Asian Inspirations

Discover the authentic in Asian cuisine food

Vegetables

Slow Cooked Beef Cheek

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To Prep
Preheat an oven to 250°C.

To Cook
Heat oil in a frying pan over medium-high heat and cook the beef cheeks in batches until they have all been browned, then set aside.
Place the beef cheeks in a baking dish and add in the remaining ingredients. Add more water to cover the beef cheeks in needed.
Cover the dish with a lid and place it in the oven. Reduce the oven to 140°C and cook for about 4 hrs or until the cheeks have become fork-tender.
Once the cheeks have finished cooking, pour the liquid from the baking dish into a pan and reduce over a high heat.
Once the sauce has reduce, season with salt and pepper to taste.
Serve the beef cheeks with sauce and steamed rice.

Mum’s Curry Puffs

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To Prep
Combine the curry paste ingredients in a small bowl and set aside.
Mix the beef mince with the curry powder and chilli powder, and let marinate.
In a mixing bowl, combine the outer pastry ingredients together and knead into a soft dough.
Split the dough it to 7 equal sized balls.
In another bowl, combine the inner shell ingredients and knead until soft before once again splitting into 7 balls.
Roll out one of the outer shell ball enough so that they can be used to wrap one of the inner ball and repeat with the remaining dough.
Cover the dough balls with a damp towel so that they don’t dry out.
Saute the onions in a frying pan before adding the curry paste and cooking until fragrant. Add the seasoned minced meat and continue to fry until cooked through.
Add the potatoes and continue to fry before adding the water and simmering for 3 mins.
Season the filling with salt and sugar and then add the cornstarch mixed with the 2 tbsp of water.
Continue to cook until most of the moisture has evaporated from the filling and then remove from the heat and set aside to cool.
Dust one ball of dough with flour and roll out to a thickness of about 2 cm. Place a tbsp of the filling in to the centre, fold, seal and set aside. Repeat with the rest of the dough.

To Cook
Preheat an oven to 160°C and arrange the curry puffs on a baking tray lined with baking paper.
Cook the puffs for approximately 20-30 mins or until the curry puffs have turned golden in colour. Brush occasionally with an egg wash.
After the curry puffs have turned golden in colour, remove from the oven and allow them to cool before serving.

Homestyle Fried Rice Vermicelli (Bee Hoon)

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To Prep
In a bowl, combine the chicken ingredients. Cover with cling wrap and set aside to marinate for 30 mins.
Crack eggs into a separate bowl and whisk together with soy sauce and pepper.
In a separate bowl, combine sauce ingredients.

To Cook
Heat 1-2 tbsp oil in a pan over medium-high heat. Add garlic and shallots and stir fry until fragrant.
Add chicken pieces and stir fry until almost cooked.
Add Chinese broccoli and carrot, stir through and then cover with a lid until vegetables have softened slightly.
Remove lid and stir fry. Push chicken and vegetables to the side, and then add egg mixture. Allow to cook and scramble with a wooden spoon.
Add the vermicelli and sauce. Gently stir through and cover again for 10 mins.
Remove lid and cook until noodles are dry.
Serve.

Mum’s Nasi Lemak

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To Cook Rice
Coconut rice – Wash and rinse rice. Add the coconut milk, water and a pinch of salt. Add the ginger, salt, pandan leaves into the rice cooker and set it to cook.

To Make Tamarind Juice
Soak the tamarind pulp in water for 5-10 minutes. Squeeze the tamarind to extract the flavour into the water. Drain the pulp and save the tamarind juice.

To Cook Sambal Ikan Bilis
Rinse the ikan bilis and let it dry. Fry them until they turn light brown and separate them into two plates as you will need some to make the sambal ikan bilis and another portion to serve fried ikan billis.
In a blender or mortar and pestle, blend or pound the toasted belacan together with shallots, garlic, and dried chillies. Set aside.
Heat some oil in a pan and add in the onion rings until fragrant. Stir in the spice paste and fry until fragrant. Add in the ikan billis and stir well. Add tamarind juice, salt, and sugar. Simmer on low heat until the gravy thickens. Set aside.

To Serve
Optional: Place banana leaf on to the plate before plating up the rice.
Plate up the coconut rice and scoop some sambal ikan billis on top of the rice. Serve with cucumber slices, fried ikan billis, toasted peanuts and hard boiled eggs.

Tip
After rinsing, pat dry the ikan bilis with a kitchen paper towel, and spread out onto a plate. Place the ikan bilis in a microwave oven for 1 min on high. Give this a toss to mix, then repeat until the fish is dry. This will result in a crispier ikan bilis.
If using a food processor to grind the paste, adding some oil to the shallots, garlic and chillies can help these ingredients to blend easily. Do not add water, this will affect the quality and taste of the sambal.
Immediately plunging hard boiled eggs from the boiling water into an ice bath will prevent a grey layer from forming around the yolk.

Pork Belly Bao

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To Prep
In a steamer, steam the bao buns until they are light and fluffy.
Combine the mayonnaise and sriracha together to make sriracha mayo.
In a bowl, add shredded carrot. Cover with ⅓ cup salt and mix through. Allow to sit for 15 mins. Squeeze out liquid and rinse under water.
Add carrot into a bowl. Pour in enough vinegar to submerge the carrot. Add in sugar and salt, and stir to dissolve. Allow to sit for 20 mins.

To Assemble
Carefully open bao buns. In the middle, add the sriracha mayo, pork belly, pickled carrots, coriander and chilli.
Repeat this with the remaining ingredients and serve.

Grandma’s Banh Xeo

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To Prep
Scoop the coconut cream from the top of the can of coconut milk. You can discard the water or reserve it.
Add the rice flour, coconut milk cream, salt and 750ml water into a large mixing bowl. Whisk gently to combine.
Add turmeric, beer and spring onion. You may need to add more water to create a loose batter.
Allow to sit for 30-60 mins.
Add split mung beans into a saucepan. Add 1 cup of water and bring to the boil. Cook and continue slowly adding more water until mung beans are soft. Cover with cling wrap and set aside.
In a bowl, add shredded daikon and carrot. Cover with salt and mix through. Allow to sit for 15 mins. Squeeze out liquid and rinse under water.
Add daikon and carrot into a bowl. Pour in enough vinegar to submerge the vegetables. Add in sugar and salt, and stir to dissolve. Allow to sit for 20 mins.
Combine nuoc cham sauce ingredients in a bowl. Stir to dissolve sugar, then add pickled daikon and carrot. Stir through, cover with cling wrap and set aside.

To Cook
In a pan, heat 1 tbsp oil over medium-high heat. Add chicken mince and stir fry for 1 min. Add onion and stir fry until chicken mince is cooked and onion has softened. Stir through fish sauce, salt, sugar and pepper. Set aside.
Heat a seasoned wok or non-stick pan over high heat.
If using a wok, add 2 tbsp oil and rotate wok to coat sides with oil. If using a non-stick pan, use 1 tsp oil.
Stir batter and add approx. 1 cup of mixture into the wok or pan.
Quickly tilt the wok or pan and move in a circular motion to allow the batter to coat the surface.
Scatter a few prawns over the pancake, followed by some pork belly slices, 1-2 tbsp chicken mince, 1-2 tbsp mung bean, onion and bean sprouts.
Once edges have become golden brown and pull away from the side of the wok/pan, carefully fold in half using a spatula and your hands.
Slide onto a plate and serve immediately with nuoc cham sauce, cucumber, mint and lettuce.
Repeat with remaining ingredients until finished.

Temari Sushi

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To Make Sushi Rice
In a bowl, combine rice vinegar, sugar, and salt and mix well.
Pour into hot cooked rice and mix until well combined.
Roll the rice into rice balls.

To Make Temari Sushi
On a clean working bench, lay a sheet of plastic wrap and place the topping ingredient at the center. Dap a little wasabi on the sashimi, then place a rice ball on top.
Wrap the plastic firmly to form a ball shape. Repeat for the remaining toppings and rice balls.
Garnish the temari sushi with edible flowers or other seasonings to add more depth to the flavours. Serve with wasabi and soy sauce.

Balinese Tomato Chicken

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To Prep
Blend all spice paste ingredients.

To Cook
Heat pan over medium heat and stir-fry the paste until fragrant and the oil splits from the paste, about 5 mins.
Add tomatoes, ABC Sweet Soy Sauce Kecap Manis and tomato sauce, cook until the tomatoes break down to form a sauce.
Add chicken and simmer until cooked. Season with salt and stir in coriander stems.
Garnish with coriander leaves. Serve with steamed rice.

Vegan Spinach Dumplings

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To Make the Dough
Blend the spinach and water until smooth. Add more water if needed. Set aside ¼ cup of liquid.
Combine the flour and salt together in a large mixing bowl. Form a well in the middle.
Pour in reserved spinach puree and ¼ cup of boiling water. Mix in with a wooden spoon. Add remaining water.
Knead to form a ball. If too wet, add some more flour. Add more water if dough is too dry. Dough should be a soft texture.
Turn out dough onto a lightly floured surface. Knead for 2 mins until dough is smooth and slightly elastic.
Wrap dough tightly in cling wrap and allow to rest for 2 hrs at room temperature.

To Make the Filling
Place spinach in a microwave safe bowl and microwave for 2 mins, or until wilted.
Place wilted spinach in a sieve and press to drain liquid, and then finely chop.
Combine spinach with remaining filling ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Season with salt and pepper, then cover with cling wrap and set aside.

To Make Dumplings
On a lightly floured work surface, divide dough into four equal-sized pieces. Cover 3 with cling wrap or a wet tea towel.
Roll out dough until 2 mm thick.
Use a round pastry cutter, egg ring or glass to cut out circles of dough about 9-10 cm in diameter.
Add a heaped teaspoon worth of filling into the middle of a pastry circle. Wet the rim, then fold the dumpling, pleating on one side while squeezing to seal the top.
Repeat with remaining dough and filling.
In a pan, heat some oil over medium heat. Add dumplings and pan fry until bottoms are lightly browned.
Slowly pour in ½ water and cover with a lid. Cook for 5 mins.
Remove lid and continue to cook until water has evaporated and bottoms are golden brown.
Repeat with remaining dumplings.
Serve dumplings with sauce of your choice.

Baked Sweet Potato Chips

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To Prep
Preheat oven to 120°C. Line a baking sheet with baking paper.

To Cook
In a large bowl, add sliced sweet potatoes. Drizzle over oil and coat evenly.
Place on prepared baking sheet in a single layer. Sprinkle over with sea salt.
Bake for 2-2½ hours, flipping chips over every 30 mins, or until crispy.
Remove from oven and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Season with more sea salt and serve.

Crispy Pork Sandwich (Katsu Sando)

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To Prep
Preheat oven to 200°C. Line a baking tray with baking paper.
Place the pork chops between two sheets of cling wrap. Pound the meat using a meat mallet or the back of a knife until about 1.5-2 cm thick. Season with salt and pepper, and then set aside.

To Cook
Heat oil in a pan over medium heat. Add panko breadcumbs and toast until golden brown. Transfer to a plate or tray.
Add flour onto a separate dish.
Crack eggs into a bowl and whisk well.
Coat pork in flour, shaking off any excess. Dip in egg and allow excess to drip off. Coat in panko breadcrumbs, and then place onto prepared baking tray.
Bake for 15 mins or until cooked.
Remove from oven and allow to cool on a wire rack.
Spread butter or margarine onto the slices of bread.
Add tonkatsu on top of the bread. Drizzle tonkatsu sauce over the tonkatsu.
Add shredded cabbage on top of the tonkatsu. Place bread on top and slice sandwich in half. If preferred, slice off crusts before serving.