Asian Inspirations

Discover the authentic in Asian cuisine food

Seafood

BBQ Snapper

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Coriander Sauce
Place all sauce ingredients into a blender/food processor.
Process until ingredients are finely chopped and well combined.
Set aside.

Sour Mango Salad
In a small saucepan on a medium heat, place fish sauce, rice vinegar, sugar and water. Heat the mixture just before boiling point before removing from heat. Stir lime juice through and allow to cool.
Julienne the mangoes into a bowl, then mix mint, Thai basil, Vietnamese mint and chilli through.
Pour half of the salad dressing over the mango mixture, stir well to combine. Pour the remaining dressing into a serving dish.
Top the salad with toasted peanuts and additional chilli for extra heat.

Fish
In a bowl, mix together: galangal, shallots, bird’s eye chilli, lemongrass, light soy sauce and lime juice. Stir to combine well.
Place banana leaf onto the barbecue to soften (about 15-20 secs). Remove from heat.
Score the fish 3-4 times on each side, then lay onto the banana leaf’s shiny side. Generously stuff fish with galangal mixture. Wrap the fish completely and seal with the banana leaf to form a package and secure with toothpicks.
Heat barbecue to medium, place banana leaf parcels onto the grill and shut the lid. Cook for 10 mins, then remove from heat.
Open parcels and top with spring onion, chopped peanuts and chilli.
Serve whole fish with mango salad, extra dressing and coriander sauce.

Grilled Miso Salmon and Japanese Coleslaw in Steamed Bao

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To Prep
To make the salmon marinade, stir together the miso, vinegar, sugar and sake. Cover the salmon fillets with the marinade. Place in the fridge for at least 30 mins or better still overnight.
To make the coleslaw, place the mayonnaise, vinegar, soy sauce, sesame oil, sugar and salt in a bowl and stir to combine. Add to the cabbage and snow peas. Sprinkle with sesame seeds. Set aside.
Heat a large steamer over a medium-high heat. Steam the buns for 5 mins or until heated through (this can be done in batches according to the size of the steamer).
While buns are steaming, heat a charcoal grill, BBQ hot plate or frying pan. Lift salmon out of marinade and grill over medium heat for 3-5 mins on each side or until the fish flakes easily and is cooked through. Transfer to a plate and cover with foil.
To assemble, place a portion of grilled miso salmon in a bao bun, top with coleslaw, garnish with nori, spring onions, cucumber and chilli. Eat while hot.

Grilled Barramundi Curry In Banana Leaf

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To Prep
Cut 100g of barramundi fillet into small pieces and put in a food processor or use a mortar and pestle to make fish paste.
Put coconut cream, fish sauce, rice flour, red curry paste, turmeric powder and crack egg into the bowl.
Using a large wooden spoon, mix all ingredients together until combined then, add fish paste into the bowl. Keep stirring fish paste for about 2-3 mins until the fish paste is a bit sticky.
Add 300g medium size cut barramundi into the bowl then, add all basil leaves and 2 julienned kaffir lime leaves. Gently mix through.
Prepare banana leaf by putting one banana leaf onto the kitchen bench (shiny side down) then put another sheet of banana leaf on top (if you have small pieces of banana leaf you can put 3-4 pieces on top of each other).

To Cook
Put fish curry in the center of the banana leaf then fold the leaf to cover the fish curry, using wooden toothpicks to make banana leaf parcels. Continue until all of the fish curry is finished.
Place the banana leaf parcels on BBQ grill, cook for 20-25 mins or until the fish mixture is cooked.
Before eating, open banana parcel and garnish with julienned kaffir lime leaves and sliced chillies (if you like).
Enjoy Grilled Barramundi Curry in Banana Leaf.

Note
If you don’t have banana leaf you can put the fish mixture onto baking paper and wrap it with aluminum foil then prepare with the same method above (but you will lose the banana leaf smoked flavor in your fish curry).

Takoyaki

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To Cook
In a large bowl, mix water, eggs, and takoyaki flour well with a whisk.
Heat a takoyaki pan with oil just until the oil begins to smoke. Use enough oil to coat the pan using a paper towel so that the batter won’t stick. Then pour batter to fill the holes of the pan.
Drop octopus pieces in the batter in each hole, and sprinkle chopped green onions and rice crispy bits all over the pan.
Cook at medium heat for 1-2 mins and turn over using a wooden skewer. Cook another 3-4 mins, turning constantly.
Place the cooked takoyaki on a plate and pour takoyaki sauce and mayo over them. Finish the dish by sprinkling the takoyaki with bonito flakes and chopped spring onions.

Fragrant BBQ Fish

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Vietnamese Slaw
In a bowl, combine the wombok, spring onions and carrots, roughly mix together.
Add in the Thai basil, coriander and chilli, lightly mix.
In a small bowl, combine the rice wine vinegar, lime juice, fish sauce, sugar, ginger and garlic, stir thoroughly until the sugar has dissolved.
Pour dressing over salad, ensuring all salad components are covered in dressing. Top salad with the roasted peanuts. Put into the fridge to chill whilst making the fish parcels.

Fish parcels
Using a large bowl, combine the lemongrass, shallots, turmeric, garlic, pepper and salt, mix well. Then add in the soy sauce and rice wine vinegar, mix again to combine.
Heat the BBQ to medium heat. Place banana leaf onto the bbq to soften (about 15-20 secs). Remove banana leaf from heat.
Lay out banana leaf, then place a piece of fish in the middle along with half of the lemongrass mixture. Fold the banana leaf over the fish covering all sides and secure with toothpicks to ensure it remains closed while cooking.
Place banana leaf parcel onto the grill at medium heat, close lid and cook for 8-10 mins.
Remove parcel from the grill and let it rest for 1 minute.
Serve the fish parcels with the fresh Vietnamese slaw.

Pomelo, Prawn & Green Mango Salad Bowl

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To Cook
Marinate prawns in mixture for 1 hour.
Assemble salad in 4 bowls and stir through salad dressing.
Stir fry prawns for 2-3 mins in batches in a hot wok with peanut oil. Place on top of each bowl.
Garnish with some toasted coconut flakes, sliced red chilli (optional) and remaining mixed herbs.
Enjoy with cold beer!

Prawn Red Thai Curry

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To Cook
Stir fry 2 tbsp Valcom Thai Red Curry Paste (add more if hot curry is preferred). Cook rice at the same time.
Add vegetables to stir fry.
Add TCC Light Coconut Milk.
Add shelled tiger prawns, stir fry until prawns are just cooked through. Place cooked rice on plate, then add the curry prawns.
Add sliced red chilli, shallots, coriander and lime to garnish.
Serve.

Mud Crab Vermicelli with Home Made XO Sauce

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To Make the XO Sauce
Drain the shrimp and discard the water. Chop finely.
Drain the scallop, keep the water for later. Using a fork or your fingers, break the scallops into thin strips.
Heat the oil until it is hot, turn down the heat to medium then add the scallops and fry until lightly brown. Stir constantly to prevent burning.
Add the chopped shrimp into the wok and fry for about 3-5 mins.
Add bacon and fry for another 3 mins.
Using a slotted spoon or strainer, take the mixture out of the oil and transfer it to a separate fry pan.
Cook this meat mixture over medium heat and season with oyster sauce, soy sauce, cooking wine, pepper and sugar. Add the water from the scallop and cook until the liquid disappears.
Use the oil in the wok to fry the chillies for 3-5 mins and then add the shallots. Keep stirring to prevent burning.
Add the garlic and fry until they are golden brown.
Return the scallop/shrimp/bacon into the wok. Turn off the heat immediately and stir and mix well.

To Cook the Crab
Put the mud crab in the fridge or freezer for 20-30 mins to immobilise it. This will put it to sleep.
Separate the crab body from the shell, remove the dead man’s fingers and cut the body in quarter. Crack the claws and legs using a rolling pin or meat tenderiser. Toss them in corn flour until lightly covered. Shake off excess flour.
In a deep wok, heat the oil and fry the crab lightly until it changes colour. There is no need to fully cook the crab at this stage as we will cook it further later. Set aside.
Tip off the oil and leave about 2 tbsp in the wok. Toss the garlic, ginger, and chilli and fry until fragrant. Add the XO sauce, soy sauce, oyster sauce and the stock, letting it simmer for 1 min.
Add the vermicelli and let it soak the liquid until the vermicelli becomes soft. If it needs more liquid, just add more stock and adjust the flavour.
Just before the liquid is fully absorbed by the vermicelli, add the crab and mix well. Put the lid on the wok and turn down the heat to low-medium. Let it cook for about 10 mins.
Sprinkle the coriander and fried shallot, mix well.
Transfer it into a big deep dish, garnish with extra coriander and spring onion.
TIP: Put the leftover XO sauce in an airtight jar and store it in the fridge

Braised Mushroom and Pork Belly with Sea Cucumber

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To Cook
Bring water to a boil in a large pot for approximately 1 hr, until the sea cucumber has softened. Cut into suitable pieces.
Bring a new pot of water to a boil in a large pot. Place the pork belly in the pot, blanching for 3-5 mins. Leave to the side.
Heat up a wok and add some oil. Saute the ginger and garlic until the aromas are released.
Add the pork, sea cucumber and mushrooms to the wok mixture. Add the light soy sauce and dark soy sauce. Stir-fry for 2-3 mins.
Add the water, cinnamon and star anise.
Stir often to ensure everything is mixed well. Bring to a boil.
Transfer the wok mixture to a big pot. Cover with a lid and leave to simmer for approximately 1 hr until both the pork and sea cucumber are tender.
Garnish with spring onion and serve while hot.

Thai Steamed Clams with Lemongrass (Hoi Tom Takrai)

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To Prep
You can easily pound the birds eye chilli and kaffir lime leaves using a mortar and pestle.

To Cook
Heat up a wok with some oil. When the oil begins to smoke, quickly add the lemongrass, galangal, bird’s eye chilies and stir fry until fragrant.
Add the clams to the wok and combine with the previous ingredients. Follow up by adding the coconut water.
Add the kaffir lime leaves before covering the wok. Let the clams cook covered until they are done. You can tell the clams are done when they are all open and should only take a couple of minutes, try not to overcook the clams.
Add some lime juice and fish sauce to taste. Give it a good stir to mix.
Transfer to a serving bowl and serve immediately with some steamed rice.

Chinese Steamed Ginger Clams

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To Prep
In a bowl, mix all the seasoning ingredients together and set aside. Make sure all the ingredients are well mixed.
Place the clams on a suitably sized stainless steel deep dish plate. Make sure the plate deep enough to hold any juices that may come out of the clams.
Add the seasoning and ginger to the clams and mix well.
Add the spring onions and garlic oil and prepare the steamer.

To Cook
Steam for about 15 mins or until cooked. Make sure the water is boiling before placing the plate of clams in the steamer.
When the clams are done, garnish with more coriander and spring onion. Serve hot with steamed rice.

Radish Cake

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To Prep
Grate your radish using a handheld grater, then using your hands squeeze out any excess water. Place in a bowl and set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, combine rice flour, tapioca flour and water to form a flour paste and set aside.

To Cook
Start boiling 500ml of water in a pot and separately heat up some cooking oil in wok, and stir fry the shallots for a few minutes. Add the Chinese sausage, mushrooms and dried shrimp to the wok and stir fry until aromatic.
Next add the ingredients for the seasoning and stir fry for a few more minutes. Then pour all the fried ingredients into the pot of boiling water.
If the water has stopped boiling, bring it back up to a boil. Then pour the contents of the pot into the flour paste we made in step (2). Using a large spoon, mix to combine the flour paste with the water and other ingredients.
Next, add the grated radish into the flour mixture in 4 separate batches. Make sure each batch of grated radish has been properly combined with the mixture before adding the next batch.
Then add in the radish in 4 portions and use wooden spoon to separate the radish evenly and stir well.
Pour the radish cake mixture into a 20cm by 10cm loaf pan. Then place the loaf pan into a steamer on high heat and steam for 35 minutes.
Once the radish cake is done, remove it from the steamer and allow it to cool.
Slice the radish cake into 2cm thick slices. Pan fry each slice until golden on each side and serve with dipping sauce of your choice. Usually dipping sauces used are a simply chilli sauce, but can be easily replaced with Sriracha sauce or similar. Enjoy! These steamed radish cakes also go well with a bowl of piping hot rice or porridge