Asian Inspirations

Discover the authentic in Asian cuisine food

Vegetables

Vietnamese Bread Roll (Banh Mi) with Ham

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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 Serve
Slice the Vietnamese ham into thin slices.
Cut the baguettes lengthwise and spread some of the mayonnaise on to the bread before adding the ham, pickled vegetables and cucumbers slices.
Garnish with coriander, spring onions and slices of chilli.

Meatballs in Thai Egg Drop Soup

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To Prep
In a large bowl, combine minced pork thoroughly with soy sauce, sesame oil, corn flour, salt and white pepper. Add minced mushrooms, carrots, garlic and shallots. Mix thoroughly until well combined. Marinate the meatball mixture in the refrigerator for at least 3 hrs or best, overnight.

To Cook
Remove from the refrigerator and mix again. Using hands, press the mixture together so that the ingredients will bind well. Preheat oven with fan at 205°C. Place aluminium foil over baking tray and lightly oil the surface of the aluminium foil. Roll meatball mixture into balls of 3-4cm in diameter and place onto the well-oiled aluminium foil. Bake for 20-25 mins until browned.
While baking the meatballs, heat up sesame oil in a pot and add in minced ginger and chillies. Stir fry until fragrant. Then add chicken stock, water, soy sauce, fish sauce and lime juice. Allow to boil over medium heat. Give the soup a taste and further add fish sauce and lime juice by 1 tsp intervals according to your liking.
Turn the heat to low and slowly stir in eggs to create ribbons. Put in carrots, spring onions and coriander. Give a quick stir and remove from heat.
Ladle egg drop soup into serving bowls. Gently drop the meatballs into the soup and serve.

Chinese Steamed Glutinous Rice with Chicken (Lo Mai Kai)

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To Prep
In two separate bowls, soak dried shiitake mushrooms and glutinous rice for a minimum of 5 hrs. Keep the water used to soak the dried shiitake mushrooms. Slice rehydrated mushrooms into half.
In a bowl, combine chicken and rehydrated mushrooms with marinade. Add 10 tbsp of leftover mushroom water. Set aside.

To Cook
Using a wok or large pan, heat up oil and sauté shallots and garlic over medium heat until aromatic. Put in glutinous rice and remaining seasoning ingredients and fry, stirring constantly to combine all the ingredients well.
Dish out glutinous rice mixture to a large plate. Drizzle over about 6 tbsp mushroom water. Place in a steamer and steam for 45 mins.
Once the glutinous rice is almost done, heat up some oil in the wok or pan and stir fry the marinated chicken and mushrooms. Add in Chinese sausages and sauté for 1 min. Thicken the sauce with corn flour slurry if necessary.
Using rice bowls or small soup bowls, place pieces of chicken, mushrooms and Chinese sausages into each bowl and spoon in some gravy. Fill up each bowl with glutinous rice. Cover the bowls with aluminium foil and place them back into the steamer. Steam for another 30 mins. Remove and serve hot.

Stir Fry Broccoli with Chinese Sausage

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To Cook
Heat up oil in a pan over medium high heat. Throw in garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 min. Add Chinese sausage slices and stir fry for about 1-2 mins until fragrant.
Put in broccoli florets and stir fry for 1 min. Add chicken stock powder and water and continue to stir fry until broccoli starts to soften slightly. Season with salt according to your taste.
Dish out and serve with steamed rice.

Kimchi Meatball Stew

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To Prep
In a large bowl, combine minced pork thoroughly with soy sauce, sesame oil, corn flour, salt and white pepper. Add minced mushrooms, carrots, garlic and shallots. Mix thoroughly until well combined. Marinate the meatball mixture in the refrigerator for at least 3 hrs or best, overnight.

To Cook
Remove from the refrigerator and mix again. Using hands, press the mixture together so that the ingredients will bind well. Preheat oven with fan at 205°C. Place aluminium foil over baking tray and lightly oil the surface of the aluminium foil. Roll meatball mixture into balls of 3-4cm in diameter and place onto the well-oiled aluminium foil. Bake for 20-25 mins until browned.
While baking the meatballs, mix together kimchi, yellow onion, fried tofu, enoki mushrooms, spring onions, gochujang, sugar, salt and water into a pot. Over medium heat, bring the stew to boil. Then, bring down to low heat and allow to simmer for 15 mins. Remove meatballs from the oven and add into the stew. Continue to simmer for 1 min.
Ladle kimchi meatball stew into serving bowls and top with an egg yolk. Garnish with spring onions and sesame seeds. Serve hot with steamed rice.

Hokkaido Soup Curry

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To Cook
In a large pot over medium heat, melt butter. Then add in ginger, garlic and onion. Cook until softened. Pour in flour and mix well. Stir in curry powder, garam masala and cayenne, mix well. Gently pour in chicken stock, sake, soy sauce and mirin. Throw in bay leaves and bring up the heat to allow the soup to simmer vigorously.
Add in chicken legs and readjust the heat to allow soup to simmer gently. Leave to cook with lid partially covered for 45 mins until chicken is tender.
Meanwhile, cook rice and heat up oil over medium heat for deep frying in a wok or heavy bottomed pot. Ensure vegetables are dry before putting them in. Fry in batches until lightly browned and crisp. Dish out and drain off excess oil on kitchen towels.
To serve, ladle some soup into individual serving bowls. Place 1 piece of chicken leg at the bottom of each bowl. Then, top each bowl with fried vegetables equally. Serve hot with steamed rice.

Medan Spicy Stir Fried Noodles with Shrimp Paste and Water Spinach

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To Cook
In a wok, heat oil over medium high heat. Sauté garlic until aromatic. Throw in prawns and fish balls and fry until half-cooked. Push them aside and crack in eggs. Gently stir the egg mixture and leave it to cook slightly for about 30 secs. Then combine well with the prawns and fish balls. Dish out and set aside.
Put in red chilli paste and shrimp paste and sauté until aromatic about 2-3 mins. Add in water and tomatoes. Bring down to a simmer and cook for 1 min. Toss in water spinach, noodles, prawns, fish balls, sweet soy sauce and soy sauce. Stir to mix well. Put on the lid and allow to simmer over low heat for 2 mins. Do a taste test and add more soy sauce if needed according to your preference.
Finally, add in beansprouts and give a quick stir. Remove from heat if you like crunch beansprouts. If you like them softened, cook for another 1 min.
Transfer to serving plate and enjoy.

Stir Fry White Bok Choy with Dried Shrimps and Yam

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To Cook
In a small bowl, soak dried shrimps in warm water for 30 mins. Place yam cubes on a plate and steam over boiling water for 25 mins until softened. Remove and set aside.
In a wok, heat up oil over medium high heat. Add dried shrimps and stir fry for 1 min then add in garlic and continue to stir fry until fragrant and shrimps have softened, about 2 mins. Add bok choy and stir fry until slightly wilted. Dish out and set aside.
In the same wok, add yam, fish sauce, chicken stock and white pepper. Bring heat to medium low and let it simmer until the yam has become very soft and the gravy has reduced. The sauce should also turn out slightly thickened. Do a taste test and add another 1 tbsp of fish sauce if needed according to your taste. Stir well. Toss the bok choy, garlic and dried shrimps back into the wok and mix well for about 1-2 mins.
Transfer to a serving plate and garnish with chopped red chillies if desired. Serve hot.

Malaysian Mango Chicken

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To Cook
Cut chicken fillets into strips. then combine with chicken marinade ingredients in a bowl to marinate for at least 30 minutes. Set aside.
In a separate bowl, combine sauce ingredients and mix well. Sugar and sauce ingredients may be adjusted to your liking. Set aside.
In a wok, heat up 2 tbsp of oil and sauté the sliced onions, red and green capsicum until fragrant. Dish up and set aside.
In the same wok, heat up remaining 2 tbsp of oil. Add in marinated chicken pieces and mango slices. Stir fry for approximately 2 mins. Place lid over wok and allow to simmer on medium heat for another 2 mins, or until the mango strips are soft, and juices are drawn out from the mangoes.
Remove the lid and add in the sauce mixture. Stir and allow it to boil before returning the lid to cover the wok. Turn the heat down slightly and let it simmer until the chicken pieces are thoroughly cooked.
Remove lid and add in the sautéed onions and capsicums. Stir well. Salt and sugar may be added to taste.

Omelette with Acacia Leaves (Kai-Jiao Cha-Om)

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To Prepare
Prepare the acacia by removing the delicate leaves from the thorny branches. Wash the leaves. If using frozen acacia, wait till it has fully defrosted.
Combine the acacia leaves with the eggs and fish sauce and whip with a fork or whisk until the eggs become frothy.
Heat the pan until it is hot and add the vegetable oil on it. When the oil is shimmering, pour the egg mixture in. When the edge of the omelette turns brown, flip the omelette to the other side.
Cut the acacia omelette into pieces (about 2-3 inches squared).
Place the acacia omelette onto the serving plate. You can serve the acacia omelette with rice, fish sauce with chillies or Sriracha sauce.

Vegetarian Thai Tofu Soup (Kaeng Jued Taohu)

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To Cook
Bring 1L of water to a boil in a pot, and then add 1 vegetable stock cube, and stir until it has fully dissolved in the water.
Add 1 sliced carrot and let it cook in the broth for about 5 mins.
Then add the sliced Chinese cabbage leaves and stir. Let the cabbage leaves simmer in the broth for a couple of minutes.
Add 38g of glass noodles and 1 cup of egg tofu, and let the soup simmer for about 5 mins whilst stirring gently so as not to break up the tofu.
Next add 1 tbsp of soy sauce, stir and let the soup simmer for a final 2-3 mins until the glass noodles are cooked. They are cooked once they turn clear.
Spoon the soup into a bowl and garnish with chopped spring onion, coriander and garlic oil. Serve and enjoy!