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.
Vegetables
Tofu Rice Paper Rolls
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)
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
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.
Braised Napa Cabbage with Mushrooms
To Prep
Once mushrooms are soft, squeeze out excess water and reserve mushroom water. Discard stems and slice the mushrooms.
To Cook
Heat 1 tbsp oil in a wok over medium high heat. Stir fry dried shrimps and mushrooms until fragrant. Add another 2 tbsp oil and toss in Napa cabbage. Season with salt and stir fry until cabbage is almost wilted.
Pour in reserved mushroom water, soy sauce, sugar, wine and oyster sauce. Cover and allow to simmer for 10 mins until cabbage is very soft.
Once ready, stir in thickening mixture and cook until sauce thickens. Serve hot.
Stir Fried Cabbage with Dried Shrimps and Glass Noodles
To Cook
Season beaten eggs with a pinch of salt. Heat 1 tbsp oil in a wok over medium heat. Scramble eggs and dish out. Set aside.
Heat another 2 tbsp oil. Sauté dried shrimps until fragrant. Place in garlic, dried red chillies and spring onions. Sauté until aromatic. Toss in cabbage and fry over high heat until softened.
Put in glass noodles, cooked eggs, wine, sesame oil, white pepper and soy sauce. Stir fry and mix well. Season with salt to taste and continue to stir fry for 1 min. Serve.
Thai Coconut Custard (Sangkaya)
To Begin
Cut pandan leaves into smaller pieces and blend them together with coconut milk until smooth. Pour liquid over strainer and press the mixture using a spoon or rubber spatula to squeeze out remaining liquid. You should have about 3 cups of pandan-coconut milk mixture. Add more coconut milk if you have less.
Place egg yolks, sugar, salt and corn starch into a bowl and whisk until smooth. Then, whisk in pandan-coconut milk mixture gradually, ensuring there are no lumps.
Pour the mixture into a saucepan and gently bring it to a low boil over medium heat, whisking throughout the process. The mixture will begin to thicken. Once you see this happening, remove the saucepan from the heat. Add in a few drops of green colouring according to your preferred green tone.
Allow to cool slightly before serving with Thai fried bread (pa thong ko), steamed bread or dinner rolls.
Tom Yum Noodle Soup
To Begin
Put in coriander roots, shallots and whole black peppercorns into pork stock and bring to a boil. Then, allow to simmer for 30 mins.
Meanwhile, bring a pot of water (around 2l) to boil. While waiting, heat a pan or saucepot with oil over medium high flame. Fry the wonton wrappers until lightly browned and crisp. Set aside.
Cook pork balls in boiling water for 3-4 mins until cooked. Drain and set aside. Repeat with fish balls and minced pork. In the same boiling water, cook your noodles. Drain and portion out into individual serving bowls. Top the noodles with equal servings of pork balls, fish balls and minced pork.
To prepare the tom yum soup by individual serving, place all condiments into a bowl. Stir to mix well. Ladle 1 cup of hot soup base and mix until well combined. Pour into one individual noodle bowl. Garnish with some coriander, spring onions, fried crushed garlic and wonton wrappers. Serve.
Repeat Step 4 with remaining individual noodle bowls.
Vietnamese Curry Chicken
To Prep
Season chicken with salt. Cover loosely with cling film and refrigerate overnight.
To Cook
Heat 3 tbsp oil in a pot over medium heat. Fry chicken pieces until browned on all sides. Set aside.
Heat 60ml oil over medium heat. Sauté onions until softened and caramelised, about 20 mins. Add shrimp paste and garlic and sauté for 1 min until fragrant. Add in coriander, turmeric, cayenne and black pepper. Stir fry for 1 min.
Pour in wine and tomatoes and cook for 5 mins until the liquid has evaporated. Put in chillies, curry leaves, bay leaves, crushed lemongrass and galangal. Pour in chicken stock and bring to a boil. Then, simmer uncovered for 1½ hrs, until the liquid is reduced by half.
Once ready, pour the liquid through a fine sieve placed over a bowl. Press the sieved mixture with a spatula to squeeze in remaining liquid.
Pour the strained liquid back into the pot and bring to a boil. Carefully place in browned chicken, carrots and potatoes. Simmer uncovered for 25 mins until the chicken is cooked through and the carrots and potatoes are tender.
Serve hot with steamed rice or cooked rice vermicelli.
Shanghainese Pan Fried Pork Soup Dumplings (Sheng Jian Bao)
To Prep
In a bowl, mix shredded wombok with 1 tsp salt and set aside at room temperature for 10 mins. Squeeze off excess water.
Mince pork belly pieces in a food processor until fine. Add wombok, mushrooms, spring onions and garlic, then pulse until just combined.
Transfer to a bowl. Mix in 2 tsp salt, cornflour, Shaoxing wine, sesame oil, oil, sugar and white pepper. Set aside, covered, in the refrigerator.
To prepare the dough, combine flour, cornflour, salt, sugar, baking powder and yeast in a mixing bowl. Pour in half the warm milk and stir to combine with a spatula. Add the remaining half of the warm milk and stir until well mixed.
Knead until a rough dough is formed. Lightly dust your worktop with flour and place the dough on top. Knead until a smooth dough is formed. Shape into a ball. Lightly grease a bowl with oil and place in the dough. Cover with cling wrap and allow to sit for 30 mins.
Lightly flour your worktop again and place the dough on top. Cut the dough into 4 equal portions. Roll each portion into long logs and cut each log into 6 equal pieces. Roll each piece of dough into a ball and flatten it with your palm. Roll with a rolling pin until 9cm in diameter. Scoop roughly 1 tbsp pork mixture on the middle of the dough and fold the dough wrapper into half, pleating and pinching at the top until completely sealed. Place formed dumpling on lightly greased baking tray and cover loosely with cling wrap. Repeat with remaining dough and pork mixture. Allow dumplings to rest for 10 mins.
To Cook
In a non-stick pan, heat 1 tsp oil over medium-high heat.
Working in batches if needed, carefully place dumplings into the pan and pan fry them until lightly golden brown on the bottom.
Pour in ¼ cup of water into the pan and cover. Cook until the water has evaporated entirely. Turn off the heat and leave to continue cooking for another 40 secs. Transfer dumplings to a serving plate and serve immediately.
Sichuan Hot and Sour Sweet Potato Noodles (Suan La Fen)
To Cook
Heat oil in a pan over medium heat and sauté garlic until fragrant.
Prepare two individual serving bowls with all seasoning ingredients and split the garlic oil between both bowls.
Cook sweet potato noodles according to packaging instructions. Drain and divide the noodles equally between both individual serving bowls. Top with roasted peanuts, spring onions, coriander and pickled vegetables. Serve.
Korean Beef Japchae
To Begin
Add noodles to boiling water and cook for 8 mins. Rinse with cold water and drain. Set aside.
In a bowl, combine marinade ingredients then add beef and mix well. Leave to marinate in the fridge.
Heat 1 tbsp oil in a non-stick pan and stir-fry the vegetables with beef, until beef is cooked. Remove from heat, set aside.
Heat another 1 tbsp oil and stir-fry noodles with soy sauce, sugar and sesame oil for 2-3 mins.
Add vegetables and beef. Serve hot.