To Cook
Place the fish pieces into a blender or food processor and pulse for a few seconds, then add all the other ingredients, except the banana leaves and grind to a thick paste. Set aside.
To make the banana leaves flexible so you can fold easily, scald the banana leaves by pouring boiling water over them in a basin. Drain and place the leaves on a clean work surface. Scoop 3 heaped tablespoons of the fish mixture onto the centre each piece of banana leaf (or aluminium foil). With a firm hold, fold one side of the banana leaf over the other to form an elongated package. Then hold the ends of the banana leaves and fold in both corners to form a triangular tip. Seal package on both ends with toothpicks. Repeat until all the fish mixture is used up.
Grill each parcel directly over the hot charcoal or in a preheated oven for 10 to 15 minutes, turning from time to time until the banana leaf wrapper is charred. Serve them hot.
Vegetables
Turmeric Rice with Chicken Curry (Nasi Kunyit)
For the Nasi Kunyit
Wash the glutinous rice and soak with turmeric powder for at least 2 hours.
Boil water in a steamer for 15 minutes. Place a muslin cloth inside the steamer and evenly spread the soaked rice onto the cloth.
To cool down the rice, use your finger or a spoon to make holes in the rice. Steam for 15 minutes and then sprinkle the rice with some water and mix into the rice. Steam for a further 15 minutes.
Add half of the coconut cream to the rice and mix well. Steam for a further 15 minutes.
Finally, add the remaining coconut cream, salt and white pepper to the rice and mix well and steam for another 3 minutes with the pandan leaves.
For the Chicken Curry
Grind or blend spice paste A ingredients together. Add in water (a third of the height of the paste).
Add spice mix B ingredients in and mix well with a spoon (adding powder to the wet paste will help to dry it out). Rest for 15 minutes.
Mix 20ml coconut cream with 270ml water to make a light coconut milk. Set aside 70ml of coconut cream.
In a pot or wok and cooking oil, cinnamon stick, star anise and cloves and fry quickly at medium heat. Add the spice mix and saute. Keep stirring to prevent the paste from sticking to the sides of the wok or pan.
When the bubbles become smaller, add in the chicken. Keep stirring to make sure the chicken is coated with the curry paste. Maintain heat on medium to avoid burning the chicken.
Add the light coconut milk and potatoes and bring to a boil. Turn the heat down to medium to allow the chicken to cook and reduce the gravy by half (this should take about 20 minutes).
When the chicken is tender add salt and the remaining 70ml of coconut milk and bring to the boil for 2 minutes. Serve warm with nasi kunyit.
Crispy Lotus Chips
To Prep
Combine the water and rice vinegar in to a large bowl.
Clean the lotus root and proceed to cut it in to thin slices before placing them in to the vinegar mixture. This will help stop any discoloration from forming on the slices.
Rinse the chips and drain them well. Pat off any of the excess water using a paper towel.
To Cook
Heat up a pan of oil to about 180 degrees Celsius and cook the lotus root in batches. Fry the chips until they become crispy and golden.
Transfer the cooked chips on to paper towels to drain off the excess oil and to cool. Season the chips with salt and serve!
Pandan Glutinous Rice Balls with Palm Sugar (Onde-Onde)
To Cook
Put 2 tbsp glutinous rice flour (from the 200g) in a pan with 4 tbsp water over heat and stir until transparent.
Mix all the ingredients together except the water and coconut. Slowly mix in the water until dough forms.
Divide into 15gm balls, flatten dough and insert cubed gula melaka. Wrap them into a ball.
Cook the balls into a pot of boiling water and when they float, remove and coat with grated coconut.
Japanese Green Tea Rice (Ochazuke)
To Prep
Prepare hot Japanese green tea
Microwave cold rice and divide into two bowls.
Layer rice with salmon flakes, seaweed, sesame seeds, spring onion, mirin and however much wasabi you like.
Pour hot green tea over rice and serve immediately. Garnish with crispy puffed rice.
Add the desired amount of soy sauce to your personal liking.
Red Braised Lion’s Head Meatballs (Hong Shao Shi Zi Tou)
To Prep
Make the potato starch flurry by combining the potato starch and water together and mixing. Set aside.
In a mixing bowl, combine the pork and the water together and mix. Add in the ginger, water chestnuts, scallion, rice wine, sesame oil and salt. Stir well to combine and then divide in to 5 large meat balls.
To help sear the meatballs, dust them lightly with cornstarch.
To Cook
In a wok or frying pan, heat up the oil over a high heat. When the wok begins to lightly smoke, add in the meatballs and fry until the meatballs have evenly browned.
When the meatballs have browned, remove them from the wok and set them aside. Don’t worry about if the meatballs are still uncooked as they will be braised.
In a steamer, steam the wombok leaves until the leaves are soft and wilted. Remove them from the steamer and set them aside.
In a claypot, place some of the wombok leaves on to the bottom to form a base. Add in the meatballs and pour in the stock, soy sauce and sugar. Cover the meatballs with the remaining wombok leaves and cover with the lid.
Set the claypot on to a stove and bring to a boil over a high heat before reducing to a simmer and letting braise for 60-90 mins.
To Serve
When the dish has finished braising, transfer the meatballs on to a serving plate and garnish with the wombok leaves.
Retain the braising liquid and add in the slurry to thicken the broth. Spoon the thickened broth on to the serving plate and garnish with spring onions.
Lion’s Head (Shi Zi Tou) Meatballs with Mung Bean Threads
To Prep
In a mixing bowl, break up the tofu in to really small pieces.
Add minced pork, soy sauce, white pepper, sesame oil, wine, minced ginger, 1 tbsp of salt and corn starch into the mixing bowl. Mix well.
Start making your meatballs. It should be the size of your fist as it is called Lion’s Head.
To Cook
In a frying pan, add oil and heat over medium heat. In small batches, sear meatballs until golden brown on one side carefully as you do not want to break them. Rotate them to sear evenly and to maintain its round meatball shape. Transfer seared meatballs to a bowl.
Retain the fat and oil from cooking the meatballs and add in the wombok to saute until they have turned slightly yellow and wilted. Remove the wombok from the pan and set aside.
In a claypot, add meatballs, followed by shiitake mushrooms and stock. Bring to boil and simmer for 30-45 mins. Add wombok to the claypot 10 mins before serving.
Then add the soaked mung bean threads to the pot, close the lid. This should take about 1-2 mins to cook.
To Serve
Remove the claypot from the stove and garnish with spring onions on top. Serve immediately with rice.
Fast and Fab Okonomiyaki
To Prep
In a mixing bowl, combine the flour, salt and sugar, before adding the dashi to make a slurry.
Split the cabbage and spring onions equally in to two bowls. This is done to make two pancakes, although it can be divided in to smaller portions to make more, smaller pancakes.
Add two eggs along with half of the slurry in to each of the bowls. If using prawns, add them equally among the bowls. Mix all of the ingredients well until they have been coated in the mixture.
To Cook
In a large pan at medium heat, add 1 tablespoon of oil and coat the pan. Pour in one on the bowls and form a disk shaped pancake with about 2 to 3 centimetre thickness. If using pork in the recipe, place the pork sliced on top of the pancake.
Cover the pan with a lid and cook the okonomiyaki for about 5 minutes or until the bottom has become firm.
Flip over the okonomiyaki and cook the other side for another 3 minutes with the lid closed.
Flip the okonomiyaki over to check if it has cooked through. When cooked, remove from the pan and brush with the okonomiyaki sauce and drizzle with the mayonnaise.
To serve, garnish with bonito flakes, pickled ginger and sprinkle with aonori!
Fried Rice Vermicelli (Fried Bee Hoon)
To Cook
Prepare rice vermicelli by soaking in warm water until they turn soft. Drain and set aside in a colander to rid of excess water.
In a small bowl, mix chicken slices with cornstarch and 1 tsp soy sauce then, set aside to marinate.
Heat 2 tbsp oil a frying pan or wok. In the meantime, whisk 2 eggs in a bowl and fry the omelette. Set aside to cool then, slice omelette into thin long strips. The omelette will be the finishing touch to the fried bee hoon.
Mix all the seasoning ingredients in a bowl and set aside.
In a frying pan or wok, heat 4 tbsp oil over medium-high heat. Stir-fry garlic until aromatic, then add chicken slices and continue cooking until half done.
Add in rice vermicelli to the frying pan/wok, then followed by the seasonings. Using a pair of chopsticks or tongs, stir and mix the rice vermicelli continuously to blend well with the seasoning. Continue cooking for a few more minutes until the rice vermicelli is soft and no longer wet. Then, add in the bean sprouts and chopped spring onions and stir-fry for another couple of minutes.
Remove from heat and serve on a sharing platter or in individual plates. Top with sliced omelette, a sprinkling of chopped spring onions and fried shallots.
Nabeyaki Udon
To Prep
Soak kombu in the water for 30 mins in a pot and turn on the heat to medium. Remove from heat when water begins to boil.
Add bonito flakes then return to heat. Allow the water to simmer for another 1 min.
Strain the stock into a clean bowl.
To Cook
Boil the spinach in the water and drain when done. Divide into 4 portions and set aside.
Add the mirin, soy sauce, and salt to the dashi stock. Portion a quarter of the dashi stock into 4 individual sized clay pots.
Add the chicken to the soup and simmer until it has cooked through.
Add in the udon noodles, and let it cook for a few mins as per packet instructions.
Place the fishcake and a portion of boiled spinach on top and simmer in the soup for a few mins.
Drop in an egg into the broth. Then add a few slices of leek on top.
Remove the clay pot from the heat and serve hot.
Laksa Johor
To Prep
Poach the fish until cooked. Then separate the cooked flesh from the bone. Keep the cooking liquid and bones.
Finely blend the bones, fins, and tails together with the cooking liquid using a blender.
Strain the fish stock through a fine-mesh sieve and set aside.
Clean and gut your prawns but reserve the head and shells. Blend the prawn flesh into a paste and reserve for later.
Boil the prawn heads and shells in 3-4 cups of water then transfer into a blender and finely blend.
Strain the prawn stock through a fine-mesh sieve. Set it aside.
Meanwhile, blend the dried shrimps and salted fish with some water until you get a paste. Reserve for later.
Finely blend the shallots, garlic, galangal, ginger, and dried chillies in a blender.
Dry toast the anise and coriander seeds in a frying pan until fragrant. Then, rind using a mortar and pestle.
Heat up some oil in a large pan or wok. Sauté the blended aromatics together with the stalk of lemongrass.
When fragrant, add in the ground herbs and curry powder. Sauté until the oil splits.
Next, add in the fish stock, followed by the prawn stock. Bring the soup up to a boil and add in the coconut milk.
Then add to the soup, the blended dried shrimp, blended salted fish, blended prawn flesh, and cooked fish flesh.
Allow the soup to simmer then add in the slices of asam keping, palm sugar, toasted coconut, torch giner, Thai basil, and Vietnamese coriander.
Season with salt and sugar to taste. Bring the soup up to a boil and allow to thicken slightly.
To Cook
Prepare the spaghetti according to packet instructions, and portion in a soup bowl.
Toss the snake beans with Thai basil and Vietnamese mint until uniformly mixed.
Garnish the noodles with cucumber, bean sprouts, and snake beans and herb mix.
Ladle the hot soup over the noodles. Serve.
Vegetarian Char Siew
To Prep
Place all ingredients into a mixing bowl and knead for 15-20 mins until you get smooth dough by using a stand mixer with a dough hook attachment.
Rest the dough at room temperature for an hour.
Transfer the dough to a basin and cover the dough with water.
“Wash” the dough as though hand washing clothes. Tip out the water when the water gets too cloudy and fill with fresh water.
“Wash” the dough until the water remains clear.
After tipping out the water, what remains is the wheat gluten.
To Cook
Cut the wheat gluten into 3 equal portions and stretch into equally long pieces.
Plait the gluten and seal the ends to help the meat gluten mimic the shape of lean meat.
Boil gluten in a pot for approximately 30mins or until it floats to the surface.
Let the cooked gluten cool to room temperature and undo the plait.
In a bowl, combine all the marinated ingredients and mix well. Next, add the wheat gluten to the bowl and coat thoroughly. Allow it to be marinated for at least 3-4 hours, preferably overnight.
Then, heat up the oil in a wok or port to deep fry.
Deep fry the gluten for about 10 mins. Remove the gluten from the oil and drain any excess oil.
Add a little oil to a frying pan, and then add the marinade. Sauté until the sauce thickens.
Slice the vegetarian char siew and drizzle the sauce over. Serve.