Asian Inspirations

Discover the authentic in Asian cuisine food

Vegetables

Hainanese Chicken Rice Balls

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To Make the Sauces
In a blender or a pestle and mortar, grind the garlic chilli sauce ingredients together to make the sauce.
Clean the blender or pestle and mortar and then repeat with the ginger sauce ingredients. Store both and set aside.

To Prepare the Chicken
Season the entire chicken with the salt. Stuff with the spring onion, garlic and ginger and lower in to a large pot.
Cover the chicken with water and heat over a medium-high heat until the water begins to boil.
Lower the heat and allow the chicken to simmer for 10-15 mins before turning off the heat, covering with a lid and letting sit in the broth for another 25 mins while preparing the rice.

To Prepare the Rice
Heat oil in a pan and add the garlic. Saute until the garlic becomes aromatic before adding in the rice and mixing to coat all of the grains.
Remove the pan from the heat and transfer the rice in to a rice cooker. Add in the stock from the chicken, salt and pandan leaves and let cook.
When the rice has cooked, use a rice spoon to fluff up and scoop out a serving. Roll the rice in to a ball and set aside while you make the rest of the rice balls.

To Serve the Chicken
Remove the chicken from the stock and cut in to serving sized pieces. Transfer on to a plate along with the rice balls and garnish with the items of your choice.
Finish with a side serving of the sauces and top the chicken pieces with a sprinkling of light soy sauce mixed with sesame oil.

Green Curry with Lamb (Gaeng Keo Wan Gae)

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To Cook
Heat ½ cup coconut milk in a wok over medium heat. Add lamb and stir-fry until cooked. Transfer lamb to a saucepan with 1½ cup of coconut milk and 1½ cup of water. Bring to the boil and then simmer until the meat is tender.
Heat oil in a wok over low heat. Add Valcom Green Curry Paste and stir-fry until fragrant. Add the rest of the coconut milk and keep stirring until oil appears.
Add curry mixture into the saucepan, turn up the heat to medium, and bring to the boil. Add fish sauce, sugar, eggplants and Valcom Kaffir Lime Leaves, and simmer until well cooked. Garnish with basil leaves and red chilli before removing from heat.

Thai Beef Salad with Red Curry

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To Prep
Marinate beef steak in oil, lemongrass, curry paste, and a pinch of pepper and salt.
Set aside to marinate for 30 mins.

To Cook
Heat a pan over medium high heat. Sear beef steak to medium rare or according to your preference. Put it aside.
Mix sugar, lime juice, fish sauce and chillies in a large bowl.
Add the thinly sliced beef into the bowl and mix with other salad ingredients and dressing.
Season to your personal preference. Serve immediately.

Thai Poached Fish in Red Curry

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To Cook
Mix juice, sugar and lime zest in a bowl. Finely chop root and stem of coriander, and roughly chop the leaves. Add kaffir lime leaves, cucumber and coriander to lime juice mix. Set aside.
Heat up coconut milk and lemongrass in a wok and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Add the fish fillets, cover the lid and lower the heat to simmer. Allow it to cook for 10 mins or until cooked through.
Remove fish from wok and dispose lemongrass. Mix curry paste and fish sauce with coconut milk and cook for 1-2 mins.
Serve curry sauce in the base of serving bowls, top fish with cucumber mixture and embellish with fresh ginger.

Steamed Fish Fillet with Fragrant Preserved Mustard

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To Prep
In a bowl, mix the fish fillets with the cooking wine, set aside.

To Cook
Heat some oil in a wok, add in the minced meat and stir fry until the meat changes colour.
Add in the preserved mustard and stir for another 1-2 mins until the meat is cooked. Turn off the heat and set aside.
Prepare a steamer with boiling water. Arrange the fish fillets onto a serving plate, top with the meat mixture. Place the plate of fish in the steamer and steam on medium high heat for 3-5 mins or until the fish is cooked.
Remove from heat and garnish with coriander. Serve immediately.

Japanese New Year’s Eve Noodles (Toshikoshi Soba)

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For Soup Base
Soak the kombu sheet in water overnight or for as long as possible before starting to cook to make the dashi.
In a medium saucepan, add the soaked kombu and water and slowly bring to a boil.
Remove the kombu when the dashi has almost begun to boil, reduce the dashi to a simmer and then add the bonito flakes.
Continue to cook for another 10 mins before straining out the bonito flakes.
Return the dashi to the saucepan and add the remainder of the base ingredients. Return the dashi to a simmer before removing it from the heat.

For The Toppings
In boiling water, cook the soba noodles according to the package instructions.
When the noodles have cooked, drain them and rinse them under cold water.
After this, re-hydrate the dried wakame seaweed, slice the green onions and then slice the fish cakes.

To Serve
Place a serving of the soba noodles in to a bowl before pouring over the hot soup and then topping with the fish cakes, seaweed, green onions and Japanese seven spice.

Garlic Chive Kimchi (Buchu Kimchi)

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To Prep
Place the chives in a large bowl and mix in the fish sauce with hand, ensuring the sauce is well spread. Turn over every 5 mins for a 30 mins period.

To Cook
In a small pan, combine the flour with water and heat on medium, stirring continuously with a wooden spoon.
When it starts bubbling, add in the sugar and stir for 1 min. Remove from heat and let cool.

To Make Kimchi
Strain the chives with a strainer, capturing the sauce in a large bowl.
Mix in the flour mixture and hot pepper flakes with a wooden spoon until well combined.
Mix in the onion and chives gently, and sprinkle in the sesame seeds.
Serve immediately. Alternatively, keep in an airtight container at room temperature for 2 days to ferment, then place in the fridge.

Korean Mung Bean Pancake (Bin Dae Tteok)

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To Prep
Combine all dipping sauce ingredients in a bowl. Mix well and set aside.
With a blender, blend mung beans in batches with water.
Season bean sprouts with ⅓ of the garlic, salt and ½ of sesame oil.
Season the meats with salt, pepper and the remaining garlic and sesame oil.
Add bean sprouts and meats to the mung bean mixture, then add in kimchi, spring onions, vegetables, rice flour and egg. Season with salt.

To Cook
Add oil to a heated fry pan and ladle in some mung bean mixture. Let the batter fry gently and shape the batter into a nice round circle using your spatula. Place a few slices of red pepper on top of the pancake.
Flip over the pancake and let it fry gently on the other side. When done, place on a paper towel to drain the oil. Repeat with remaining mixture.
Serve with dipping sauce.

Braised Shiitake Mushrooms with Broccoli

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To Cook
Heat oil in a wok or large pan over medium high heat. Add garlic and sauté until fragrant. Toss in rehydrated shiitake mushrooms and stir fry for 1-2 mins until aromatic. Add oyster sauce, soy sauce, salt, sugar and pepper. Continue to stir fry until seasonings are infused into the mushrooms.
Pour in 1½ cups mushroom water and bring to a boil. Then, turn down to low heat and gently simmer for 15 mins, covered. Stir occasionally.
Add in remaining 1 cup mushroom water and put in broccoli and carrots. Mix well and cook over medium high heat for 3-4 mins, covered. Stir occasionally to ensure the vegetables are cooked in the liquid. Run a taste test and add more soy sauce if needed.
Pour in corn starch mixture and stir to thicken the sauce.
Transfer to serving plate and serve with steamed rice.

Tofu Rice Paper Rolls

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To Begin
Lightly coat tofu strips with oyster sauce. Soak rice paper wraps in cool water for 10 secs, and then lay out onto damp tea towels.
Gather a small handful of noodles and place on a rice paper wrap. Then place 2 pieces of tofu, some carrots, capsicum, spring onions, a mint leaf and a small handful of lettuce on top of the noodles. Wrap up the rice paper roll as directed on packaging instructions. Repeat for each roll.
Serve with Hoisin sauce topped with crushed peanuts.

Japanese Rice Soup (Zosui Kayu)

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To Cook
In a pot, bring dashi stock, soy sauce and salt to boil. Then add in the julienned carrots, sliced shitake mushrooms and cook until vegetables are soft.
Add in the cooked rice and stir thoroughly to make sure there are no lumps of rice. Allow it to boil, and then turn heat down to medium small to simmer.
Add the beaten egg and spread it evenly on the surface of the pot and then place lid on to cook for another 30 seconds.
Remove from heat and top with chopped spring onions.

Stir Fried White Baby Bok Choy with Fish Cake

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To Cook
Heat up a pan on medium heat. When it is hot, add some cooking oil. Add the garlic and stir-fry until fragrant.
Turn the heat up to high and add the fish cake. Stir-fry for approximately 1 min.
Add the bok choy, salt, chicken powder and Shaoxing wine.
Stir-fry for approximately another 1 min.
Plate up and serve while hot.