Asian Inspirations

Discover the authentic in Asian cuisine food

Vegetables

Meat-Free Okonomiyaki

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To Prep
In a small glass bowl, steep all the dry shiitake via packet instructions.
Add some cold water into a bowl. Make thin strips of the white part of spring onion and cut length ways. Then, add the spring onions into the bowl.
Drain mushrooms, reserving 1 cup shiitake flavoured water.
Chop half of the shiitake up roughly and add to a large bowl. Finely chop the rest.
Press dry with paper towels and toss in cornflour.
Shallow fry in some oil for a few mins until crunchy.
Using a food processor and thin slicing tool, shred the rest of the vegetables.
Whisk eggs, soy and shiitake water in a large bowl.
Add plain flour slowly while whisking. The batter will need to be of a thickened cream consistency.
Fold the vegetables into the egg mix.

To Cook
Add oil and butter into the frying pan.
Add in roughly half the vegetable batter mixture to coat the bottom.
Press down the vegetables on top to make the perfect circle. Add lid and cook for 5 mins on a low-medium heat. Take lid off.
Put a plate over saucepan and flip pancake onto plate.
Once flipped, put saucepan back on stove and add another dob of butter and oil.
Gently slide pancake into saucepan and cook with lid on for another 5 mins. Set aside.
In a bowl, add tomato ketchup, soy, Worcestershire, honey to make Okonomiyaki sauce. Mix well.
Drizzle the Okonomiyaki sauce over pancake. Add Japanese mayonnaise, shredded pickled ginger, crunchy shiitake mushrooms and strips of spring onion on top of the pancake.

Otak Otak

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To Cook
Place salmon fillets, egg, coconut milk, kaffir lime leaves, red curry paste, chopped onion, chopped spring onion, and turmeric powder in a blender and blend well to make otak otak paste.
Preheat BBQ grill.
To make banana parcels, place two banana leaf rectangles on a flat surface.
Place 2 tbsp of otak otak paste in centre of banana leaf rectangles and fold the left and right edges to the centre to make a banana boat. Secure ends with toothpicks.
Place on BBQ grill for 5-10 mins (or until cooked through).
Serve with turmeric coconut rice, boiled eggs, cucumber slices, tomato halves and peanuts for a complete meal.

Hakka Braised Pork Belly with Chinese Broccoli

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To Cook
Bring water to boil in a pot and cook the pork belly for 30 mins. After that, take out the pork belly and dry it with a clean towel.
In a saucepan, pour some oil and shallow fry the pork belly until they’re light golden brown in colour.
In the same sauce pan, add in all other ingredients and stir for a min.
Add water until the pork belly is covered and let simmer on medium heat until the sauce is reduced to a thick consistency.
Once the sauce is thick and the pork belly is tender, take it off the pan and set aside.
In the same pan, sauté the Chinese broccoli for 2-3 mins.
Serve the Chinese broccoli with the pork belly on top with rice.

Tom Yam Goong Noodle Bowl

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To Cook
Pour prawn stock into pot over medium-high heat.
When the stock starts to boil, add lemongrass, Valcom Tom Yum Paste, Squid Brand Fish Sauce, kaffir lime leaves and sugar to pot.
Stir gently to break down paste and leave to boil for a couple of minutes.
Add carrots, king prawns, snapper, mussels, straw mushrooms to pot and leave to boil for 2-3 mins.
Add the squid and baby corn to pot, allow to boil for 1-2 mins.
Lastly, add cherry tomatoes and remove pot from heat.
Add lime juice to pot, stirring gently.
Place noodles in a bowl, and ladle Tom Yum soup over noodles.
Garnish with fresh herbs and cut chilli.

Rice Noodles with Green Chicken Curry (Ka-nom Jeen Gaeng Keow Wan Gai)

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To Cook
Cook the noodles by following the instructions on the packet.
After the noodles are cooked, rinse them under tap water, drain in colander and twist the noodles into small balls, cover with cling wrap and put it aside.
Use a blender to blend 200ml of water, garlic, sliced lemongrass and chopped coriander until it is a dark green liquid.
Heat oil in a medium pot over medium heat.
Add curry paste with coriander seed powder then cook, stirring for about 4-5 mins or until fragrant and the oil starts to split on top of the curry paste.
Add about 200ml of thick cream from the top of the coconut cream can then cook for about 5 mins.
Increase the heat a bit higher and add sliced chicken then add another 200ml of coconut cream and green water of lemongrass and coriander liquid, let it boil.
Stir and cook it for about 6-8 mins or until the chicken is cooked through.
Reduce heat to medium heat and then add fish sauce, palm sugar and chicken stock powder.
Stir and cook for a few mins then taste and add more seasoning to suit your taste.
Then add both eggplants, and simmer for a further 2-3 mins or until eggplants are just cooked. Remove from heat then add torn kaffir lime leaves and basil leaves and stir to combine.
Put the cooked noodles in a bowl then top it up with green chicken curry and garnish with sliced chillies and basil leaves. Enjoy!

Grilled Miso Eggplant (Nasu Dengaku)

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To Cook
Preheat the oven to 180°C. Score the cut side of the eggplant and brush each half with a tablespoon of olive oil. Place in the oven and roast for 30 mins.
Meanwhile, make the miso glaze: whisk the miso, mirin, rice wine vinegar and honey together in a small bowl.
Remove the eggplants from the oven. Switch from the oven setting to the grill setting. Brush with a generous amount of the miso glaze.
Place the eggplants under the grill for 5 mins, or until the miso glaze has caramelised.
Serve scattered with spring onion, coriander, chilli, sesame seeds and a side of cooked rice.

Chinese Marinated Pork Belly

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To Cook
Heat a pan with 3 tbsp oil then fry the onion on a low heat until golden and crisp, then drain on some kitchen paper towel. Chop the onion, then set aside.
Add the pork belly with the fried onions and fry for 5 mins in a hot pan, then add the mushrooms, chopped spring onion, garlic and ginger and fry for a few more mins.
Add in the dark soy sauce, soy sauce, cooking rice wine, star anise, salt, sugar and cooked eggs. Then transfer all the food into a soup pot and add enough warm water to cover everything.
Place a lid on the pot and slowly cook for about 1 hr until the meat is soft and tender and the sauce has thickened.
Serve with jasmine rice and bok choy.

Teriyaki Tofu Rainbow Bowls

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To Prep
Combine the soy sauce, mirin, caster sugar and garlic in a glass or ceramic dish to make the Teriyaki Marinade.
Add the tofu cubes and toss to combine. Cover and keep in the fridge for at least 30 mins to marinate.

To Cook
Preheat the oven to 200°C. Line a tray with baking paper. Chop the sweet potato into 1cm wide disks, lay on the baking paper, spray with oil, and bake in the oven for 25 mins.
Place baking paper over a second baking tray. Reserve a small amount of the teriyaki marinade, then spread the tofu cubes onto one half of the tray.
Add the sunflower, pumpkin and sesame seeds to the marinade, toss to coat, then place on the other side of the tray.
Place the tray in the oven with the sweet potato for the final 15 mins. Remove the sweet potato, tofu and mixed seeds from the oven and allow to cool.
Cook the corn in boiling water for 4 mins. Allow to cool slightly before slicing the kernels off.
Divide the ingredients between two large bowls. Begin with the cos lettuce leaves, then the rice, cabbage, corn, sweet potato, tofu, tomato and radish.
Place half an avocado in the centre of each bowl and fill the pit with Kewpie Mayonnaise.
Sprinkle with the alfalfa and the teriyaki seeds, and serve.

Sichuan Spicy Noodles (Chongqing Xiaomian)

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To Cook
Blanch the cubed beef in rapidly boiling water for 3 mins to cleanse, then strain, rinse and set aside.
In a clean pot, heat vegetable oil, add spring onion and ginger and cook over medium heat for 2 mins, or until fragrant.
Add Shaoxing cooking wine, star anise and doubanjiang, cook for 2 mins before adding beef then continue frying to lightly brown and seal the meat on all sides.
Add five spice, Lee Kum Kee Premium Soy Sauce, sugar and chicken stock, bring to a rolling boil, cover and simmer gently for 90 mins or until the meat is succulent and tender.
Once the meat has been cooking for about 1 hr, you can start preparing the noodles.
Combine the flour, salt and water and knead well until an elastic dough forms (about 10 mins).
Stretch the dough into a long strip over a floured bench, fold in half and stretch again, doubling the amount of noodle threads. Repeat the fold and stretch process over and over to quickly form more noodles, (it will double with each fold and stretch).
Once you have formed consistent, long and thin noodles, drop them into a pot of fast boiling water and cook for 3 to 4 mins.
While the noodles are cooking, bring a pot of chicken stock to the boil for the soup base.
Assemble the meal by first dividing Lee Kum Kee Premium Soy Sauce, Yeo’s Pure Sesame Oil, peanuts, preserved vegetables, Sichuan peppercorns, garlic, ginger and Lee Kum Kee Peppercorn Chilli Oil evenly into serving bowls.
Rinse and add freshly cooked noodles, then ladle the chicken stock into the bowls.
Generously top with the braised beef and garnish with spring onions, crushed peanuts, minced coriander and chilli oil to taste. Serve hot and enjoy!

Vietnamese Sticky Tofu with Rainbow Veggie Noodle Bowl

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To Prep
Combine all salad dressing ingredients except sesame oil. Stir until sugar is dissolved.
Add sesame oil, stir and set aside.
Combine all the sticky tofu marinade ingredients in large flat baking dish. Add pressed sliced tofu, cover tofu well with the marinade and leave for at least 10 mins.

To Cook
Heat a non-stick grill pan over medium heat, spray lightly with vegetable oil, add tofu slices and cook for 3-4 mins each side, or until the edges of the tofu turn golden brown.
Remove and repeat until all slices are grilled. Save any remaining marinade for the finished dish.
Put drained rice vermicelli into a bowl. Add salad dressing and toss gently.
Use a fork to pick up and twirl noodles into the middle of the serving bowls. Arrange 5 slices of tofu on one side section of the bowl, then continue around the rest of the bowl with groupings of the vegetables.
Sprinkle over the basil and mint leaves, chilli slices, sliced spring onion, toasted sesame seeds and chopped cashews.
If desired, drizzle any remaining tofu marinade over the dish, loosening with some water if needed. Serve and enjoy!

Korean Traditional Dumpling Soup (Manduguk)

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To Prep
Combine flour, salt and water in a stand mixer bowl using your hands and knead for a few mins to form a semi-smooth dough. Cover in cling wrap and rest for 15 mins.
Mix all the dumpling filling ingredients in a bowl until well combined and set aside.
Knead the dough using the stand mixer on medium speed for 7 mins.
Roll the dough into a sausage shape about 2.5 cm in diameter and cut into 16 equal portions.
On a floured bench, press the dough flat and use a rolling pin to make large round wrappers.
Make the dumplings by holding a wrapper in hand and adding about 2½ tbsp of the filling into the middle before firmly crimping the wrappers closed. Use a little water to assist the seal if needed. Continue until all dumplings have been made and set aside.

To Cook
Make the dashi stock by boiling 1.5L of water with the kombu and dried anchovies.
Place the anchovies in an enclosed strainer to keep the dashi clean.
Boil for 10 mins, remove the kombu, boil for 10 more mins.
Then, remove the anchovies with strainer.
Add the soy sauce, garlic and dumplings to the dashi.
Cover and boil about 8 mins until the dumplings are fully cooked. Lightly pan fry the egg whites and yolks separately into thin sheets with a drizzle of sesame oil.
Slice finely and set aside.
Drizzle the beaten egg into the soup in thin ribbons, add the sesame oil and spring onions and cook for about 1 min.
Divide and serve in bowls garnished with finely sliced nori, sliced spring onions, thinly sliced fried egg white, yolks and sesame seeds. Add ground black pepper to taste.
Serve and enjoy!

Chinese Chicken & Sweet Corn Wonder Soup

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To Cook
Bring the chicken stock to the boil. Add the ears of corn and cook for 4 mins.
Remove the corn from the broth and slice the kernels off. Set aside.
Mix the cornflour with 1 tbsp water and stir until a thick paste forms. Add the paste to the broth, along with the ginger and soy sauce. Simmer for 1 min.
Add the chicken, corn kernels and creamed corn to the broth. Cook for 2 mins.
Whisk the egg whites and slowly add to the soup, stirring until white ribbons form.
Divide the soup among four small bowls and top with chopped spring onions.