Asian Inspirations

Discover the authentic in Asian cuisine food

Vegetables

Vietnamese Bread Roll (Banh Mi) with Chicken

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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, then add in the chicken slices, pickled vegetables and cucumbers slices.
Top with coriander, spring onions and slices of chilli.

Vietnamese Beef and Papaya Salad

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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.

Vietnamese Grilled Pork Noodle Salad (Bun Thit Nuong)

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To Prep
In a bowl, add in all Pork Marinade ingredients and mix well.

To Cook
To cook noodles, place rice noodles in a bowl. Pour boiling water to cover noodles. Let noodles sit for 3-4 minutes. Drain well and set aside.
To cook pork, grill over non-stick frying pan until golden brown.
In a serving bowl, assemble noodles, herbs, vegetables, pork, peanuts and fried shallots. Garnish with chilli and serve with Vietnamese dipping sauce.

Stuffed Cucumber Kimchi (Oi Sobagi)

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To Prep
Cut off both ends of cucumbers and cut into 7-10cm sections. Place in a large bowl.
In a medium size pot, add in the water and salt, bring to boil. Turn off the heat and pour over the cucumbers. Use a bowl or plate to weigh them down to keep them submerged. Let sit for 1-2 hrs until bendable.
Drain the cucumbers and cut one end into quarters (like a cross), leaving 2-3cm intact on the other end.
In another bowl, combine the Stuffing ingredients and mix well.
Insert the stuffing into the cucumbers and keep in an airtight container at room temperature for 1 day. Serve immediately or let pickle in the fridge for 2-3 days, or up to 2 weeks.

Fish Sauce Caramel

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To Cook
Turn on the saucepan to a medium heat. Add 2 cups of sugar into the pan, then add ½ cup of fish sauce. Stir through to melt the sugar. This is a dish about balance so taste as you go. Careful as the caramel gets very hot. Melt it down and cook until it intensifies. Taste when it cools down a bit and add more fish sauce to taste.
Next add 3 star anise, 1 stick of cinnamon, 1 bird’s eye chilli cut in half length ways, 1 shallot sliced thinly. Mix altogether and cook until sauce thickens out, sugar is completely melted and it develops a deeper colour. This will take about 10-15 mins on a medium heat.
Let cool then strain off the fish sauce caramel to remove all of the aromatics. Add the juice of 1 lime and set aside.
Heat a fry pan with olive oil. While the pan is heating chop 1 large bunch of broccolini in half. Place into the pan and fry quickly. At the end add sugar snap peas that have been cut into thirds to warm them through.
Take the pan off the heat and coat with 2 or 3 tbsp of the Fish Sauce Caramel. Mix this through so it is shiny and coated with the sauce. Add more as needed.
Plate into a large bowl and add a light drizzle on top for garnish. Chop 1 long chilli diagonally and a sprinkle of fried shallots for garnish. Enjoy!

Hong Kong Style Spam and Egg Macaroni Soup

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To Cook
In a frying pan, add in the spam slices and pan-fry until crispy. Remove and set aside.
In a medium pot, bring the chicken broth to boil. Add in the macaroni, frozen vegetables and spam. Cook until all ingredients are heated and cooked.
Add in the soy sauce, salt, black pepper and sesame oil.
Ladle the macaroni soup into a serving bowl and place an egg on top. Garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot.

Agedashi Fish

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To Prep
Mix plain flour, baking powder, egg white and soda water to prepare tempura batter.

To Cook
Heat vegetable oil to 175°C.
Coat each slice of fish with tempura batter, deep fry each piece for approximately 6 mins or until cooked and batter turns crispy and brown. Set aside.
Combine Wafu Curry ingredients in a pot, boil until curry blocks are dissolved and turn off the heat. Put vegetables in the pot and mix well.
Arrange fish tempura on a serving plate, pour the cooked sauce over the fish. Garnish with spring onions and black sesame seeds.