To Cook
In a pot, fry the red curry paste and lime leaves in 1 tbsp of oil until fragrant.
Add the palm sugar, coconut cream and fish stock, and simmer on low heat until the mixture thickens.
In a pan, heat 1 tbsp of oil. While the oil is heating up, lightly salt the barramundi fillets. Place the fillets skin-side down and fry until the skin is golden brown, before flipping over and cooking the flesh.
Cut the leaves off of the bulbs of the bok choy and steam them for 1-2 mins.
Arrange the bok choy, red curry and fish and serve.
Vegetables
Korean Spicy Beef Soup (Yukgaejang)
To Make Stock
In a large saucepan, add skirt steak and water. Bring it to a boil. Skim off any impurities that float to the top. Add onions, cloves of garlic and black pepper. Simmer stock for about 1½ hrs.
Discard onion, garlic and black pepper from stock. Take meat out and let it cool. Shred or cut meat into 5cm shreds. Set meat side. Set drained stock aside.
To Cook
Heat oil and chilli oil in a large saucepan. Add chilli powder and garlic, sauté over a gentle heat for about 2 mins, taking care not to burn chilli powder. Turn off the heat.
Add meat and then all the remaining ingredients (except stock, noodles and eggs). Mix well and let sit to marinate for at least 15 mins.
Add stock to the seasoned meat and vegetables. Bring this to a boil, then simmer for about 5 mins. Add in the noodles, then pour in the eggs in streams. Season with salt. Remove from heat and serve hot.
Tips – How to Cook Braken
Soak dried bracken at least overnight in cold water.
Boil rehydrated bracken for about 5-10 mins.
Drain bracken and soak again in cold water for about 1 hr. Drain until ready to use.
Lamb with Chilli, Soy and Noodles
To Cook
Place the noodles into a large bowl and cover with boiling water. Allow to stand for 5 minutes, then drain, refresh in cold water, drain well again and set aside.
Combine together the egg, cornflour, salt and pepper. Mix the lamb strips well with the coating and set aside.
Heat a wok, add the peanut oil and stir-fry the lamb for several minutes. Then add the capsicum and stir-fry for 30 secs. Add ABC Sweet Soy Sauce, ABC Original Chilli Sauce, stock, sesame oil, Shaoxing wine and noodles.
Toss gently then fold in the spring onions and serve.
Soba Noodle Salad with Sesame Crusted Tofu
To Prep
To begin, combine the breadcrumbs, sesame seeds and optional chilli flakes in to 1 bowl and the rice wine vinegar, soy sauce and kecap manis in to another.
Dip tofu in to the soy vinegar mixture and then in to the breadcrumb mixture; ensuring that the tofu is well coated. Set aside the remaining soy vinegar mixture for later.
To Cook
In large saucepan, boil the soba noodles according to the packet instructions.
Towards the last minute of boiling the soba noodles, add the julienned carrots and cut snow peas to blanch them.
Drain the soba noodles and vegetables and rinse them under cold water to stop them from overcooking and to remove the extra starch from the noodles.
In a pan, heat up 2 tbsp of vegetable oil over a medium heat. Cook the tofu slices in batches, frying them until they are golden brown.
Transfer the cooked tofu slices on to a plate with a paper towel to absorb the excess oil.
Wipe off the excess oil from the frying pan before adding a tablespoon of oil and heating over a medium heat.
Fry the ginger until it becomes fragrant and then add the white part of the spring onions and cook for another 30 seconds.
Add the leftover soy vinegar mixture and bring it to a boil before reducing to a simmer and continuing to cook until the sauce has thickened slightly.
Add the red cabbage to the noodles and other vegetables and spoon in some of the sauce. Mix the noodles until they have been coated evenly.
To serve, place some of the soba noodles on to the plate and top with the tofu and the green part of the spring onions. Drizzle with the extra sauce.
Thai Egg Custard-Filled Pumpkin
To Prep
Carve out a hole around the stem of the pumpkin.
Scoop out the pumpkin seeds from the hole.
Rinse the pumpkin both outer and inner parts. Dry the pumpkin on a rack.
Repeat with second pumpkin.
To Cook
Add palm sugar, coconut milk and corn flour into a mixing bowl and mix well.
Squeeze the pandan leaves to extract the juice and add into mixing bowl with the pandan leaves.
Add eggs and mix well.
Strain the mixture with a cheesecloth and colander in order to get a smooth custard texture.
Fill ¾ of the pumpkin with the custard batter.
Repeat for second pumpkin
Steam the pumpkins over low heat for 40-45 mins.
Place egg custard-filled pumpkins into the fridge and leave them to set overnight.
When the custard has set, cut each egg custard-filled pumpkin and serve.
Vietnamese Bread Roll (Banh Mi) with Chicken
To Prep
Combine the water, rice vinegar, sugar, and salt and stir until they have all dissolved.
Place the daikon and carrots in to a resealable jar and pour over the pickling liquid before sealing the jar and storing in a fridge for at least 1 hour.
To marinate the chicken, combine the garlic, fish sauce, soy sauce, sugar, mayonnaise and lemon zest in to a mixing bowl before adding the chicken breasts and allowing to marinade for at least 20 minutes.
To Cook
Preheat an oven to 180 degrees Celsius and line a baking tray with baking paper.
Place the chicken on to the baking paper and place in to the oven. Allow the chicken to grill until it has cooked through.
Remove the chicken from the oven and allow to rest for 5 minutes before slicing in to thin pieces.
To Serve
Cut the baguettes lengthwise and spread some of the mayonnaise on to the bread before adding the chicken slices, pickled vegetables and cucumbers slices.
Top with coriander, spring onions and slices of chilli.
Vietnamese Beef and Papaya Salad
To Prep
To make sure that the papaya stays crisp, place the pieces in to a bowl of ice water after shredding them.
Combine the marinade ingredients and the beef strips together in a zip-lock bag.
Make sure that the beef is evenly coated before transferring to a fridge to marinate for at least 30 minutes.
While the beef marinates, in a mixing bowl, combine all of the dressing ingredients together and mix well.
To Cook
After the beef has marinated, remove the meat from the marinade and cook to medium. When the beef has cooked, let it rest for at least 5 minutes.
Drain the papaya and then combine with the dressing and basil leaves. The beef can then be added and mix in to the salad or served alongside it.
Braised Oysters with Black Sea Moss
To Prep
Soak the oysters in the water for 1-2 hrs, then drain, reserving 375ml of the soaking water. Set aside.
Soak the black sea moss in the water for several mins to soften, then rinse in several changes of water and squeeze dry.
To Cook
Bring a saucepan of water to a boil. Add the black sea moss, 1 tsp of the oil and 2 slices of the ginger, and boil for 20-30 mins. Remove from the heat and drain.
Heat the remaining oil in a wok over medium heat until very hot. Stir-fry the remaining ginger and spring onion for about 1min. Add the oysters and stir-fry for 1 more min. Season with the rice wine, oyster sauce, soy sauce, sugar and liquid from the soaked oysters. Bring the mixture to a boil, simmer for about 20 mins and remove from the heat. Discard the ginger and spring onion, drain the oysters and reserve the sauce.
Line a wide-rimmed heatproof dish with the cooked oysters in a single layer and fill the center with the sea moss. Pour the reserved sauce over the oysters and cover the bowl with aluminium foil. Steam the dish in a covered wok or steamer for 1-1½ hrs. Remove from the heat and drain all the sauce into a small bowl. Place a serving platter over the dish of oysters and sea moss, and carefully invert them onto the serving platter. Arrange the blanched lettuce leaves around the dish.
Bring the reserved sauce to a boil over high heat in a saucepan. Add the salt, pepper, sesame oil and cornstarch solution, and mix until the sauce thickens. Remove from the heat, pour the sauce over the dish and serve immediately.
Sweet Osmanthus Taro
To Cook
Boil water in a steamer or wok, place the taros over a rack and steam for about 10 mins. Remove and peel the skin, then cut into 2cm cubes.
In a small pot, boil 1L water and add in the taro cubes. Cook for 1-2 mins and add bicarbonate soda, rock sugar and brown sugar. If you are using the dried osmanthus, add them in too. Stir gently until the sugar are dissolved, about 1-2 mins.
Dilute the lotus root/potato starch in a small bowl of cold water, about 200ml, mix well. Add the solution into the soup, stir quickly for 1 min.
Add in the sweet osmanthus jam or honey, stir to mix well and turn off the heat. Serve in a small bowl, garnish with some dried osmanthus.
Vegetarian Simmered Mushrooms with Wombok
To Cook
In a steamer, steam mushrooms for 15 mins. Remove from heat and set aside.
Heat oil in a pan, sauté ginger until fragrant.
Add in the mushrooms, wombok, Cordyceps flowers and the fungi, stir well.
Add the vege oyster sauce and soy sauce, stir well.
Pour in the water and bring to boil. Lower the heat to simmer for 5 mins. Add salt to taste.
Drizzle sesame oil over the dish and transfer to a serving bowl. Garnish with spring onion and serve.
Indonesian Vegetarian Skewers
To Prep
Mix all marinade ingredients in a large bowl. Add eggplant and zucchini, marinate for 1 hr.
Mix dipping sauce ingredients in another bowl. Set aside.
Thread the vegetables onto skewers until all vegetables have been used.
To Cook
Brush some oil on a hot griddle pan or barbeque, cook the skewers, basting occasionally.
Serve with dipping sauce and some crushed peanuts.
Cauliflower Fried Rice
To Prep
Set up a food processor with the grating attachment. Alternatively, you can use a box grater.
Remove cauliflower florets from the stalk and cut into chunks.
Process or grate cauliflower until small rice-sized pieces.
To Cook
Heat up the sesame oil in a wok over medium-high heat.
Add the garlic and stir fry until fragrant.
Add the processed cauliflower and cook for 2 mins or until almost cooked.
Add in the carrots and shelled peas and cook until cooked through.
Remove from heat and season with soy sauce, salt and pepper to taste.
Scoop the cauliflower rice into a bowl and serve with sliced spring onion and chilli.