To Cook
Heat ½ cup coconut milk over low heat. Add Valcom Red Curry Paste and stir-fry until fragrant.
Mix the remaining coconut milk with water. Turn up the heat, then slowly add milk mixture to curry, along with fish sauce and sugar.
Bring to the boil over high heat, then add the fish, one piece at a time, until well cooked.
Garnish with Valcom Kaffir Lime Leaves and red chilli, then remove from heat.
Seafood
Marinated Shrimps
To Cook
Bring the shrimps and water to a boil in a large saucepan. Immediately reduce the heat and simmer for 2-3 mins until the shrimp turns pink. Quickly drain and plunge the shrimps into a basin of iced water for 30 secs to stop the cooking. Drain, peel and devein the shrimp. Transfer to a serving platter and set aside.
Grind the chillies, shallots and belimbing or tamarind juice to a smooth paste in a mortar or blender. Add a little lime or lemon juice for a more sour taste if desired. Set aside.
Add the ground paste to the shrimp and toss gently until well coated.
Garnish with parsley or coriander leaves, and serve with a small bowl of sweet chilli sauce on the side.
Stir-fried Jicama with Shredded Cuttlefish (Ju Hu Char)
To Cook
In a small pot, boil water and cook the pork belly for about 20 mins. Let it cool and cut into long strips. The water now becomes the stock base for the dish. Set stock aside.
Heat 6 tbsp of oil to saute ingredients A till fragrant. Dish out the garlic and shallots and set aside roughly 3 tbsp of the now flavoured oil.
With the remaining oil in the wok, add the thinly sliced pork, ingredients B and saute till cooked. Dish out on a large plate.
In the same wok, pour in the balance of the flavoured oil and ngredients C. Add enough stock to cover vegetables and simmer until all the moisture dries up. Add in stir fried ingredients B and mix well.
Ju Hu Char is great eaten in a lettuce wrap, topped with sambal belacan. You can also garnish with crispy shallots or chopped coriander.
Thai Fried Rice (Khao Phat)
To Cook
Heat oil in a wok, add onions and fry until soft.
Add prawns, pork and red curry paste, saute until pork is done.
Add rice and stir continuously until well mixed and fairly dry. Push the mixture to one side of the pan.
Add eggs, stir-fry until done and stir into rice.
Garnish and serve with cucumber.
Stir-fried Seafood Combination with Spicy Sauce
To Cook
Blend all Curry Paste ingredients in a food processor.
Heat up the pan with the oil, add the curry paste and kaffir lime leaves and stir until golden and fragrant.
Add the seafood together with one cup of water, stir until cooked and add the rest of the ingredients.
Garnish with mint and chilli.
Ayam Semor with Sambal Goreng Buncis Udang Petai
Sambal Terasi
Pour oil into a frypan and stir in the chillies, garlic, shallots and belacan. Continue stirring until soft.
Transfer into a food processor or mortar & pestle together with the sugar, salt and chicken stock powder. Blend until smooth.
When cool transfer to a jar with a airtight lid, store in refrigerator.
WARNING:- Best to cook this outside as the fumes from the chilli while cooking can be very overpowering, making it hard to breathe.
Ayam Semor
Place the chicken pieces into a large bowl. Rub the salt & white pepper together with 1 tbsp of the ABC Kecap Manis, cover and let stand for ½ hour.
While the chicken is marinating, cut the eggplant into 1cm thick slices, spray with cooking spray and bake under a grill until golden brown on both sides. Set aside.
In a jug make up the chicken stock powder with the cup of boiling water, stir to dissolve.
In a deep pan heat the remaing oil and brown the chicken pieces. Set aside.
Without adding extra oil fry the onions, garlic and ginger until soft.
Add the cloves, nutmeg and return the chicken pieces together with any resting juices to the pan. Pour over 3 tbsp of ABC Kecap Manis and the stock liquid. Stir to make sure each piece of chicken has been costed with the sauce. Salt & pepper to taste.
Bring to the boil, cover and reduce the heat and simmer for 25 mins. Remove the chicken from the sauce and arrange the eggplant in a single layer on the base of the pan. Return the chicken back on top. Cover and simmer for a further 5 mins.
Sambal Goreng Buncis Udang Petai
Top and tail the beans and slice on the diagonal.
In a saucepan pour in the oil and fry the onion and garlic on a medium to low heat until the onions have softened.
Toss in the fresh beans and continuously stir for 5 mins.
Add the sambal terasi, tamarind paste, shaved palm sugar and the petai beans.
Pour in the TCC Premium Coconut Milk, salt & pepper to taste. Bring to the boil, cover and reduce heat and cook until the beans are just tender.
Add the prawns in a layer on top (do not stir through). Cover and cook until they have just turned a lovely pinky orange. This step will not take long, so do not leave the kitchen, as you do not want to overcook them. Remove from heat and stir through.
Serve both dished with fluffy white Jasmine rice.
Salt and Pepper Squid
To Prep
Use a sharp knife to cut through one side of each squid hood length ways. Open out flat with inside surface facing up and score surface diagonally. Cut into 3.5cm squares and pat dry with paper towel.
Heat the oil in a large wok over medium heat until it reaches 190°C on a confectionery/oil thermometer. (Or, add a 5cm cube of bread to the oil – it should turn light golden in 10 secs)
Meanwhile, combine the flour, salt, pepper, Chinese five-spice and chilli in a medium bowl. Add the squid and toss gently to coat.
To Cook
Remove half of the squid from the flour mixture and shake off any excess. Add to the oil and cook, turning with a slotted metal spoon, for 2 mins or until the squid just turns golden and curls. Use the slotted spoon to transfer the squid to a large plate lined with paper towel to drain. Reheat the oil in the wok to 190°C. Repeat with the remaining squid.
Serve immediately with lemon wedges and chilli soy sauce.
Osaka Style Japanese Pancake (Osaka Style Okonomiyaki)
To Prep
Mix 100g okonomiyaki flour with 100ml water together and set aside.
Finely chop cabbage and spring onion and add to batter mix. You could add in your chosen fillings.
Add egg and mix the ingredients together. Do not over mix.
To Cook
Heat up a frying pan, add in 1 tsp oil and spread evenly. Pour okonomiyaki mixture into a round pancake shape in the centre of the pan. If using meat, cook the meat separately so it is ready to add into the pancake.
Once the underside of the pancake is brown in colour, add the cooked meat to the top, flip over and cook the other side. Press down on pancake with a spatula to make it an even thickness.
When both sides of the okonomiyaki are golden brown, flip on to a plate and cut into slices like a pizza.
Lashing the pancake with okonomiyaki sauce and mayonnaise, sprinkle with bonito flakes, aonori seaweed, tenkasu tempura flakes and server with a portion of pickled ginger.
Tips
If you do not find Okonomiyaki Flour, use 100g of plain flour mixed with 75ml of dashi or water and 1 tsp of baking powder.
While the first side is cooking, try frying up some yakisoba noodles and flipping the pancake on to these when cooking the other side.
Try laying streaks of bacon on the top before flipping sides.
Sambal Prawns
To Cook
Heat oil in a wok and fry onion for about 2 mins, or until transparent.
Add the prawns, sambal oelek and kaffir lime leaves, then stir-fry on medium heat for 3 mins.
Add the sugar and stir for another 3 mins or until prawns are cooked.
Sprinkle with a few drops of sesame oil and serve immediately with rice or noodles.
Thai Laksa with Prawns (Laksa Goong)
To Cook
Prepare the noodle as per packet instruction. Drain and divide between 2 serving bowls.
Heat oil then add Valcom Laksa Paste and stir-fry over low heat until fragrant. Add the prawns and stir well until cooked.
Add light coconut milk and bring to the boil. Spoon soup over noodles in bowls, then garnish with beansprouts and coriander.
Hint: chicken fillet can be used in place of prawns.
Sizzling Saigon Crepes (Banh Xeo)
To Prep
Finely mix the rice flour, turmeric powder and salt. Add water and coconut milk and whisk well until the ingredient is smooth. Sieve through to ensure no lumps inside the mixture. Rest the batter for 30 mins.
To Cook
Use a large fry pan or non-stick saute pan, heat up with high heat. Add 1 tbsp lard/oil and then add one portion of pork, shrimp, onions, scallions, and mushrooms (and salt to taste) to stir fry until the pork and shrimp are half done.
Add in ½ cup of batter into pan, swirl pan to coat bottom evenly. Add bean sprouts over one half of the crepe.
Drizzle in 1 more tbsp of lard/oil around the edge of crepe and lower heat to medium.
Cover pan and cook for 1 min. Remove cover and continue to cook until edges begin to brown.
Loosen crepe from bottom of pan with a soft silicon spatula (hard spatula would break the crepe). When bottom turns light brown and crispy, fold crepe to encase bean sprouts.
To Prep Nuoc Cham Sauce
Add fish sauce, water, sugar and lime juice into a small bowl and mix well until sugar is completely dissolved.
Add garlic and chilies and stir, serve as tableside condiment.
To Serve
Roll pieces of cooked Banh Xeo in a lettuce leaf, dip in Nuoc Cham sauce and eat immediately.
Crystal Shrimps
To Cook
Dry the shrimps with paper towel. Mix them with cooking wine, egg white, and half of the cornstarch with water. Stir it until the shrimps are well coated and look glistening.
Heat the oil and add the shrimps, stir quickly for a few seconds. Add the chicken powder and the rest of the cornstarch water. Avoid overcooking the shrimps.