To Prepare
Clean the squid well, removing any dark spots. Cut the squid into desired pieces and make sure the squid pieces are dry.
Prepare all the ingredients according to the ingredient list.
Marinate the peppers with salt and pepper for around 10 mins. Add starch and egg, mix well.
Heat up oil in a deep wok or pan until it reaches 170℃. You can test the oil temperature by adding one piece. The squid should float to the top of the oil. Cook in small batches.
In a wok, place 1 tbsp cooking oil and fry garlic, fresh pepper and onion until it is aromatic. Season with salt and pepper. Mix all the ingredients with the squid.
Serve and eat while it is still hot.
Seafood
Vietnamese Prawn Bowl
To Cook
In a saucepan, add hoisin sauce, peanut butter, sesame oil and garlic. Bring to a simmer over medium heat. Slow stir in a little bit of water at a time until sauce is glossy and texture is smooth and slightly runny. Remove from heat and set aside to cool.
Heat oil in a pan over medium-high heat. Fry off garlic until fragrant. Add prawns and pan fry for 30 secs. Add lemon juice to pan to coat prawns. When prawns are fully cooked, remove from pan onto a plate and set aside.
To assemble, add cooked vermicelli into a bowl. Top with red cabbage, pickled carrot and daikon, cucumber, mint leaves, prawns and peanuts. Drizzle over peanut hoisin sauce and serve.
Vietnamese Rice Vermicelli Salad
To Cook
Soak rice vermicelli in hot water for 2 mins. Drain and set aside.
Saute prawns in a pan with oil. Cool slightly, slice in half length-ways and set aside.
Dissolve brown sugar in lime juice over low heat. Remove from heat; add fish sauce and water and cool.
Add prawns, celery, capsicum, mint, basil and bean sprouts to the lime juice mixture. Place rice vermicelli on plate and top with salad mixture.
Garnish with peanuts and serve.
Salt and Pepper Soft Shell Crab
To Prep
Dry-fry the peppercorns and salt in a pan over medium heat until they become fragrant.
Remove them from the pan and grind them using a pestle and mortar until they become fine.
Combine the salt and pepper mixture in to the tapioca starch.
Dredge the soft shell crab halves with the egg whites before dredging them with the tapioca mixture.
To Cook
Heat a saucepan with enough oil to deep-fry. Add the soft shell crab in batches and cook until golden brown.
Remove the crab from the oil and drain off the excess oil by placing it on a paper towel before serving. Garnish with chilli and spring onions.
Vietnamese Rice Paper Rolls with Prawns
To Make Rice Paper Rolls
Put the rice noodles in to a heatproof bowl and pour enough boiling water to cover them.
Let noodles cook until they soften before draining the water and rinsing the noodles under cold water.
Dip the rice paper sheet in to a bowl of water before draining it and placing it on to a clean work surface.
Arrange on to the rice paper sheet 2 of the prawn halves, 2 mints leaves, and some of the rice noodles.
Fold the sides of the rice paper roll before folding the bottom half of the wrapper over the fillings.
Before rolling to finish the roll, stick a couple of the chives on to the roll and then finish rolling.
Transfer to a serving plate and then repeat with the remaining ingredients.
Serve with chilli sauce or hoisin sauce!
Tempura Prawn Hand Roll
To Prep
Add the sushi vinegar to the cooked sushi rice and gentle fold in to the rice until well incorporated.
Combine 125 g of tempura flour and ice water together in a mixing bowl and lightly stir them together. Don’t over mix as pockets of flour will make the batter airy. Pour the remaining 50 g of flour in to a separate bowl.
To Cook
Heat the oil to about 180°C, then dredge the prawns one by one in the tempura flour, then into the batter and fry in batches till golden brown. Let cool on paper towels to drain the excess oil.
To Make the Roll
Halve the seaweed sheets. Place sushi rice and then the lettuce, cucumber and prawn onto one side of nori.
Fold the nearest corner of the nori over the filling and start to shape.
The hand roll should be shaped cone shaped to stop any rice from falling out.
Serve with teriyaki sauce or eel sauce on top!
Chinese Hot Pot
For Soup
Prepare a big pot and bring water to a boil. Boil the chicken carcass and pork bones for 5 mins and discard the water. This is to remove scum.
Fill in 2.5L of water into the pot and bring it to boil. Add in goji berries and red dates, simmer for 2 hrs. Season with salt according to taste.
To Enjoy
Once ready, transfer broth into a steamboat pot / hot pot, about half full. Place it on a portable electric stove. Add in your own combination of meat, veggies and fish. Let it boil and cook. When ready, dish out into individual serving bowls with small wire strainer or ladle. Dip cooked food into condiments and enjoy.
Repeat the same process by adding in meat, veggies and fish into the hot pot and allow to boil and cook once the first batch of cooked food have been distributed. Top up with broth when needed.
Noodles and eggs are usually added towards the end when broth is most flavourful after cooking all the ingredients.
Steamed Crystal Prawn Dumplings (Har Gow)
To Prep
In a bowl, combine all filling ingredients. Using a fork, whip the mixture in one direction for 2 mins until the mixture begins to appear sticky. Cover with a cling wrap and place inside the fridge while preparing the dough.
In a mixing bowl, combine wheat starch and tapioca starch. Gradually add in boiling water while stirring vigorously. Then, pour in lard or oil and stir well to combine. Knead the dough for 2 mins until you get a smooth ball. Roll the dough into a long log and cut into 20 equal pieces. Roll each piece into a smooth ball. Place the dough balls into a tray and cover with damp cloth.
Prepare a lightly oiled smooth surface. You can place a baking sheet over a cutting board and lightly oil the baking sheet. Working with one dough ball at a time, flatten it using a rolling pin until rather thin but still able to withhold the weight of the filling. Using a round cutter, about 8cm in diameter, cut out the dough. Place a spoonful of filling in the centre of the dumpling wrap and fold into half. Then, using your fingers, push the dough, forming pleats, until completely sealed from one end to the other. Place prawn dumpling into a large bamboo basket lined with parchment paper. Repeat with remaining dough balls and leftover dough, if any. Space the prawn dumplings slightly apart to allow for expansion during cooking process.
To Cook
Prepare a steamer over high heat. Steam prawn dumplings over boiling water for 6 mins. Steam in batches if you have a smaller bamboo basket.
Remove and serve hot with soy sauce or chilli sauce.
Prawn Crackers
To Cook
Add the oil to a saucepan and heat the oil to 160 degrees Celsius.
Place a batch of 5 to 10 chips in to the oil using a slotted spoon and stir them gently.
Once the chips have expanded and have risen to the top, quickly remove them from the oil before they begin to burn.
Transfer the chips on to a plate with a paper towel to absorb the excess oil.
When the chips have cooled down slightly, transfer them in to a bowl and serve.
Quick and Easy Homemade XO Sauce
To Cook
Heat cooking oil in a wok on high heat. Lower heat and add shallots, stir-fry until fragrant.
Add the remaining ingredients and seasonings, stir-fry over low heat until well mixed.
Remove from heat and let cool. Store in a clean jar for future use.
Singapore White Bee Hoon
To Prep
Marinade the squid and prawns with the marinade ingredients for 10 mins.
To Cook
In a stock pot, add the chicken carcasses, chicken feet, soybeans, rock sugar and water, bring to simmer. Add the stir-fried prawn heads and shells, bring to boil then simmer covered for 4 hrs, removing floating scum from time to time. Set aside.
In a wok, heat 1 tbsp oil and sauté minced garlic until fragrant. Add the rice vermicelli and fry for 1-2 mins. Remove and set aside.
Clean the wok, heat 2 tbsp oil and scramble the eggs. Add 800ml of the stock then the clams, prawns and squid. Cook covered until clams open partially, about 2 mins.
Add in the fish sauce, salt and white pepper, then add in the rice vermicelli and mix well. Let simmer for 3 mins.
Add the choy sum and simmer for 1 min. Add seasonings to taste, serve hot.
Vietnamese Style Tom Yum Hot Pot (Lau Thai)
To Cook
Start by preparing the soup. Place all the ingredients of the soup into the hot pot, mix well and bring to a boil. Turn heat off and set aside.
Next, combine all the dipping sauce ingredients in a bowl and mix well until the sugar has dissolved. Set aside.
Place hot pot on the dining table and turn heat on to bring to a boil. Prepare and arrange all the other ingredients around the hot pot. One hot pot starts to boil, place a little of every ingredient in to the cook. Cover pot with lid and allow to boil, this is to ensure all ingredients are cooked.
Remove lid, turn heat down and eat fresh from the hot pot with some soup base and the dipping sauce.