To Prepare
Heat up the wok with some oil. Infuse the garlic with the oil by stir-frying it. Remove the garlic when it turns a golden brown colour. Leave some garlic oil in the wok.
Cook the prawns with the remaining garlic until thoroughly cooked. Set aside the prawns.
Heat up the wok and add the wombok and enoki mushrooms. Add the oyster sauce and combine well.
Stir well. Do not overcook the dish because the wombok should still have a slight crunch.
Plate by placing the prawns on top of wombok and mushrooms. Garnish with garlic oil. Serve while hot with steamed rice.
Vegetables
Stir Fried Salted Vegetables (Kiam Chye)
To Cook
Heat up wok and place the preserved mustard vegetables in the wok until the vegetables are dry. Keep stirring until the vegetables are fully dry. Set aside on a plate.
Heat up the wok with some oil.
Add the ginger, garlic and red chilli. Saute until fragrant before mixing in together with the vegetables. Add seasoning according to taste.
Add some water to let the preserved mustard vegetables simmer until soft.
Spoon the wine and sesame oil until it is well-mixed.
Turn off the heat, place on a separate plate and serve while hot with porridge.
Spicy Seafood Noodle Soup (Jjamppong)
Preparing the Noodles
Heat up some vegetable oil in a wok over low heat. Then add the chilli flakes, garlic, ginger and green onion. Stir fry until fragrant.
Increase the heat to medium and add the rest of the vegetables. Stir fry until the vegetables are soft.
Next add the seafood to the wok and mix well with the other ingredients and spices.
Add the soup ingredients to the wok and cover with a lid. Let the soup cook until the seafood is cooked through. Take care not to overcook the seafood; about 10 minutes of cooking should be enough.
Prepare the noodles according to package instructions while the soup is cooking.
When the noodles are done, portion them into individual bowls. Then add the soup and seafood and serve hot.
Ssamjang Dipping Paste
To Make
Mix all of the ingredients together until well combined.
If the mixture is too thick, add a small amount of water.
Honey Sriracha Barbecue Sauce
To Cook
Add the butter to a pan over a low heat to melt the butter.
Once the butter has melted, add the onions and saute until they become translucent.
Add the garlic and continue to saute till they become fragrant.
Add the remaining ingredients and whisk the mixture until has fully combined.
Simmer the sauce for 5 mins until it thickens.
Vegetarian Steamed Tofu with Black Bean Sauce
To Cook
Heat cooking oil in a pan. Stir fry the garlic, ginger, soybean paste and fermented black beans until fragrant. Then add seasonings ingredients and bring to a boil. Turn heat off.
Arrange sliced beancurd on a plate. Drizzle the prepared sauce over the bean curds. Place plate in a steamer and steam over high heat for 7 mins.
Remove and sprinkle with spring onions and chilli.
Thai Basil Minced Pork Stir-Fry (Pad Kra Pao)
To Cook
Cook rice in a rice cooker or over the stove according to packet instructions.
Meanwhile, heat a wok over medium heat, then fry eggs sunny side up. Remove and set aside.
In a pestle and mortar, grind the chillies and garlic.
Add them to the hot wok with more oil over a medium heat and saute until fragrant.
Add the minced meat and break them apart in to smaller granules.
Once the mince has cooked through, add the dark soy sauce, fish sauce, sugar and oyster sauce and mix.
If the mince gets too dry, add water if needed.
Once the sauce has been thoroughly combined, remove from the heat and add the basil leaves.
Serve with rice and a fried egg!
Korean Pickled Radish with Chilli
To Prep
Place the radish slices, onions and chillies loosely into a mason jar (or divide into a few smaller jars).
To Cook
In a saucepan, mix the Pickle ingredients, stirring until the sugar is dissolved. Heat on high and bring to boil, then remove from heat.
To Pickle
Immediately pour the mixture into the jar(s) and use a heavy spoon to sit on the vegetables to ensure they are fully submerged. Let cool to room temperature and cover to sit overnight.
Place the jars in the fridge and serve after 2-3 days, up to 6 mths.
Hakka Yong Tau Foo
To Make the Broth
Dry-fry the anchovies until dried, placed into a stock pouch.
Heat the water in a stock pot over medium-high heat. Add the soybeans and anchovies soup pouch and bring to boil for 30 mins or more. Add in the salt and sugar last.
To Prepare
Combine the stuffing ingredients, mix well and set aside.
Puffed tofu – Make a slit at the center of the puffed tofu with scissors.
Firm tofu – Scoop out a hole at the center of the tofu.
Chillies and okras – Make a slit from the top, stop at 2-3 cm from the end. Remove the seeds.
Eggplants – Slice in from the side to about ¾ of the way, allow the eggplant to open up like a shell.
Bitter melons – Remove the core and seeds.
With a spoon or butter knife, add the stuffing into the vegetables and spread them out to avoid falling out as they will shrink when cooked.
To Cook
In a frying pan, heat oil over medium-low heat. Pan-fry the stuffed firm tofu, meat facing down first, until browned on all sides and place them into the soup.
Pan-fry the remaining stuffed vegetables and puffed tofu covered until all sides are browned and meat are cooked.
Serve the stuffed vegetables and tofu with the soup.
Japanese Stew (Oden)
To Cook
Place dashi stock ingredients and seasonings into a claypot.
Place all ingredients, except nerimono (long fish cake tubes with white ends) and enoki mushrooms, into the claypot and simmer covered for at least 2-3 hrs.
Add the nerimono and cook for at least 30 mins over low heat.
Add the enoki mushrooms and cook for a final 1-2 mins. Serve with hot mustard.
Pan-fried Chicken Breast with Thai-style Noodles
To Cook
Mix the chicken breast in 2 tbsp of the oil, sliced garlic, chilli and lemongrass and marinate for 15 minutes.
Place 2 tbsp of the oil in to a pan and cook the chicken skin side down so that it becomes crispy. Once it has become crispy, sear the remaining sides of the chicken breast and then transfer into an oven for 10 minutes at 180℃.
Add the last of the oil in to the pan and fry the onions till they start to brown. Add the coconut milk to the pan and let the sauce reach a simmer.
Add the fish sauce, oyster sauce, tamarind and palm sugar. Stir and continue to simmer until the palm sugar has dissolved fully.
Remove the pan from the heat.
In a separate bowl, blanch the vermicelli noodles.
To serve, spoon the sauce mixture onto a plate, place the vermicelli noodles on top of the sauce, and finish with slices of the chicken. Garnish with basil and chillies.
Chinese Soup Dumplings (Xiao Long Bao)
For the Soup Jelly
Add the pork rinds to a pot of cold water and bring to the boil. Cook until rinds become slightly transparent before removing from pot and rinsing to remove any impurities.
Cut rinds into smaller strips and then add to a pot with the slices of ginger, spring onions, Shaoxing wine and enough water to cover. Cook for about 90 mins before allowing to cool down. Transfer to a blender, then blend for 30 secs.
Strain blended mixture to remove any large pieces before pouring into a container and allowing to set.
For the Dumpling Fillings
Soak minced ginger with spring onions in ½ cup of water for 10 mins before combining with minced pork in a large bowl. When mixing the water and meat, pour water in a quarter at a time to ensure that the water is well incorporated.
Add soy sauce, salt, oyster sauce, sesame oil and sugar, and mix well before setting aside for 30 mins to marinate.
Mince the soup jelly and mix in with the dumpling filling.
For the Dumpling Wrappers
Add the flour and water into a mixing bowl and knead until the dough becomes smooth but is still stretchy. Cover dough with a damp cloth and let rest for 20 mins.
Dust your working surface with flour and knead dough again for 5 mins before rolling it into a long cylinder.
Cut the roll into smaller sections and form balls of dough weighing 5g each. Roll out these balls into round wrapper shapes about 6.5-7 cm in diameter, to be folded.
Note: Ensure any pieces of dough that aren’t being handled are covered by a damp cloth to prevent them from drying out.
To Make the Dumplings
Place a dumpling wrapper in the centre of your hand and place 1 tbsp of the dumpling filling into the centre.
With your right thumb and middle finger under the wrapper and your forefinger on the top, lift the edge and pinch it to make a pleat. Use your left hand to gather more dough, then pinch with your index finger. Continue doing this all the way around, making sure your thumb never leaves the first pleat.
Pinch the top to seal the dumpling.
To Cook
Set up a bamboo steamer with perforated paper steamer liners over a wok filled with water. Heat the water on high.
Once the water has boiled, place dumplings into steamer with adequate room between each dumpling. Close lid and allow dumplings to steam for at least 8 mins.
When the dumplings are done, carefully remove them from the steamer and serve with freshly julienned ginger and Chinese black vinegar.