cut again in between.

For the Japanese Curry
Peel and cut onion, potato and carrot into bite size chunks.
In a large pan, add vegetables and fill the pan with water enough to immerse the vegetable. Bring to boil and simmer until vegetables have softened.
Add 2-3 blocks of curry roux to the pan and let simmer while stirring until curry is thick and smooth.

To Serve
On a plate, lay sliced tonkatsu over a bed of rice, then add the curry sauce. Garnish with fukujinzuke (pickled radish).

Glutinous Rice Cakes with Palm Sugar (Wajik)

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To Prep
Wash the glutinous rice multiple times in water, stopping when the water becomes clear. Leave to soak overnight.
Line a streamer basket with a cheesecloth and equally distribute the glutinous rice on the cloth. Steam the rice for 15 mins, then turn and fluff it up with a fork and steam for 10 more mins until cooked.

To Cook
In a saucepan, bring the sugar and water to boiling point over medium heat and then simmer uncovered, stirring occasionally, until the syrup has reduced to half, taking about 15 mins. Add all the other ingredients and mix well. Continue to simmer for 3 to 5 more mins and remove from the heat.
In a large saucepan, combine both the glutinous rice and coconut milk mixture, mixing well. Then cook over low heat, stirring form time to time, until the mixture thickens and becomes sticky. After 10 to 15 mins, remove the mixture from the heat and discard the pandan leaf.
Move the cake to a lightly greased shallow cake skillet or plate (around 17cm over), smoothing the surface with the back of a wet spoon, and put aside to cool. Slice the cake into squares or jewel shapes and serve at room temperature.

To speed up the soaking process, pour boiling water over the glutinous rice after rinsing and allow it to stand for 1 hr. Drain, then pour more boiling water over the rice and soak for another 30 mins.

Japanese Rice Balls (Onigri)

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To Prep
Cut seaweed sheets into quarters.
Place a pinch of salt on your palm, take some rice and form a ball, triangle or oval-shaped piece, firmly press the piece using the palm of both hands.
Wrap the seaweed tightly around the rice ball. Repeat for all seaweed sheets. Enjoy cold.

Fried Rice with Stir-Fried Beef

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To Cook
Heat oil in frying pan and stir-fry the eggs until cooked. Remove and set aside.
Fry the nasi goreng paste in heated sesame oil until fragrant.
Add rice and stir-fry thoroughly until every grain is coated. Add carrots, peas and the eggs. Mix well and set aside on a serving plate.
Stir-fry sambal oeleck in heated sesame oil for 1 min.
Brown onion, add beef and stir-fry for 2 mins. Remove and place at the side of fried rice.
Sprinkle sesame oil. Garnish fried rice with cucumber, cherry tomato and coriander. Serve hot.