Asian Inspirations

Discover the authentic in Asian cuisine food

Vegetables

Rice with Silky Savoury Gravy (Mui Fan)

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To Prep
Marinade chicken pieces with soy sauce, Shaoxing wine, sesame oil and pepper for 15 mins. Season prawns with salt, Shaoxing wine and pepper.

To Cook
In a large pot, heat up oil over medium high heat. Stir fry ginger and garlic until fragrant. Add in chicken pieces and stir fry until cooked. Then, add in sliced carrots, baby corns, mustard green stems and shitake mushrooms. Mix in Shaoxing wine and continue stir frying until slightly softened, about 1-2 mins.
Pour in gravy ingredients and stir well. Bring to boil.
Add in fish cakes and prawns, stirring until prawns start to turn pink. Add in sliced squid. Pour in corn flour slurry and continue to stir until gravy thickens. Season with salt or pepper if needed.
Shred apart enoki mushrooms into the pot and stir until softened. Add mustard green leaves and give a quick stir. Then, turn off the heat and slowly stir in beaten eggs.
Serve over steamed rice.

Mapo Tofu

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To Cook
Combine all the seasoning ingredients in a bowl and mix well together.
In a large wok, heat cooking oil on medium heat and stir fry garlic and ginger till fragrant.
Add minced pork and La Doubanjiang and stir fry until pork is evenly coated with La Doubanjiang.
When the meat is no longer pink, add the Seasoning mixture and stir thoroughly.
When the mixture starts to bubble, spread tofu over meat and gently coat the tofu with the sauce.
Simmer over low heat for 10-15mins or until the sauce has reduced to half the original amount.
Test taste and adjust by adding salt or sugar to reduce the spice if required.
Add the green onions and mix just before taking the pan off the heat.
Serve with steamed rice.

Honey Sriracha Barbecue Sauce

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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.

Spicy Seafood Noodle Soup (Jjamppong)

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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.

Stir Fried Wombok with Prawns

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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.

Stir Fried Salted Vegetables (Kiam Chye)

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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.

Korean Soybean Sprouts Soup with Rice (Kongnamul-Gukbap)

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To Cook
Boil 2L of water in a pot.
Add the anchovies and dried kelp to the boiling water. Cover with a lid and let it cook over medium high heat. When the water comes to a rolling boil, reduce the heat to medium and let it simmer for 10 minutes.
Strain the stock to remove the anchovies and kelp.
Add the soybean sprouts, garlic and salt to the stock. Submerge all the soybean sprouts in the stock. Cover with a lid and cook over medium high heat for about 5 minutes.
Strain the stock again, this time into a large bowl and set aside the cooked soybean sprouts.
Prepare 2 large Korean-style earthenware bowls for finishing up the soup.
Separate the sliced onions into 2 portions and place each portion into a bowl. Do the same for the rice, kimchi, and soybean sprouts.
Add some freshly ground black pepper into each bowl and add 2 cups of stock to each bowl.
Place the earthenware bowls on top of the stove on medium high heat until the stock begins to boil. This will take between 10-15 minutes.
Once the soup begins to boil, crack an egg into each bowl and let the eggs cook for a minute.
Sprinkle the sesame seeds, gochugaru, and chopped spring onions into each bowl.
Finally drizzle with sesame oil and serve immediately from the stove.

Vegetarian Steamed Tofu with Black Bean Sauce

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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)

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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

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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.

Pan-fried Chicken Breast with Thai-style Noodles

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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.