To Cook
Heat oil in a wok or saucepan over medium heat. Add the garlic and both types of chillies and stir fry until fragrant. Combine the oyster sauce, fish sauce and basil and stir fry for a further minute until well mixed. Add the cornflour mixture and cook until the sauce is thickened. Remove and set aside.
Rub the salt and pepper onto the lobsters. Grill on charcoal, pan grill or under the broiler for several minutes on each side until cooked. Transfer on serving platter.
Spread the spicy basil garlic sauce over the grilled seafood. Squeeze lime over lobster. Serve hot and garnish with crispy fried basil leaves and fresh coriander.
Seafood
Fried Noodles with Water Mimosa (Sen Mee Pad Kra Shed)
To Prep
In a mortar, pound the garlic, chillies and goat pepper, then mix well with the shrimp paste.
To Cook
In a wok, heat oil on medium and fry the paste mixture. Add a little water, then the prawns and water mimosa, stir-fry well.
Add the oyster sauce, soy sauce and sugar, then the noodles. Add water if it gets too dry, stir-fry well and serve, garnish with sliced chilli.
Caramel Prawns (Tom Rim)
To Cook
Heat some oil in the pan and add the chopped garlic and onions. Stir-fry until fragrant. Add prawns and fry until pink.
Add the sugar, fish sauce and black pepper and stir well. Add in the spring onions as it tastes better when it absorbs some of the sauce.
Taste and add extra sugar, fish sauce or salt to taste.
Fry the shrimp on high heat for a few seconds until the mixture caramelised.
Serve hot with rice.
Thai Grilled Fish with Lemongrass (Pla Kapong ob Sos Takrai)
To Cook
Finely crush Valcom Lemongrass, garlic, salt and pepper together. Add water and mix well.
Coat the fish with lime juice, then marinate in the lemongrass paste for 15 mins.
Place the fish on a lined tray and bake in the oven at 180°C until cooked through. Remove from the oven.
Hint: serve with green salad is recommended.
Singapore Fried Noodle with Prawns (Mee Goreng Udang)
To Cook
Boil water and add noodles. Cook for 2 mins; drain and set aside.
Heat the oil in a wok until smoking, add Chinese broccoli, carrot and stir-fry for 1 min. Add the prawns and stir-fry for 3 mins until tender.
Add drained noodles and contents of mi goreng sauce and seasoning sachets and toss to combine.
Serve immediately topped with green onions.
Tom Yum Fried Rice with Prawns (Kao Pad Tom Yum Goong)
To Cook
Combine coconut milk and Valcom Tom Yum Paste in a bowl. Set aside.
Stir-fry prawns in heated oil until cooked. Set 2 prawns aside for plating and the rest to be fried into the rice.
Add onion and green peas and stir-fry until cooked. Stir in tom yum mixture, sugar, prawns, cherry tomatoes and Valcom Kaffir Lime Leaves. Add rice and stir until well mixed and heated through.
Garnish with coriander before serving.
Hint: chicken fillet can be used in place of prawns.
Penang Nyonya Lam Mee
To Cook
To prepare the stock, rinse the pork bones with water. Transfer the bones in to a large pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil and cook for 5 mins while scooping out any scum that floats to the surface.
After boiling, drain, rinse again and return to the empty pot. Fill the pot with 4L of water and the crushed peppercorns. Add soaked dried scallop into the stock pot and continue boiling for another 1 ½ hours.
Add the chicken breast and pork belly in to the stockpot and boil till cooked. Once done, remove both from the pot, shred chicken meat and sliced up pork belly. Set aside.
Boil prawns with shell on in the pot until cooked. When the prawns are cooked, remove them from the pot and peel the shells.
Put the prawn’s shells back into the boiling prawn water and boil for another 5 mins before removing them.
Season the stock with salt, pepper and rock sugar and continue to cook for another 30 mins.
While the stock finishes cooking, whisk the eggs to make a thin omelette and then cut it in to strips. Set aside.
To Prep the Sambal Belacan
Using a pestle and mortar, grind all of the chillies and the belacan into a thick paste. Add in the calamansi lime juice and mix well. Adjust according to taste.
To Serve
Blanch the yellow egg noodles and bean sprouts in boiling water for 1 min. Transfer the cooked noodles in to a serving bowl.
Place a serving of the chicken, prawn, pork belly, dried scallop, egg omelette and bean sprouts on to the noodles. Ladle in hot stock and a few pieces of pork ribs.
Garnish with some garlic, oil, fried shallots, spring onions, chives and coriander.
Enjoy the lam mee with sambal belacan!
Calamari Salad
To Cook
Clean the squid, score the inside in a criss-cross pattern and cut into bite size pieces. Boil in water with a little vinegar added (this enhances the whiteness) until tender – approx. 30 secs.
Pound the chilli and the garlic in a mortar and stir in the fish sauce and lime juice. Pour this mixture over the squid.
Add the sliced lemon grass, spring onions, celery, mint and coriander leaves and mix lightly.
Line a serving dish with the lettuce leaves and spoon the salad on top. Garnish this Calamari salad with extra chillies.
Grilled Octopus Balls (Takoyaki)
To Cook
Make the batter by whisking together the flour, yamaimo, eggs, and dashi until smooth.
Brush sesame oil on the insides of the takoyaki pan to generously coat the entire surface, and then place the pan over low heat. Preheat for about 2 mins.
When the pan is ready, pour batter into each mould to fill in three-fourths full. To each mould, add about 2 pieces of octopus and a pinch of spring onions. Add more batter to each mould until they are full. Make sure to not overflow the moulds.
Cook for about 3 mins. Carefully dip each takoyaki using chopsticks or a skewer.
Cook for about 3 more minutes. At this point, the takoyaki should be nicely browned all over and is springy and soft in the inside.
Use chopsticks or a skewer to transfer the takoyaki to a plate.
Drizzle okonomiyaki sauce over the takoyaki, garnish with aonori and bonito flakes, and serve immediately.
Shortcut Tom Yum Noodle Soup
To Cook
Bring water to the boil. Add noodles and cook for 4 mins.
Add contents of flavouring sachet, tomato, mushroom and prawns; cook for 1 min.
Ladle into soup bowls and garnish with coriander. Serve.
Fried Dace with Noodles
To Cook
Soak noodles in boiling water until soft.
Place fried dace in a bowl. Cover and microwave until warm.
Heat oil in wok, add garlic and fry vegetables until cooked.
Place noodles on a plate, top with dace and arrange vegetables around dace.
Fried Scallop Wontons
To Prep
Combine soy sauce, green onion, palm sugar, coriander and wasabi paste.
Place a wonton wrapper on the palm of the hand. Top with one scallop, then spoon over a little soy sauce mixture.
Brush water around the edge of the wrapper. Press edges to seal. Set aside. Continue with remaining ingredients.
To Cook
Heat oil in wok. Fry wontons, a few at a time for 2-3 mins, turning halfway through cooking.
Drain on paper. Garnish with coriander and serve with extra soy sauce.