Asian Inspirations

Discover the authentic in Asian cuisine food

Vegetables

Braised Napa Cabbage with Mushrooms

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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

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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)

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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

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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

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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)

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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)

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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

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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.

Hanoi Sweet Potato and Prawn Fritters

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To Prep
Combine flour, 1½ tsp salt, turmeric, cayenne, spring onions, egg, soda water and iced water in a bowl and mix until just blended. Do not overmix. The batter will be slightly lumpy. Add 1 tbsp iced water at a time if the batter is too thick.
Place prawns in a separate bowl and season with a pinch of salt and black pepper. Add 120ml batter over the prawns and mix well to coat evenly. Then, add sweet potatoes to the bowl of remaining batter and mix well.

To Cook
Heat enough oil for deep frying in a wok or deep-frying pan over high heat. Place round metal rings into the oil and pour in the sweet potato batter into each metal ring and top with a battered prawn each. Fry until golden browned and cooked through. Drain off excess oil. Repeat with remaining batter.
Serve with lettuce leaves and sweet chilli sauce.

Korean Fist Rice (Jumeok-bap)

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To Begin
Cook rice according to packaging instructions.
Heat 1 tsp oil in a pan over medium heat. Fry luncheon meat until crispy and browned. Set aside.
Heat 1 tbsp oil in the same pan. Sauté garlic, toss in carrots and kimchi and season with a pinch of salt. Cook until carrots soften. Set aside.
Place cooked rice into a large bowl. Top with luncheon meat, fish roe, kimchi-carrot mix, sesame oil, sesame seeds, Japanese mayonnaise and toasted laver strips.
Wearing gloves, mix all the ingredients together until well combined. Season with salt accordingly. Then, form the rice mixture into bite-sized balls. Enjoy!

Steamed Pork with Rice Powder (Fen Zheng Rou)

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To Prep
In a bowl, mix pork belly slices with marinade ingredients. Set aside.

To Cook
In a pan over medium heat, place in rice, peppercorns and star anise. Fry until lightly browned. Then, pulverize the mixture using a food processor until fine.
Add the fine rice mixture to the marinated pork. Mix well.
Line the base of a heat proof steaming plate with lettuce leaves and then layer with potato cubes. Spread out the pork belly slices on top of the potato cubes. Steam over high heat for 30 mins.
Transfer to a serving dish and garnish with spring onions. Serve.

Japanese Pork and Vegetables Miso Soup (Tonjiru)

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To Cook
Heat 1 tsp oil in a large stock pot over medium high heat and sauté pork belly slices until the surface of the pork is slightly browned. Toss in onions and sauté until fragrant and softened. Add in all the vegetables and fry until well mixed, about 5 mins.
Add in konnyaku cubes and stir gently until combined. Pour in dashi stock and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer for 10 mins until vegetables are cooked through.
Once ready, stir in miso paste until dissolved. Gently place in tofu cubes and stir to mix. Sprinkle in spring onions and give a quick stir to combine.
Serve hot. Garnish with more fresh spring onions and Japanese spice mixture if desired.