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.
Vegetables
Tahu Bergedil
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.
Braised Bottle Gourd
To Cook
Season prawns with a pinch of salt and 2 pinches of ground white pepper.
In a wok or pot, heat up oil over medium flame and fry dried prawns until lightly browned. Add garlic and sauté until fragrant. Put in mushrooms and stir fry for 30 sec. Add Shaoxing wine, soy sauce and oyster sauce, mix well. Pour in water and cover to braise on low heat for 10 mins.
Put in bottle gourd and continue to braise for another 15 mins.
Add glass noodles and prawns, stir to mix well until glass noodles are fully coated with sauce. Cook until prawns turn pink. Drizzle with sesame oil, mix well and serve.
Shortcut Mapo Tofu
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
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.
Spicy Cucumber Salad (Oi Muchim)
To Prepare
Put the cucumber and salt in a bowl and mix. Leave it for 15-20 mins.
Mix the gochugaru, garlic, vinegar, sugar, sesame seeds and sesame oil in a bowl together to make the seasoning sauce.
Rinse the cucumber with cold water to get rid of the slat. Dry the cucumber delicately. Mix the cucumber with the seasoning sauce and spring onion.
Serve as is or leave in the refrigerator to chill for 30 mins.
Vietnamese Noodles with Lemongrass Chicken (Bun Ga Nuong)
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.
Bitter Melon with Salted Egg Yolk
To Cook
Halve and deseed the bitter gourd. Then thinly slice bitter gourd to approximately 3mm thickness.
In a wok, heat 1 tbsp of oil until smoking point. Add the bitter gourd and briefly stir fry for about 1 minute. Add the chicken stock granules and Shaoxing wine. Dish out and set aside.
Mash cooked salted egg yolks coarsely with a fork. Set aside.
In a clean wok, heat up 2 tbsp of oil on medium heat. Saute garlic until fragrant and then add in the mashed salted egg yolks. Stir fry until foam forms. Then add in the stir fried bitter gourd slices and stir fry for a minute, followed by adding sugar, salt and pepper.
Deep Fried Kai Lan
To Make
Cut the kai lan stems into sections.
Bring water to a boil in a large pot. Add the baking soda. Parboil the kai lan stems for approximately 5 mins.
Drain and rinse the kai lan. Leave to the side.
Tear the kai lan leaves into fine strips.
In a deep pan or wok, heat up enough deep-frying oil. The kai lan is ready when it is crispy. Leave it to the side.
In a new pan or wok, heat it up with a little bit of cooking oil.
Stir-fry the garlic and ginger until the aromas are released.
Mix the light soya sauce, oyster sauce, cooking wine, corn flour and 1 cup of water.
Add the stems to the garlic and ginger with the sauce mixture. Remove from heat when there is only a little bit of moisture left.
To serve, plate the stems and then the deep-fried kai lan on top. Serve while hot with a small dish of the XO sauce.
Shanghainese Noodles with Scallion Oil (Cong You Mian)
For the Scallion Oil
Heat the oil and fry the onion. Take out when they turn golden brown.
Add the green part of the scallion into the oil, fry over low heat for about 5 mins then take out.
Add the white part of the scallion, fry over low heat till golden brown, take out and set aside.
For the Noodles
Mix 2-3 tbsp scallion oil with dark soy sauce, light soy sauce and sugar in the serving bowl.
Boil noodles with water till cooked, take out with a strainer spoon.
To serve, mix noodles with oil sauce, then add some fried white scallion on the top.
Braised Chicken with Vegetables (Dakjjim)
Preparing the Sauce
Combine all the ingredients in a bowl.
Mix well until the honey and oyster sauce has completely dissolved.
Preparing the Stew
First, you’ll need to blanch the chicken in some boiling water. Add the chicken to boiling water and bring it back up to a boil and allow the chicken to boil for a few minutes. Drain off the water.
In another pot, add the chicken together with the sauce. Cover the pot and allow the mixture to boil for about 10 minutes on medium high heat.
Next add the potatoes, carrots, onions, and chillies. Cover the pot and boil for several minutes.
Reduce the heat to medium and stir the stew with a wooden spoon. Cover the pot again and simmer for another 8-10 minutes.
Next add the glass noodles, mushrooms, and spring onions and mix with a wooden spoon. Make sure the mushrooms and noodles are coated with the sauce before covering and allowing the stew to simmer for about 5 minutes.
Garnish with sesame seeds and serve hot with some steamed rice.
Japanese Fried Rice with Edamame and Fried Tofu
To Cook
Bring a small pot of water to boil. Add the aburaage in the boiling water and flip once. Remove the oil from the aburaage. Transfer to a plate to let cool. Cut into thin strips and squeeze out water.
Slice the carrot into slabs and then julienne.
In a large frying pan, heat sesame oil over medium heat. Then, add the aburaage and carrot. Saute to coat with the oil.
Add the sake, granulated sugar, mirin, gluten-free soy sauce, and mix all together.
Add the edamame and steamed rice. Break the rice into smaller pieces.
Serve and enjoy immediately once the rice is well coated with the seasonings and heated through.