Asian Inspirations

Discover the authentic in Asian cuisine food

Vegetables

Thai Style Deep Fried Whole Fish with Cashew Nuts and Green Apple Salad

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To Prep
Rub salt and pepper generously on fish, then dredge with tapioca starch.

To Cook
Heat cooking oil in a wok over high heat. When oil starts to smoke, slide the fish in.
Fry for 4 mins on each side or until browned and crisp. Remove from wok and lay on a serving plate. Reserve about 2 tbsp of the oil and discard the rests.
Add in the lemon juice, garlic, chillies, fish sauce and bring to a simmer. Turn off the heat.
Toss in onions, cashews, apple and carrot and lightly coat with sauce.
Pour over the fish and garnish with mint leaves. Serve.

Grilled Beef, Bok Choy and Eggplant Salad

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To Prep
Whisk together all dressing ingredients apart from rice wine vinegar in a mixing bowl. Reserve half.
Add steaks to the mixing bowl and thoroughly coat in dressing. Cover in cling film and allow to marinate for 30 mins.

To Cook
Heat a frying pan over high heat. Add 1-2 tsp sesame oil and allow to heat up.
Add 1 steak and cook for 1 min before flipping over. Repeat until steak is cooked to desired doneness.
Remove steak from pan, place onto a plate and allow to rest. Repeat with second steak.
Heat a griddle pan/plate over medium-high heat.
Brush both sides of eggplant slices with sesame oil. Carefully place onto griddle pan/plate and allow to cook for 1-2 mins, or until grill marks form and eggplant is cooked. Flip over and repeat on other side. Remove from pan once done.
Brush sliced side of bok choy with sesame oil. Carefully place onto griddle pan/plate and cook for 2-3 mins, or until grill marks form and bok choy is cooked. Remove once done.
To serve, slice steak and serve with grilled eggplant and bok choy. Dress with soy ginger dressing and garnish with chilli.

Seared Sesame Crusted Tuna Salad

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To Cook
Combine tamari, ginger, mirin and sesame oil in a small bowl. Set aside.
Place black and white sesame seeds onto a plate and mix together. Coat all sides of tuna fillet with seeds.
Heat 1-2 tsp sesame oil in a frying pan over medium-high heat. Carefully place tuna into pan and cook for 30 secs on each side, or until seared on the outside but still pink in the middle.
Remove from pan and allow to rest for 10 mins before slicing.
To serve, place mixed lettuce in a bowl or plate. Arrange cucumber ribbons, radish slices, edamame beans, sliced avocado and sliced seared tuna over. Garnish with spring onion and serve with dressing.

Vegan Bulgogi

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To Prep
Wrap tofu in paper towel for 5 mins to remove excess water, then cut into 1cm cubes.
Combine all sauce ingredients, set aside.

To Cook
Coat and heat oil in a skillet over medium high heat. Add in the tofu cubes, toss and stir tofu around every 2-3 mins to brown evenly. Cook for 7-8 mins in total or increase heat to high until tofu are evenly browned on all sides.
Add in the mushrooms and mix well. Cook for 3 mins without stirring much to brown the mushrooms.
Stir in the sauce mixture and cook for 1 min. Remove from heat and stir in green onion.
Sprinkle some sesame seeds and garnish with green onion. Serve with rice.

Tahu Bergedil

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To Cook
Heat 1 tbsp of oil in a pan. Add minced beef and stir fry for 5 minutes.
In a bowl, mash the boiled potato and add minced beef, fried shallots, spring onion, salt and white pepper. Mix well.
Fill up the Fried tofu with bergedil mixture.
Put egg in a bowl and whisk with fork.
Heat 2 cups of oil in a pan on a medium heat.
Dip tofu in the bowl with the egg before putting it in the oil.
Cooked until golden.
To make the sauce, put all of the chilli sauce ingredients into a blender and blend till fine.
Serve the tofu bergedil with chilli sauce.

Thai Stir Fry Kabocha Squash (Pad Faktong)

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To Cook
In a wok, heat a little oil and stir in garlic until cook until golden. Add in the kabocha squash and toss. Pour in water to cover half the squash.
Add in the soy sauce, Golden Mountain sauce, sugar and white pepper. Stir from time to time until the squash is done yet still firm.
Add eggs in the middle and scramble slightly until almost completely set, then toss 1-2 times to mix well. Remove from heat and stir in the Thai basil. Serve hot.

Japanese Crispy Deep Fried Noodle (Sara Udon)

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To Prep
Combine all sauce ingredients, except the cornflour solution.
Deep fry the chow mein noodles until crispy, remove and drain. Place on serving plate.

To Cook
Heat a wok with oil, stir-fry the pork strips until they turn white.
Add the vegetables, stir-fry 2-3 mins.
Add the seafood. Stir-fry 2-3 mins.
Add the mixed stock into the wok and mix well. Adjust the taste with salt and pepper if needed.
Add the cornflour solution, mix well.
When the stock is thickened to desired state, pour over the crispy noodles and serve immediately.

Teochew Vegetarian Rolls (Kwang Chian)

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To Prepare
Mix the yam, jicama, white turnip, carrot, ½ cup of cornflour, rice flour, roasted peanuts, white pepper, five spice powder, sugar, salt and sesame oil together properly. Leave to the side for 10 mins.
Combine the 1 tbsp of cornflour and the 1½ tbsp water in a small bowl as this will act as the sealant for the rolls.
Scoop ½ cup of the filling onto the beancurd sheet and apply the sealant on the borders of the beancurd sheet. Pull one of the long sides over the filling, push in the sides and roll into a cylindrical shape. Repeat with the other beancurd sheets.
Steam the rolls for 30 mins.
Remove and let it cool fully. Chill it in the fridge overnight to let it set properly.
Remove from the fridge and cut into 2.5cm thick slices diagonally.
Over medium heat, heat up some cooking oil in a pan. Fry the rolls until they appear golden brown and crispy. Once out of the pan, use a paper towel to absorb any excessive oil and serve with chilli oil.

Stuffed Bitter Gourd Pork Soup (Kang-Jued Mara Moo-Sub Yudsai)

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To Prep
Place the glass noodles in to a bowl of water for 10 mins to soften. Once they have started to become transparent, remove them from the water and cut into smaller sections for the filling.
Wash the bitter gourd and cut off both of the ends. Cut the bitter gourd in to smaller section about 4cm long. Use a teaspoon to remove the seeds and core of the bitter gourds before coating them in salt for 15 mins to help reduce the bitterness.
In a large mixing bowl, combine the pork mince, coriander roots, garlic, fish sauce, soy sauce, oyster sauce, sugar and black pepper and mix well before adding the glass noodle sections. Let the filling marinate for 10 mins.
Rinse the bitter gourds to get rid of the excess salt and stuff with the pork filling. Ensure that each section is entirely filled to ensure that the filling pork doesn’t fall out.

To Cook
Boil the vegetable stock in a pot and add the coriander. Add the bitter gourds, carrots and mushrooms before closing the lid and simmering for 20-30 mins depending on how soft you want the bitter gourds to be.

Shortcut Mapo Tofu

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To Cook
Heat up some oil in a wok and stir fry garlic until aromatic.
Stir in minced pork until almost cooked.
Open up the mapo tofu sauce and stir in together with the minced pork until cooked.
Add soft tofu and gently cook over low heat until sauce thickens.
Garnish some spring onions on top and serve with hot rice.

Shortcut Spicy Garlic Eggplant

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To Cook
Heat up some oil in a wok and stir fry garlic until aromatic
Stir in minced pork until halfway cooked.
Open up the spicy garlic eggplant sauce and stir in together with the minced pork. Add in Asian eggplant.
Stir fry until Asian eggplant softens.
Garnish some spring onions on top and serve with hot rice.

Vietnamese Noodles with Lemongrass Chicken (Bun Ga Nuong)

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To Prep
In a mixing bowl, combine all the marinade ingredients until the sugar is completely dissolved. Add the chicken fillets and mix well. Set aside and let the chicken marinate for at least an hour – overnight for best results.
In another bowl, combine all the ingredients all the Nuoc Cham ingredients and mix until the sugar has dissolved. Adjust the taste to suit yours and set aside.

To Cook
Prepare the vermicelli according to packet instructions. Rinse the noodles in cold water when they are done and set aside.
When your chicken is done marinating, heat up some oil in a non-stick pan over medium heat.
Pan-fry the chicken in the pan until they are done and allow the chicken to rest for a few minutes.
Remove any pieces of lemongrass on the chicken and slice the chicken into 1cm slices.
Split the noodles into even portions and place in individual bowls. Add the fresh herbs and vegetables to the bowl of noodles and top with the lemongrass chicken.
Drizzle a few tablespoons of the Nuoc Cham over the noodles and serve with lime wedges.