Asian Inspirations

Discover the authentic in Asian cuisine food

Seafood

Longjing Prawns

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To Prep
Add egg white, salt, Shaoxing wine and 1 tsp cornflour in a large bowl. Mix well and add prawns. Coat prawns in mixture. Cover in cling wrap and place in the fridge for 1 hr.
Steep tea in hot water. Strain tea leaves and set aside. Set tea aside to cool.

To Cook
Combine remaining cornflour with 1⁄3 cup tea.
Hot oil in a wok on medium-high heat.
Add prawns and stir fry until half-cooked.
Pour in tea and cornflour mixture and cook until sauce thickens.
Stir through tea leaves and remove from heat. Serve immediately.

Stir Fried White Baby Bok Choy with Fish Cake

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To Cook
Heat up a pan on medium heat. When it is hot, add some cooking oil. Add the garlic and stir-fry until fragrant.
Turn the heat up to high and add the fish cake. Stir-fry for approximately 1 min.
Add the bok choy, salt, chicken powder and Shaoxing wine.
Stir-fry for approximately another 1 min.
Plate up and serve while hot.

Deep Fried Chinese Crullers with Prawns

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To Prep
In a bowl, season prawns with white pepper and salt. Sprinkle with corn starch and mix until well combined.
Cut through the Chinese cruller until about ½ way through in depth. Stuff the prawn mixture into the slit.

To Cook
Heat up oil in a wok or deep pan and shallow fry the stuffed Chinese cruller until golden brown. Drain and leave to cool slightly.
Cut the stuffed Chinese cruller into desired lengths and serve with dipping sauces.

Vegetable and Prawn Fritters Rice Bowl (Kakiage Don)

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To Cook
Season prawns with a pinch of salt.
Place all sauce ingredients in a small pot and bring to a boil. Set aside.
Sift flour, baking powder and salt into a large bowl. Mix eggs with iced water and sake then, pour into flour mixture. Stir the bowl 10 times lightly in circular motion.
Heat enough oil for deep frying and sesame oil in a wok over medium high heat. Meanwhile, place prawns and vegetables into a bowl and dust with corn starch, coating ingredients well. Pour batter over the ingredients and mix gently. Ladle a scoop of ingredients into a wire sieve and drain off excess batter. Carefully place the battered ingredients into the hot oil and work quickly to collect pieces of stray ingredients into a big piece using chopsticks. Once the fritter is golden browned, dish out and drain off excess oil by placing the fritter on paper towels. Repeat with remaining battered ingredients.
To serve, reheat sauce. Meanwhile, divide rice into individual serving bowls. Pour some sauce over the rice. Top each bowl with a fritter and drizzle with more sauce. Serve immediately.

Hanoi Sweet Potato and Prawn Fritters

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To Prep
Combine flour, 1½ tsp salt, turmeric, cayenne, spring onions, egg, soda water and iced water in a bowl and mix until just blended. Do not overmix. The batter will be slightly lumpy. Add 1 tbsp iced water at a time if the batter is too thick.
Place prawns in a separate bowl and season with a pinch of salt and black pepper. Add 120ml batter over the prawns and mix well to coat evenly. Then, add sweet potatoes to the bowl of remaining batter and mix well.

To Cook
Heat enough oil for deep frying in a wok or deep-frying pan over high heat. Place round metal rings into the oil and pour in the sweet potato batter into each metal ring and top with a battered prawn each. Fry until golden browned and cooked through. Drain off excess oil. Repeat with remaining batter.
Serve with lettuce leaves and sweet chilli sauce.

Seafood Korean Knife Cut Noodles (Haemul Kalguksu)

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To Make
Place water, dried anchovies and kelp in a sauce pot and bring to a boil. At the same time, bring another small pot of water to boil to cook the noodles. Simmer the broth for 15 mins. Boil the noodles until cooked, about 2-3 mins. Drain the noodles and run through with cold water. Set aside.
Discard dried anchovies and kelp from the broth. Season with soy sauce and salt and bring to a boil. Put in shiitake mushrooms, zucchini and carrots and cook for 2 mins. Add pipis and prawns and boil until cooked through, about 1-2 mins.
Add cooked noodles into the broth and gently stir. Boil for 1 min to warm up the noodles.
Transfer noodles to individual bowls and serve with spring onions.

Northern Vietnam Spring Rolls (Nem Ran)

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To Prep
Combine all the ingredients for the dipping sauce and mix until the sugar has dissolved.
Set it aside for serving later.

To Cook
Combine the minced pork and shrimp in a mixing bowl.
Season with salt, pepper and sugar before adding the shallots and garlic.
Next, add the shredded vegetables, mushrooms, and glass noodles and mix well.
Mix in the egg white and let the spring roll filling sit for 10 mins.
Soften the rice paper wrapper with a damp cloth. Then, scoop a spoonful of the filling on one edge of the rice paper wrapper.
Roll up the wrapper like you would roll a burrito but with the ends of the wrapper tucked in.
Heat up some oil in a pan over medium heat. Fry the spring rolls until they are golden brown.
Remove the excess oil from the cooked spring rolls using a paper towel.
Serve the spring tolls hot with the dipping sauce.

Fish, Prawns and Zucchini Pan-fried in Egg Batter (Modeumjean)

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To Cook
Prepare all the ingredients.
Sprinkle salt on both sides of the zucchini slices and leave to the side for 20 mins. Dry the slices after.
Sprinkle salt and pepper on both sides of the shrimp and leave to the side for 15 mins. Do the same for the fish fillet slices.
Dip the zucchini slices, shrimp and fish in flour to prepare.
Heat a skillet with 1 tbsp of oil at low-medium heat. Dip each piece in the beaten egg before and place in the skillet.
Pan fry for 1-2 mins on each side. It is ready when it is slightly golden in colour.
Repeat for all the ingredients, adding oil as needed.
Combine the soy sauce, rice vinegar and pepper to taste.
Serve warm with the combined sauce.

Siu Mai

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To Prep
In a large bowl, combine the pork and prawns with the Shaoxing wine, soy sauce, sesame oil and salt and pepper.
Place a teaspoon of the filling in to the centre of one of the wrappers and then bring in the sides and gently squeeze to set the shape.
To ensure that the siu mai stands, make sure that the bottom is relatively flat.
If desired, place some of the fish roe on to the top of the siu mai.
Repeat this process until there is no more filling left.

To Cook
Set up a steamer with enough water to cook all of the siu mai and line with baking paper to stop it from sticking to the steamer.
Steam the siu mai in batches for at least 8 minutes or until they are cooked through and then serve!

Thai Banana Blossom Salad

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To Prep
Place dried shrimp in a food processor and process until fine. Transfer to a small bowl and combine with tamarind paste, palm sugar, lime juice, fish sauce, chilli paste and coconut cream. Cover in cling film and set aside.
Fill a large bowl with water, add lemon juice and salt, and mix to combine.
To prepare banana blossoms, start by removing purple outer petals and flowers. Reserve a few purple petals for garnish.
Cut banana blossom in half, remove core and thinly slice pale inner petals. Place sliced banana blossom in lemon water to prevent browning.

To Cook
In a large mixing bowl, add prawns, spring onions, toasted coconut and coriander. Drain sliced banana blossom and place in the bowl. Add dressing and toss gently to combine.
Serve in banana blossom petals, and garnish with fried shallots, coriander and chilli.

Crab Fried Rice (Kani Ankake)

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To Cook
Heat 1 tbsp of the sesame oil in a wok over high heat. Add the eggs and gently scramble until cooked. Remove the eggs and set aside.
Heat 1 tbsp of the sesame oil in a wok over high heat. Add the spring onions and cook, stirring constantly, for about 30 secs or until fragrant.
Add the rice and cook, stirring constantly, for 30 secs. Add the soy sauce, salt, pepper, and cooked eggs, cooking while stirring constantly for another 30 secs. Add the remaining 1 tbsp of sesame oil and cook, stirring constantly, for 10 more secs. Turn off the heat.
To plate the rice, arrange 4 plates, and ready 4 small bowls to serve as molds (rice bowls are ideal). Spoon ¼ of the cooked rice into each bowl, then quickly flip the bowl over, and rest it onto the plate rice side down. Do not remove the bowl for now; it will keep the rice warm. Repeat with the remaining 3 bowls. Set aside.

To Cook Ankake
Combine the crab, chicken stock, lettuce, ginger, salt, and pepper in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Let the ankake simmer for 2 mins over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Add the potato starch mixture and cook, stirring constantly, for about 15 secs. Remove from the heat.
Removing the bowls covering the rice. Pour about ¼ of the ankake either alongside each serving of rice or over it, as you desire. Serve immediately.