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.
Vegetables
Vietnamese Fried Spring Rolls (Nem rán / Chả giò)
To Prep
Boil water and soak noodles for 30 mins.
Combine all the ingredients for the filling together to form a sticky mixture.
Chop the soaked mung bean noodles into shorter threads and combine with filling.
To roll the cha gio, place a piece of spring roll paper on a clean, wet kitchen towel. Place 1 heaped tablespoon of filling on the moist rice paper, fold the rice paper over the filling, tuck in the sides, then roll to form a cylinder about 3 inches long.
Seal the wrap by dabbing a finger in the corn starch and lining the end of the wrap.
To Cook
Heat oil over medium heat in a wok or a large frying pan. When the oil is smoking, gently place a few cha gio in the oil. Fry them slowly until they turn lightly brown. Drain the excess oil by lining them over some paper towels.
Serve immediately with dipping sauce.
Japanese Pancake (Okonomiyaki)
To Prep
Partially freeze pork belly. Slice pork belly into thin pieces.
For the batter, combine and mix all ingredients in a large mixing bowl.
Add cabbage, pickled ginger and calamari to batter mix.
To Cook
Heat oil in a non-stick pan over medium heat. Add the mixture to frying pan, then 3 slices of pork belly. Cook okonomiyaki for 5 minutes until bottom is golden brown. Flip over.
Cook the other side for 7 minutes until it is golden brown.
Place on a plate.
Top with tonkatsu sauce, mayonnaise, bonito flakes and yaki nori strips. Serve hot.
Ants Climbing on a Tree
To Prep
Marinade the minced beef or pork with pinch of salt. Soak vermicelli as per instructions on packaging, drain and set aside.
To Cook
Heat oil in wok and fry the ground pork until aromatic. Set aside.
Add doubanjiang, minced garlic, sliced ginger and chopped shallot in wok and stir-fry over medium fire until the oil turns red and aromatic. Return pork to wok and add soy sauce. Mix well.
Pour water and bring everything to boil. Add soaked vermicelli and sugar, and stir-fry to mix everything well. There is no need to cook off all the liquid as the vermicelli continues to adsorb liquid after transferring out of the wok.
Sprinkle chopped green onions and serve hot.
Stir Fried Beef with Kai Lan
To Cook
Add 1 tsp each of corn starch, oil, and soy sauce to the beef in a bowl. Use your hands to massage these ingredients into the beef and set aside to marinate for 20 mins.
Heat a wok over high heat and add a tbsp of oil. When the oil starts to smoke, sear the beef for 30-60 secs, just until browned.
Remove from the wok and set aside.
Add 2 more tbsp of oil to the wok along with the ginger. Let the ginger caramelize for 15 secs.
Add the garlic and Chinese broccoli and stir fry for 1 min.
Add the beef, oyster sauce, soy sauce, salt, sugar, sesame oil, and hot beef stock then stir fry until mixed thoroughly.
Once the liquid comes to a boil, push the beef and vegetable away from the middle of the wok.
Stir in the corn starch slurry to thicken the sauce. Mix everything until the beef and vegetables are thoroughly coated.
Plate and serve over hot steamed rice.
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.
Cantonese Stir Fry Chicken
To Cook
Heat oil in a wok on high heat, add chicken and stir-fry until cooked through for 3-4 mins.
Add vegetables and sauce to pan and stir-fry until sauce thickens for 1-2 mins.
Garnish with sesame seeds, green onions and serve with steamed jasmine rice.
Watercress Soup (Sai Yong Choi Tong)
To Cook
Prepare the watercress by separating the leaves from the stalks.
Blanch the chicken carcasses in vigorously boiling water for 2-3 mins. Discard water and remove any impurities on the bones.
Blanch the pork in vigorously boiling water for about 10 mins, then discard water. Remove any impurities on the pork.
In a large pot, add the chicken carcasses, pork ribs, Chinese almonds, blacked eye peas and watercress stalks to 2l of water.
Turn on the heat to medium high and allow to boil for an hour.
After an hour, add the watercress leaves, red dates, and goji berries to the soup. Allow the soup to boil for at least another hour on medium heat.
Season with salt to taste. Serve hot.
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!
Nasi Lemak
To Prep
Wash the rice until the water runs clear.
Saute the lemongrass, pandan leaves, ginger, and shallots in a pot until fragrant.
Add the water and coconut milk to the pot and bring to a boil. Add a couple pinches of salt and mix thoroughly.
Pour the cleaned rice into a rice cooker pot together with the ingredients mentioned above.
Preparing the Sambal
Deep fry the half anchovies until crisp and golden.
In the frying oil on low heat, add in the chilli paste, minced onions, and garlic and cook until the onions are translucent.
Add in the sugar and mix thoroughly.
Next, mix in the tamarind paste and the rest of the anchovies and allow the sambal to cook over low heat.
Finally, add salt and sugar to taste.
To Assemble
Prepare a hard-boiled egg.
Scoop the cooked rice into a rice bowl, then cover with a plate. Then, flip over the plate and remove the rice bowl. Place the egg on or next to the rice.
Add a tbsp each of the fried anchovies, fried peanuts, and sambal. Garnish with a few slices of cucumber. Serve hot.