Asian Inspirations

Discover the authentic in Asian cuisine food

Vegetables

Korean Soybean Paste Hotpot (Doenjang Jjigae)

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To Cook
Add water and dried anchovies to a Korean clay pot or a sauce pan. Bring this to a boil, skim off impurities that float to the top. Reduce heat and simmer the stock for about 10-12 mins. Discard the anchovies and add more water if stock has reduced considerably during cooking.
Add the potatoes and cook at a simmer until the potatoes have softened. Add onions,garlic and soy bean paste into the pot and bring the soup to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for about 5 mins and add in the rest of the ingredients except chilli powder. Simmer the soup until the zucchini have slightly softened.
Sprinkle in chilli powder (if using) at the end of cooking. Jjigae should be served bubbling hot in the clay pot.
Your Doenjang jjigae is ready!

You can add mushrooms, seafood and other vegetables into jjigae. Also substitute dried anchovies with beef if preferred. Quickly sauté beef with garlic in the clay pot before adding water if using beef.

Kimchi Pancake (Kimchijeon)

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To Cook
Mix water to the buchim mix in a bowl and lightly whisk.
Add kimchi and onions to the batter.
Heat frying pan with 2-3 tbsp of oil. Ladle ½-¾ cups of batter to the pan and swirl batter so that it’s flat and round.
Panfry until crisp on either side, turning over once. Place on a plate with kitchen towel to drain oil.
Repeat with remaining batter and add more oil for each pancake.
Mix all the soy dipping sauce ingredients together and serve.
Your Kimchi buchim is ready to be devoured.
Tip: If not using buchim mix, substitute with 1 cup of plain flour, 2 tbsp of rice flour, 1 egg, ¼ tsp salt and ¼ tsp soy sauce.

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).

Tofu and Mushroom Green Curry

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To Cook
Bring coconut milk, curry paste, fish sauce and sugar to boil in a wok; stir occasionally.
Add mushrooms and eggplant; simmer for 2 mins or until cooked.
Add tofu, kaffir lime leaves and basil leaves. Simmer for 1 min and remove from heat.
Garnish with chilli and basil. Serve hot with steamed rice.

Korean Army Base Stew (Budae Jjigae)

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To Cook
Gently cook mince in a heated pan and add garlic, making sure not to caramelise meat. Add water, bring it to a boil, skim off any scum that may float to the top. Simmer stock for about 10 mins. Reserve stock.
Combine gochugaru, sake, gochujang and soy sauce in a small bowl.
Neatly place spam, sausage, zucchini, onions, rice cakes, baked beans, kidney beans and chilli mixture in a jeongjol pan (shallow but wide pan). Pour in stock and bring it to a boil and simmer until the vegetables are cooked and the rice cakes have softened, should take about 5 mins.
Add in green onions, chilli slices and tofu towards the end of cooking. Serve jjiae without ramen initially. Reheat soup and add ramen and cook for a few minutes for another serve of jiggae with the noodles. Budae jjigae is best served using table top cooking.

Kimchi Stew (Kimchi Jjigae)

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To Cook
Heat saucepan and add pork belly and sauté gently for a few minutes or until light in colour.
Add kimchi, minced garlic, onion and gochugaru and cook until kimchi is softened, about 5 mins.
Add kimchi juice and water to the pot and bring it to a boil. Skim off any impurities and simmer gently for about 15-20 mins, lid covered.
Add in tofu and simmer for another couple mins.
Add salt or soy sauce to taste, and garnish with spring onions.

Korean Kimchi Radish (Gak Dugi)

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To Prep
Add salt to radish in a big bowl and mix well. Leave for about 30 mins.
Add rice powder to cold water in a saucepan and mix until flour is dissolved. Bring flour mixture to a boil, stirring constantly. Cook until mixture comes to a paste. This should take about 2 mins. Let this cool.
Mix chilli powder to the cooled rice paste. Set aside.
Blend garlic, ginger, shrimp paste, fish sauce and half the onions. Set aside. Cut rest of onions into 2cm dices. Set aside this garlic mixture.
Drain radish well in a colander. Mix in the chilli powder mixture to the radish in a large bowl. Leave for at least 5 mins.
Mix in blended garlic mixture to radish as well as diced onions. Gently mix in sugar and green onions to radish. Season with extra salt and sugar if needed.
Pour kimchi into a clean, good quality Tupperware container or glass jar and leave to ferment at room temperature for at least 2-3 days. After this, keep radish kimchi in the fridge.

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.

Nyonya Style Pickled Vegetables (Achar)

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To Prep
Mix all the vegetables with 1 tbsp salt. Leave aside in a colander to drain off excess liquid for about 30 mins to get the crunchiness. This step can be skipped, if you prefer your vegetables to have softer bite.
Blend the spice paste in a food processor.

To Cook
Heat up the wok on medium heat. Heat oil and fry the blended spice paste until aromatic. Add vinegar and water, bring to boil. Add salt and sugar to taste.
Turn off fire, add all vegetables into the work and stir well, ground peanuts, sesame seeds.
Dish out, garnish with peanuts and sesame seeds, let it cool to store in a jar or container. Keep chilled in the fridge.
Note: Achar taste best overnight after the flavours have developed. It can last for about 4 weeks.

Northern Thai Sauce (Nam Prik Ong)

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To Prep
Combine dried chilli, lemongrass and salt in a mortar and pound until fine, adding shallot, garlic and salted soy bean, continue pounding until become fine paste.
Add tomatoes to the paste and gently pound together, until well combined Transfer the mixture into a mixing bowl, add the minced pork and mix well

To Cook
Stir fry chopped garlic in heated oil over low heat, until fragrant. Combine curry mixture and stir well, adding water and stir fry until well cooked and thickens. Remove from heat
Place the mixture in a serving bowl, top with spring onion and coriander. Serve as dipping with vegetables; ie. Carrot stick, cucumber, celery, etc. and pork crackling as an entrée.
Your Northern Thai Dipping Sauce is ready!
Hint: It is also good for topping rice vermicelli, served as a light meal, or used as cooking sauce for various stir fried.

Korean Seasoned Bean Sprouts

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To Cook
Rinse bean sprouts twice in cold water and blanch for 1 min or until the bean sprouts are slightly softened. Drain quickly.
When cool enough to handle, gently squeeze out the excess water.
Toss well with the remaining ingredients.
Sample and add more salt to your taste.

Chicken and Papaya Salad

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To Cook
Mix chicken with marinade ingredients.
Heat oil in a pan and pan fry chicken until golden brown and cooked through. Remove and allow to cool. Dice and set aside.
Mix all ingredients in a bowl and chill. Stir in seasoning mix ingredients before serving.