Asian Inspirations

Discover the authentic in Asian cuisine food

Rice

Thai Pork Congee

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To Prep
Combine the mince pork with marinate ingredients. Mix well and set aside.

To Cook
In a blender, combine the cooked rice and half of the chicken stock. Blend it to your desired consistency but not until puree.
Pour the blended rice into a pot and add the remaining stock, soy sauce and fish sauce.
Simmer the rice for 10-20 mins, depending on how soft and smooth or thick you want the texture to be.
Remember to stir frequently to avoid the base getting burn.
While the rice is simmering, add the minced pork bit by bit, continue to stir until pork mince is cooked.
Taste and adjust seasoning if needed.
Scoop the hot congee into a bowl, crack an egg into it and sprinkle with chopped spring onion. Serve immediately.

Tip
Make sure the egg is mixed with boiling-hot congee to cook it.

Thai Rice Soup with Prawns (Khao Tom Goong)

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To Prep
In a pester and mortar, pound white peppercorns until fine, add garlic and coriander stems and grind until fine. Add half of the paste to the chunky prawns to mix and marinate.

To Cook
In a pan, add oil to saute the prawns chunks until cooked through. Deglaze the pan with some of the stock until all the paste is unstuck, remove and set aside.
In the same pan, add oil the sear the whole prawns until brown and cooked through.
In a pot, bring the stock to boil, add the remaining paste and let it simmer for 2 mins.
Season the stock with fish sauce and soy sauce. Taste and adjust to suit your taste.
Before serving, bring the broth to boil then add the cooked rice and prawns chunks and simmer for 2 mins.
Dish to a bowl and top with whole prawns and fried garlic. Garnish with coriander and serve immediately.

Thai Chicken Congee

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To Prep
Boil water in a small pot. Add salt then blanch the chicken until cook through. Drain the chicken and let it cool. Once cool, shred the chicken then set aside.

To Cook
In a blender, combine the cooked rice and half of the chicken stock. Blend it to your desired consistency but not until puree.
Pour the blended rice into a pot and add the remaining stock, soy sauce and fish sauce.
Simmer the rice for 10-20 mins, depending on how soft and smooth or thick you want the texture to be.
Remember to stir frequently to avoid the base getting burn.
While the rice is simmering, add the shredded chicken.
Taste and adjust seasoning if needed.
Scoop the hot congee into a bowl, crack an egg into it and sprinkle with chopped spring onion. Serve immediately.

Tip
Make sure the egg is mixed with boiling-hot congee to cook it.

Egg on Rice (Tamago Kake Gohan)

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To Prep
Place hot rice in a bowl, then crack the egg on the rice. Pour soy sauce on egg and serve immediately.
Start by poking the egg yolk with chopsticks and mix egg and rice thoroughly. Add toppings if desired and enjoy.

Caution
Remember to check if the raw eggs in your country are safe to be consumed!

Sushi Rice

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To Prep
Wash rice and drain through a sieve. Repeat until the water is clear. Then, add 1½ cups water to the rice and leave to soak for 30 mins before cooking.

To Cook
Place washed rice and soaking water into a non-stick pot. Close the lid and bring to boil on high heat, then reduce heat to low and cook for another 15 mins.
Turn off the heat and rest for 20 mins.
While waiting for the rice to rest, add the sushi seasoning into a small pot and heat until the sugar and salt are completely dissolved.
Remove from heat and let cool.
When the rice is ready, dish to a wide plate and add the sushi seasoning to the rice. Mix well and the rice is ready to be shaped into sushi pieces or rolls.

Cherry Blossom Rice Dumpling (Sakura Mochi)

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To Prep
Pour the rice in to a rice cooker bowl and rinse off the extra starch. Cover the rice in water and let soak for at least 1 hr.
Strain the water out of the bowl and let dry for a bit before returning back in to the rice cooker bowl.
Measure out the water add it in to the rice cooker bowl along with the red food colouring. Mix well to ensure that the colouring is evenly distributed.
Cook the rice until just finished and then use a spatula or a rice spoon to lightly mash the grains. Continue to mash the grain until the rice becomes sticky and clumps together. Try not to mash the rice too hard as you still want grains to be visible.

To Form
Spoon out a serving of the red bean paste and mould it in to a small ball.
Roll out a section of cling wrap and set it out on your work space. Wet the spatula to make working with the mochi easier, and spoon a small serving on to the cling wrap.
Flatten the mochi and place 1 on the red bean paste balls on to the centre. Roll up the ends of the cling wrap and mould the mochi in to a ball shape. Set the mochi aside and then repeat with the remaining ingredients.
Serve topped with pickled cherry blossoms and enjoy!

Japanese Flower-Viewing Rice Dumplings (Hanami Dango)

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To Prep
In a large, microwave friendly mixing bowl add in the flours and sugar and mix until the ingredients are well combined.
Slowly add in the hot water bit by bit while mixing to stop large clumps from forming. When the water has been added, cover the bowl and microwave for approximately 2 – 3 minutes.
When the dough has cooked through in the microwave, remove it from the bowl and begin to knead it till it has softened.
Separate the dough in to 3 separate, equal sized pieces and set them in to their own bowls.
In one bowl, add in red food colouring and mix until the desired pink colour is achieved. Similarly, add in the matcha powder in to one of the other bowls and mix well. Leave the final bowl untouched.

To Form
Divide each of the pieces of dough in to smaller, bite-sized sections and roll in to a ball. Repeat this until all 3 of the bowls of dough have been turned in to balls.
Take a skewer and thread on 1 of each of the dango balls in the order of the matcha dango followed by the regular dango and finished with the pink dango. Set the skewer aside and then repeat with the remaining dango.
When all of the skewers have been made, serve!

Korean Beef Bowl

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To Prep
In a mixing bowl, combine all of the sauce ingredients and stir well until thoroughly combined.

To Cook
In a frying pan over a medium high heat, add a tbsp of oil and the minced beef. Cook the beef until all of it has browned and then add in the sauce and mix well.
Stir the meat and bring the mixture to a boil before adding in the white parts of the spring onions and stirring for another 5 minutes before setting aside.

To Serve
Serve the beef in a bowl along side or over rice and top with a fried egg for extra taste. Garnish with spring onions and sesame seeds and serve!

Valentine’s Day Chocolate Mochi Trio

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To Prepare Chocolates
Separate the three types of chocolates in to their own bowls.
Pour out all of the cream in to a measuring cup and then add it in to a saucepan. Heat over a medium-low heat and almost bring to a boil.
When the cream has been heated through, pour out each measurement for their respective chocolate and then pour it over them.
Allow the hot cream to melt the chocolates before whisking them to form a silky mixture.
Cover the bowls with cling wrap and set them in the fridge for about 90 mins or until solid.

To Prepare the Mochi
In a large, microwave friendly mixing bowl, combine the glutinous rice flour and sugar together and mix well.
Slowly add in water and mix until all of the water has been used up and the mixture is well combined.
Cover the bowl loosely with cling wrap and place in a microwave for 1 min and 30 secs before removing and mixing.
Wrap and return the bowl back in to the microwave and heat for another minute and 30 seconds. When the time is up, remove and mix again to ensure that the flour has cooked through.
In a tray or working area, lay out some baking or parchment paper and dust with potato or rice starch. Spoon the mochi on to the surface and dust with more starch to ensure it doesn’t stick to everything.
Dust hands and a rolling pin with the starch and slowly begins to spread out the mochi. If the mochi is still too hot, allow it to cool down before continuing to roll it out.
When the mochi has been rolled out, allow it to cool in a fridge for about 10 mins until it has become firmer to the touch.
Remove the mochi from the fridge and cut out circles from the mochi. When all of the circles have been cut out, combine the remaining mochi pieces and roll it out again to cut out more circles.

To Form Mochi
Remove the chocolates from the fridge and set them next to the mochi wrappers along with the starch to dust and a small bowl of water to seal the mochi.
Spoon a small serving of one of the chocolate on to your hands and try to shape in to a small ball. Place the chocolate ball on to the centre of the mochi and, with clean hands, wrap the mochi around the ball.
Wet hands slightly and pinch the end of the mochi to seal it before dusting lightly with starch to ensure that it doesn’t stick.
Set the mochi aside and repeat with the remaining ingredients.
To finish, dust with chocolate powders, grated chocolates or any dusting of your choice and serve!

Quick Hainanese Chicken Rice

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To Prep
Preheat an oven to 180 degrees Celsius.
Pour out the rice in to a bowl and rinse with water until the water becomes clear. Drain the water from the bowl and set aside.
In a pan over a medium heat, add in 1 tbsp of the oil and saute 3 tbsp of the garlic and the two slices of ginger until fragrant. Add in the rice and stir until the rice is well coated in the oil.
Remove the pan from the heat and transfer the rice in to a rice cooker. Add in the chicken stock and allow the rice to cook through.
In a small saucepan, heat up the remaining oil over a medium heat while you prepare the raw ingredient.
In a heatproof bowl, combine the remaining garlic, ginger and the spring onions. Test if the oil is hot enough by spooning a small portion of the oil in to the heatproof bowl. If the ingredients sizzle due to the oil, it is hot enough.
Pour the remanding oil in to the bowl and allow the ingredients to be cooked by the hot oil. When the sizzling stops, mix the ingredients together well and set aside.
In a small baking tray, place the chicken breasts and pour over the oil mixture and coat them well.

To Cook
Place the chicken in to the oven and cook for 15 mins or until the meat has cooked through.
In a small pot, fill to halfway with water and bring to a boil. Add in the sesame oil and blanche the bok choy. After about 45 seconds, remove the bok choy from the pot and shock in cold water.
When the meat has cooked through, remove from the oven and plate with the cooked rice and the leftover drippings and oil from the tray.
To serve, top with spring onions, the slices of cucumber and the blanched bok choy.

Wagyu Beef Bowl

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To Prep
Take the steak out of the fridge and allow to reach room temperature. Season with generously with salt and pepper and drizzle with oil.

To Cook
Heat up a pan or skillet over a medium-high heat. Place the steak in to the pan and let cook without touching for about 1 min.
Flip and brown the other side. Cook to the desired level of doneness before setting aside to rest.

To Serve
When the steak has rested for at least 5 mins, slice it thinly at an angle and against the grain of the meat.
In a bowl, spoon your desired amount of rice and furikake and mix till they’re well combined.
Top with the sliced steak, cooked edamame beans, tsukemono and an onsen egg. Top with extra furikake if desired.

Tofu Bowl

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To Prep
Cut the tofu in to small squares that are about half an inch in height. In a bowl, pour in the potato starch and lightly coat the tofu. Shake off the excess starch and set aside.
In a mixing bowl, combine the sauce ingredients and mix well.

To Cook
Heat the oil in a frying pan over a medium high heat before adding in the tofu. Cook the tofu on one side until the skin becomes golden brown before swapping to repeat on the other side.
When both sides have cooked, pour in the sauce mixture. Allow the sauce to thicken and coat the tofu.
Remove the tofu from the pan. If you wanted the sauce to thicken, continue to cook it over a low heat until it has your intended consistency.

To Serve
Over a bowl of rice, arrange the tofu. Spoon the remaining sauce over the top and garnish with edamame, bonito flakes, tsukemono and furikake. Serve!