To Cook
Heat a fry pan or wok over medium-high heat. Add 1 tbsp of the oil and stir-fry sausage (pork or ham) and mushrooms until fragrant, for about 3 mins. Remove from pan and set aside.
Return pan to heat, add egg and cook until firm. Remove and cut into strips.
Add remaining 1 tbsp oil to pan and add rice, mushrooms, green beans (or peas), spring onion, bean shoots, egg strips, Chinese sausage (ham or pork) and XO sauce. Stir until heated through, then serve at once.
Rice
Yellow Curry Fried Rice
To Cook
Stir-fry yellow curry paste with hot oil until fragrant.
Add meat, stir-fry over high heat, and then add fish sauce and sugar. Stir-fry until the meat is cooked before adding onion.
Add cooked rice and stir through, sprinkle spring onion just before removing from heat.
Tips: for balanced diet, some peas or paprika can be added with onion. For better fried rice results, cook rice 1 day ahead and refrigerate.
Mango Sticky Rice (Kao Nieo Mamuang)
To Prep
Wash rice well in running water, then soak in cold water overnight.
To Cook
Strain rice in a colander and place in a steamer. Cover and cook for 45 mins. Remove and allow to cool.
Skim 100ml of coconut milk from the top of the can. Keep aside to finish dish. Add remaining coconut milk to cooled rice, with dissolved pinch of salt. Add sugar syrup. There is no need to chill rice if you are using it on the same day.
If using fresh mango, cut in half and discard seed. Peel each half, slice and ‘fan’ decoratively on plate.
Top with the coconut cream and sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds.
Mushroom Rice Tomato Pots
To Cook
Preheat oven to 180°C. In a wok, heat oil over high heat before adding in sambal oelek and stir-frying for 1 min or until fragrant.
Add cooked rice and mushrooms and stir-fry for a further 2 mins. Turn off heat and add in the sweet soy sauce, coriander and pine nuts, mix well.
Spoon mixture into tomatoes. Place tomatoes in a heat-proof dish and bake for 5-10 mins. Serve hot, garnished with coriander leaves and drizzled with more sweet soy sauce.
Tip: Serve as a light meal or as part of a bigger meal. Also try stuffing with eggplants, zucchini or capsicum.
Crispy Rice Teriyaki Chicken Burger
To Cook
Combine all marinade ingredients in a small saucepan and simmer over low heat for 5 mins. Remove from heat and cool.
Marinate the chicken and refrigerate for up to 4 hrs.
Press cooked rice 1.5-2cm thick firmly on a baking tray lined with baking paper. Top with rice paper, press firmly and cut the rice into large circles to make the burger patties.
Grill chicken on medium heat for 3-4 mins on each side.
Combine the mayonnaise and wasabi together.
To assemble burger, place one rice patty (rice paper side down) onto a serving plate and spread with a little wasabi mayonnaise. Top with teriyaki chicken, a square of nori and green salad. Finish with another rice patty, rice paper side up and serve this crispy rice teriyaki chicken burger.
Tip: Rice burgers are great toasted in a sandwich press.
Rice Crackers
To Cook
Combine the cooked rice, rice wine vinegar and salt, mix well.
Place baking paper onto baking tray. Place rice on the baking paper on the tray, and then cover with cling wrap. Flatten rice by rolling out into a thin sheet using a rolling pin. Keep the thin rice sheet between 2-5 mm in thickness, according to your preference. Cut into triangles, square, rectangles or into any shapes you like using a cookie cutter or mould.
Place baking tray into the oven and bake at 180°C for about 10-15 mins. Bake them enough to hold together, as over-baking may cause rice cakes to be too chewy. Remove from oven and leave to cool and dehydrate for about an hour.
Deep-fry rice crackers in hot oil until rice crackers float to the surface and puffed up.
Turmeric Rice with Chicken Curry (Nasi Kunyit)
For the Nasi Kunyit
Wash the glutinous rice and soak with turmeric powder for at least 2 hours.
Boil water in a steamer for 15 minutes. Place a muslin cloth inside the steamer and evenly spread the soaked rice onto the cloth.
To cool down the rice, use your finger or a spoon to make holes in the rice. Steam for 15 minutes and then sprinkle the rice with some water and mix into the rice. Steam for a further 15 minutes.
Add half of the coconut cream to the rice and mix well. Steam for a further 15 minutes.
Finally, add the remaining coconut cream, salt and white pepper to the rice and mix well and steam for another 3 minutes with the pandan leaves.
For the Chicken Curry
Grind or blend spice paste A ingredients together. Add in water (a third of the height of the paste).
Add spice mix B ingredients in and mix well with a spoon (adding powder to the wet paste will help to dry it out). Rest for 15 minutes.
Mix 20ml coconut cream with 270ml water to make a light coconut milk. Set aside 70ml of coconut cream.
In a pot or wok and cooking oil, cinnamon stick, star anise and cloves and fry quickly at medium heat. Add the spice mix and saute. Keep stirring to prevent the paste from sticking to the sides of the wok or pan.
When the bubbles become smaller, add in the chicken. Keep stirring to make sure the chicken is coated with the curry paste. Maintain heat on medium to avoid burning the chicken.
Add the light coconut milk and potatoes and bring to a boil. Turn the heat down to medium to allow the chicken to cook and reduce the gravy by half (this should take about 20 minutes).
When the chicken is tender add salt and the remaining 70ml of coconut milk and bring to the boil for 2 minutes. Serve warm with nasi kunyit.
Japanese Chicken & Egg Rice Bowls (Oyakodon)
To Cook
Cut the onions in half lengthwise, from top to bottom. Cut each half into ¼ inch slices and cutting lengthwise.
Combine the onions, mirin, chicken, soy sauce, sake and dashi in a saucepan and place over high heat. When the liquid comes to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer for approximately 5 minutes, until chicken is cooked through. Mix the ingredients occasionally as they cook.
To prepare the oyakodon one serving at a time, break 2 eggs into a bowl, and lightly beat the eggs. You want part of the yolk and whites to be lightly mixed, while the other parts are still separated.
Transfer one fourth of the chicken mixture (about 1½ cups chicken, onions and broth) to a small skillet. Place the skillet over high heat. When the liquid comes to a boil, reduce the heat so the broth is simmering.
Pour three-fourths of the egg mixture over the chicken, onions, and broth, Do not mix. Cook for about 1 minute, and then add the remaining one-fourth egg over the ingredients in the skillet. Cover the skillet and cook for 30 seconds more. Turn off the heat, and let the oyakodon rest, covered, for 1 minute.
While the oyakodon is resting, scoop the cooked rice into a serving bowl. When the oyakodon is ready, uncover and slide the entire contents out of the skillet to rest over the rice. Tilt the skillet and use a spatula if necessary as the oyakodon should slide out easily. Garnish with nori, mitsuba and scallions. Add shichimi togarashi to accentuate the taste. Serve immediately and repeat this preparation for the remaining servings.
Japanese Beef Rice Bowl (Gyudon)
To Prep
Cut and slice the onions in half and then thin lengthwise, from top to bottom (axis to axis).
Combine the soy sauce, sake, mirin and dashi into a bowl. Set aside.
To Make
Heat the sesame oil in a large flat pan over high heat. Add the beef and cook, stirring frequently for about 2 minutes, until the beef browns slightly. Add the sugar and wait 10 seconds. Add the onion and cook, stirring constantly, for about 1 minute, until the onions begins to soften. Pour the liquid mixture into the pan. Simmer for about 5 minutes, until the ingredients cook through. While the gyudon is simmering, use a large spoon to skim off any scum and fat that appears on the surface.
While the ingredients are simmering, divide the rice among 4 large bowls. As soon as the gyudon is ready, spoon it over the rice and serve immediately. Season with shichimi togarashi and beni shoga, as desired.
Chinese Steamed Rice Flour Cake (Huat Kueh)
To Cook
Prepare a steamer by bringing water to boil on high heat.
Line each bowl with cling wrap or a piece of baking paper. Make sure the lining is as close to the sides as possible.
In a mixing bowl, sift rice flour, baking powder and icing sugar. Add water and food colouring, and mix well.
Just before filling the moulds with the batter add baking soda and mix well.
Fill each mould to ¾ full and steam on high heat for 15-20 mins. Insert a skewer into the middle of the cake. If the skewer comes out clean, the huat kueh is ready.
Remove from steamer then take the huat kueh out from the moulds to cool.
Serve plain or with any breakfast spread. When it becomes dry and hard the next day, steam the cakes again before eating.
Chicken Congee
To Cook
Place chicken drumsticks and a teaspoon of salt in six cups of boiling water and bring back to boil. Lower heat and simmer for 20 minutes with the lid on.
Remove chicken and set aside to cool down. Add cooked rice to the broth and boil until rice thickens into porridge, stirring the whole time.
Chop up the white section of the spring onion and thinly slice up the green part.
Saute the chopped onion and the white spring onion with oil until fragrant. Add julienned ginger and continue to saute until onion is caramelised. Turn off heat.
Remove meat from chicken drumsticks and coarsely chop up chicken. Return chicken pieces to rice congee. Add extra water to congee if it becomes too thick.
Taste test. Add remaining salt as necessary. Add pepper, stir through and remove from heat.
Serve congee garnished with caramelised onion, ginger and sliced onion.
Japanese Rice Balls (Onigiri)
To Cook
Cook rice in accordance to instructions.
Combine rice wine vinegar, sugar, salt and pour into rice with sesame seeds and mix well.
Cut the seaweed sheet into six strips. You may further cut the seaweed into any shape to decorate the onigiri.
Place 1/3 cup of rice over the centre of the cling wrap. Gather the ends of the cling wrap and squeeze to form a ball. To add filling, press an indent into the rice, add filling and mould the rice into a triangular shape or a ball.
Remove the cling wrap and cover the bottom of the onigiri with a seaweed strip.
Serve with Japanese soy sauce.