Asian Inspirations

Discover the authentic in Asian cuisine food

Seafood

Hot and Spicy Rice Cake (Tteokbokki)

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To Cook
Soak rice cakes in a bowl of cold water for about 20 mins if using rice cakes stored in the fridge or freezer. If using fresh rice cakes, there is need to soak. Pull rice cakes apart into individual pieces is they are stuck before cooking.
Fill saucepan with water and gochujang. Bring this to a boil. Put in the fish cakes and onions and simmer for about 5 mins. Alternatively, to lessen the spiciness, reduce gochujang and substitute with some tomato sauce for colour.
Add the rice cakes, garlic, gochugaru (chilli flakes), soy sauce, sugar and corn syrup and cook until the rice cake are soft, this should take about 5 mins.
Drizzle in some olive oil before serving.

To Serve
Tteokbokki can be served with hard-boiled eggs, cooked instant ramen or even fried mandu (Korean dumplings).

Mamak Mee Goreng

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To Make Fritters
Mix all the ingredients for fritter to form batter. Use a tablespoon to scoop a big dollop into hot oil and deep fried till golden brown. Cooled and cut into chunks.

To Make Chilli Paste
Remove seeds from dried chillies, soak in hot water for 15 mins and blend with 2 tbsp of water.
Heat up frying pan with 3 tbsp of oil and sauté the chilli paste over low heat till fragrant and oil is separated. Add in brown sugar, tamarind juice, salt and cook for 1 min. Set aside to cool.

To Cook Mamak Mee Goreng
Put 2 tbsp oil into frying pan and sauté the chopped onion and garlic.
Toss in fried tofu slices and boiled potatoes and fry for 1 min.
Add in 1 tbsp fried chilli paste (add 2 tbsp if you prefer spicier), squid and fry for 1 min.
Toss in the choy sum and squid, stir and put in the fritters and tomato wedges. Cook for 1 min.
Toss in the noodles then the sauce ingredients and stir for further 30 secs or till well mixed.
Push noodles to one side, pour beaten eggs, stir it till half cooked.
Bring noodles together with the eggs and fry till cooked.
Toss in bean sprouts and chillies, cook for 1 min and plate up.
Garnish with cucumber julienne, sliced green chillies and lime wedges. Serve.

Otak-Otak

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To Prep
Blend the spice paste ingredients in a food processor until fine.
Chop the fish fillet into small pieces; blend it with rice flour, kaffir lime leaves, salt and sugar until fine.
Combine the blended fish paste and spice paste mix well, add in eggs and coconut milk and stir well.
Spread a tablespoon of the combined paste in the middle of the banana leaves, fold the leaf over the paste, tuck both ends underneath the parcel and secure with toothpicks in both ends. Repeat until all paste is used.

To Cook
Heat up wok and boil water. Steam for 10 mins over rapidly boiling water.
Unwrap the leaves and serve this otak-otak immediately.

Assam Fish Curry

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To Prep
Blend chilli paste ingredients into paste.

To Cook
Heat oil in a wok or pot, add in blended chili paste, sauté till fragrant.
Add curry powder, curry leaves and lemongrass, stir to mix well.
Add tamarind juice and tomato, bring to boil.
Add the water and bring it all to boil again.
Add fish cutlets, season with salt and sugar, cook fish till done.
Add in okra and cook for 1 min.
Dish your Assam Fish Curry and serve with rice.

Penang Prawn Noodle (Hokkien Mee)

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For prawn Soup Stock
Place 600g pork rib in a pot. Separately boil some hot water. Once boiled, scoop hot water over pork ribs, lightly blanch it and drain water out.
Add all stock ingredients including 600g blanched pork rib. Bring to full boil and then turn over to low heat and leave to slow boil for 1½ hrs. Season with rock sugar and salt.
Strain stock, retain soup. Add in the sambal chili paste – sambal recipe below (2½ tbsp or adjust to your preference).

For Sambal Chilli Paste
Blend (Part A) till it becomes a paste.
Heat oil in wok, add in blended (Part A), sauté for 10 mins.
Add in chopped dried shrimps from (Part B), continue to cook for 5 mins.
Add in seasonings in Part B and dish out set aside.

For Other Ingredients
200g fresh shrimps, stir fry in the same wok after dishing out the sambal paste, season with salt, set aside.
200g chicken breast, blanch in the prawn soup stock for 15 mins, remove and sliced or shredded then set aside.
Water spinach (kangkung), blanch in hot water. Drain and set aside.
Bean sprouts, blanch in hot water, drain and set aside.
Yellow noodles and rice vermicelli, blanch in hot water, drained and set aside.

To Serve
Place noodles into serving bowl, top up with prawn soup stock and garnish with bean sprouts, water spinach (kangkung), hard-boiled eggs, chili shrimps, pork slices, sliced fish cakes, fried pork lards and fried shallots.

Nasi Goreng Kampung

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To Cook
Puree everything in (Part A) except oil. If you can’t get it smooth, add the oil, stir and blend again. It’ll get finer.
Heat wok on medium heat. Add oil and if including anchovies, fry anchovies till golden and crispy, drain and dish up.
With remaining oil in wok, put in (Part A) and 1 tsp salt and carefully fry it until fragrant.
Put in rice and turn the heat on high. Toss until it looks even, push the rice aside.
Crack your eggs and put it in the center. Spread the eggs around. Immediately push the rice onto the eggs and toss the rice, making sure the eggs at the bottom are all brought up and broken up. Fry for a while.
Put water convolvulus or choy sum. Toss for 5-10 secs, not too long. Dish up and serve this delicious Nasi goreng kampung.

Nasi Lemak with Sweet Sambal

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To Cook
Place washed rice, salt and knotted pandan leaves in an electric rice cooker.
Add coconut milk, water, ginger and salt over the rice and leave to soak for 30 mins.
Then press “Cook”. Once cooked and on “keep warm” button, fluff rice with a ladle or chopsticks. Leave it on to  keep warm.
For sweet sambal, roast peanut on dry wok (no oil) on low heat, stirring to avoid burning peanut. When the peanuts are browned to liking, put the dish aside to cool.
Blend A (with little water) till fine paste.
Heat cooking oil in a wok, deep fry 1 cup of ikan bilis ( dried anchovies) till golden brown. Dish aside.
Add in blended A into remaining oil, sauté till fragrant and aromatic.
Add gula Melaka, tamarind peel, ½ cup water and salt, continue to sauté over low flame for 15-20 mins. When the paste becomes thick, taste and add more to your preference. Dish out.
Serve with coconut rice and garnish with fried anchovies, cucumber slices, hard-boiled eggs and toasted peanuts.”/

Pineapple Fried Rice

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To Prep
Cut prawns into small pieces and coat with ½ tsp fish sauce. Cut chicken fillet into small cubes and coat with ½ tsp fish sauce.

To Cook
Brown chicken meat over medium heat until cooked. Set aside. Stir fry prawns until cooked, set aside.
Stir fry onion in heated oil over medium heat until fragrant, combine cooked rice and stir through. Add fish sauce, sugar and pepper, mix well.
Combine pineapple, chicken meat, prawns and pineapple juice, mix through raise up the heat, add capsicums and stir fry until well cooked. Remove from heat.
Omelette strips: Heat 1 tsp oil in a pan over medium heat. Pour 1 well beaten egg in the middle and move the pan to spread out the egg thinly. Place the pan over the heat until the egg is set and slightly brown. Roll the egg and remove from heat, thinly sliced when it cools down.
Top this Thai pineapple fried rice with omelette strips when served.

Malaysian Indian Fish Curry

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To Cook
In a pot, heat oil and saute (Part A) until fragrant. Add in Spice Paste, stir to mix well.
Add in tamarind mixture and coconut milk, bring to boil.
Add in the fish cutlets, ladies fingers and wedged tomato, cook for 5-10 mins over medium heat.
Season with salt and sugar, taste and adjust accordingly.
Dish out and serve your Malaysian Indian Fish Curry in style!

Grilled Scallops with Daikon and Cold Noodle Sauce

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To Cook
Carefully remove the scallops from the half shells. Set the scallops aside and boil the shells for 1 min. Dry and lay out onto 4 plates.
To make the sauce, bring to a boil the dashi, mirin, soy and chopped shrimp, turn down and simmer for 6 mins. Strain and cool.
Place a small amount of the somen noodles onto each scallop shell and top with a little of the finely cut daikon.
Place the butter into a pre-heated grill pan. When it starts to foam, add the scallops and cook each side for 1 min.
Place a scallop onto each shell, spoon some of the cold sauce over each and finish with a coriander sprig.

Stir-Fried Squid with Black Bean Sauce

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To Cook
Cut open squid tubes and score in a crossed pattern, cut into bite-sized pieces.
Heat the oil in the wok and cook the garlic until it starts to sizzle, but does not colour.
Add the squid pieces and stir-fry until they start to become firm and white.
Add the black bean sauce and chilli and cook until tender.
Sprinkle the squid with coriander leaves and serve with steamed Jasmine rice.