Asian Inspirations

Discover the authentic in Asian cuisine food

Rice

Spiced BBQ Chicken with Herb Rice Salad (Ayam Percik & Nasi Kerabu)

by Leave a Comment

To Prep
Blend all marinade ingredients into a paste and marinade the chicken in a bowl. Place in the fridge for at least an hour.

To Cook
Make sambal kelapa by dry frying the grated coconut over low heat until toasted. Remove from wok or pan and set aside.
Fry sardines over medium heat until dry and crumbly. Blend shallots, ginger, lemongrass, black pepper, salt and palm sugar into paste. Fry paste over medium heat for a few mins. Return sardines to wok and combine with paste. Reduce heat to low and continue to cook sardine/paste mixture until very dry and crumbly, about 10-15 mins. Add toasted coconut, mix until combined. Set aside.

To Make the Sambal Belacan
Pound chillies and belacan in mortar and pestle until combined. Add the juice of the 2 limes and palm sugar. Mix well and set aside.

To Make the Spiced Coconut Sauce
Blend the shallots, garlic, ginger and chillies together and add the oil over medium heat to wok or saucepan and stir fry the paste until fragrant.
Pour in coconut cream, chilli soaking liquid, fenugreek seeds, lemongrass, salt and palm sugar. Lower heat and reduce sauce until thick, about 10-15 mins.
Cook chicken over medium heat in a large saucepan with lid on until nearly cooked.
Transfer chicken to a hot grill and baste with the coconut sauce until nice and charred.

To Cook the Nasi Kerabu
Add lemongrass and kaffir lime leaves into the rice cooker.
Infuse warm water with blue butterfly pea flowers for 15 mins.
Strain blue butterfly pea water over rice.

To Assemble the Dish
Finely chop cabbage, snake beans, cucumber and mint. Combine with bean sprouts.
Add a small bowl of rice to the middle of your plate and arrange a chicken drumstick and thigh, sambal kelapa, bean sprout salad, salted eggs and fish crackers around the rice. Finish off with a bowl of sambal belacan and some warmed reserved spiced coconut sauce.

Teriyaki Tofu Rainbow Bowls

by Leave a Comment

To Prep
Combine the soy sauce, mirin, caster sugar and garlic in a glass or ceramic dish to make the Teriyaki Marinade.
Add the tofu cubes and toss to combine. Cover and keep in the fridge for at least 30 mins to marinate.

To Cook
Preheat the oven to 200°C. Line a tray with baking paper. Chop the sweet potato into 1cm wide disks, lay on the baking paper, spray with oil, and bake in the oven for 25 mins.
Place baking paper over a second baking tray. Reserve a small amount of the teriyaki marinade, then spread the tofu cubes onto one half of the tray.
Add the sunflower, pumpkin and sesame seeds to the marinade, toss to coat, then place on the other side of the tray.
Place the tray in the oven with the sweet potato for the final 15 mins. Remove the sweet potato, tofu and mixed seeds from the oven and allow to cool.
Cook the corn in boiling water for 4 mins. Allow to cool slightly before slicing the kernels off.
Divide the ingredients between two large bowls. Begin with the cos lettuce leaves, then the rice, cabbage, corn, sweet potato, tofu, tomato and radish.
Place half an avocado in the centre of each bowl and fill the pit with Kewpie Mayonnaise.
Sprinkle with the alfalfa and the teriyaki seeds, and serve.

Vietnamese Shaking Beef with Pickled Onion & Tomato Fried Rice (Bo Luc Lac)

by Leave a Comment

To Prep
Combine salt, pepper and sugar in a small bowl and mix well with the cubed beef to prepare for marinade.
Combine soy sauce, fish sauce, honey, lime juice and lemongrass in a bowl, pour over and mix well with seasoned beef.
Cover and refrigerate to marinate for 1-3 hrs.

For the Pickled Red Onions
In small glass bowl, mix vinegar, salt and sugar until sugar is dissolved, then add the sliced red onions, mix well, cover and refrigerate for minimum 2 hrs to pickle.

For the Tomato Rice
Using a frypan with oil, cook garlic over a high heat until fragrant.
Add the cooked and cooled rice and toss for about 1 min.
Gradually add the fish sauce and tomato paste and toss until the rice is evenly coloured.
Cook for a further 3 mins and add salt and pepper if desired.

To Cook
Remove the lemongrass from marinade and actively stir fry the beef in an oiled wok over medium-high heat. Cook for 3 mins, or until caramelized on the outside and tender inside.
Assemble the dinner bowls with tomato rice, vegetables (cucumber, tomato, cherry tomato, radish, watercress, coriander and drained picked onions), and top with spring onion and chilli as desired. Serve and enjoy!

Grilled Beef Tongue Rice Bowl (Gyutan Don)

by Leave a Comment

To Prep
Combine the marinade ingredients together in a container and add in the beef tongue slices. Make sure that the pieces have enough space so that they don’t overlap. Marinate the beef for about 30 minutes.

To Cook
Heat up a grill and cook the slices of tongue for about 2 minutes on each side.
To serve, place a serving of rice in to a bowl and fan out the slices of tongue around the rice. Garnish with spring onions, sesame seeds and pickled vegetable of your choice!

Cantonese Pork Belly Claypot Rice

by Leave a Comment

To Prep
In a clay pot, add water and rice, allow the rice to soak for 1 hr.
Combine all Sauce ingredients and set aside.

To Cook
Heat the clay pot with medium heat until the water starts to boil. Add cured pork belly and close the lid. Lower the heat to simmer for about 10 mins.
Add the Chinese sausage slices and evenly pour the sauce mixture over the rice. Simmer covered for 3-5 mins, turn off the heat. Let sit for 5-10 mins, allowing rice to cook through.
Remove the cooked pork belly and slice. Place back into clay pot and garnish with spring onions. Serve.

Sticky Rice with Chinese Sausage

by Leave a Comment

To Prep
Combine all sauce ingredients in a bowl and mix well. Set aside.

To Cook
In a wok, heat 2 tbsp of oil over medium heat. Add the soaked dried shrimps and stir-fry until fragrant and slightly crispy. Remove the dried shrimps and set aside, leave the oil in wok.
Add diced shallots and saute until translucent, then add the green onions, mushrooms and Chinese sausages and stir-fry for about 1 min.
Add in the Shaoxing wine and stir-fry for 2-3 mins. Add the sticky rice and pour ½ the sauce over the rice to loosen the rice crumbs and stir-fry well.
Add the remaining sauce when there is no more rice crumbs and stir-fry until all ingredients mix well. Add in a dash of white pepper and mix well. Garnish with spring onions and serve hot.

Japanese Seaweed Salad Inari

by Leave a Comment

To Prep
Mix the sesame seeds and sushi rice in a large bowl until evenly mixed. Divide into 4 portions.
Carefully open the inari pouches.
Wet you hand and hold each portion to form a rice ball that fits into the inari pouches.
Carefully place a rice ball into an inari pouch and allow the inari to stand straight, with the opening facing up.
Place 2-3 tbsp of seaweed salad into the pouch above the rice ball. Repeat for the remaining portions. Serve.

Avocado Nigiri

by Leave a Comment

To Make
Prepare the rice and the avocado as instructed. For the avocado, slowly peel off the skin and then use the lemon juice to prevent the flesh from browning before slicing in to thin strips.
To form the sushi, roll a small amount of the rice in to small roll. Place a couple slices of the avocado on to the top of the rice and then wrap with a strip of the seaweed. Wet the ends of the seaweed to help them to stick together.

Kimchi Fried Rice (Kimchi Bokkeumbap)

by Leave a Comment

To Cook
Place a wok over medium high heat and allow to preheat. Then, add in cooking oil and swirl the oil around to coat the wok.
Throw in garlic and give a quick stir. Add luncheon meat and stir fry until lightly browned. Put in kimchi and stir fry until almost cooked.
Add in mushrooms and stir to combine. Bring the heat down to medium low.
Mix in rice and kimchi juice. If you do not have sufficient kimchi juice from the container, mix 2½ tbsp kimchi juice with 1 tbsp gochujang paste or soy sauce instead.
Stir well to combine thoroughly. Then, add in sesame oil and continue to stir well to combine.
In a separate pan, heat up some oil and fry eggs sunny side up style.
Transfer kimchi fried rice to individual plates and top with fried egg. Garnish with sesame seeds, spring onions and strips of roasted seaweed.

Seafood Hitsumabushi

by Leave a Comment

To Make the Dashi
Start by adding the water and kombu to a saucepan and bringing to a boil.
When the water is boiling, add the bonito flakes and simmer for 10-15 minutes.
Remove the saucepan from the heat and strain the water.
Combine the marinade ingredients and add the cut fish to marinade for at least 10 mins.

To Serve
Spoon rice in to a large bowl and place the marinaded fish on top. Sprinkle with the seaweed and serve with soy sauce, wasabi and the rest of the dashi.

Herb Rice (Nasi Ulam)

by Leave a Comment

To Prep
For the Vietnamese coriander, basil, and mint pick all the leaves off of the stalks.
For convenience, all the herb leaves should be cut using Chiffonade method. That is to stack a bunch of leaves together and gently roll into a cigar shape and slice thinly from end to end.
Finely slice all of the non-leafy herbs (ginger, torch ginger flower, shallots and galangal).

To Cook
Deep fry the salted fish in some oil until crispy and golden, then shred with a knife.
Using a mortar and pestle, pound the dried shrimps until broken up into fine pieces. Dry fry the dried shrimps in a wok or pan until aromatic.
Toast the grated coconut in a pan until golden brown and then pound with a mortar and pestle.
Add all the prepared ingredients in a large bowl together with the rice and mix well with a wooden spoon.
Add salt and sugar to taste and serve immediately.