Asian Inspirations

Discover the authentic in Asian cuisine food

Vegetables

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.

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.

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.

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.

Stir Fried Cabbage with Dried Shrimps and Glass Noodles

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To Cook
Add 1 tsp salt to the beaten eggs. Heat 1 tbsp oil in a wok over medium heat and scramble eggs. Set aside.
Heat 2 tbsp oil in a wok over medium heat and sauté dried shrimps until fragrant.
Add in garlic, dried red chillies and spring onions to the wok and sauté until aromatic. Then, toss in cabbage and fry over high heat until softened.
Add in glass noodles, cooked eggs, ShaoXing wine, sesame oil, white pepper and soy sauce to the wok and stir fry until mix well. Season with 1 tsp salt to taste and continue to stir fry for 1 minute.
Serve hot.

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 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.

Stir Fried Cucumbers (Oi Bokkeum)

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To Prep
Cut the cucumber into half lengthwise. Then, slice the cucumbers thinly crosswise.
Place the sliced cucumbers into a bowl and sprinkle in salt. Toss well to mix and set aside for 5 mins. Then, squeeze out as much water as possible from the cucumbers.

To Cook
Heat oil in a pan over medium high heat and fry garlic for 30 secs. Add cucumbers and stir fry until just cooked, about 1-2 mins.
Transfer cucumbers to a serving plate. Drizzle with sesame oil and sprinkle with spring onions and sesame seeds. Mix well and serve.

Sichuan Cold Noodles

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To Cook
Cook noodles according to packaging instructions. Drain and rinse the noodles in iced water for 1 minute. Transfer noodles to a bowl. Set aside.
Mix with oil until combined, cover with cling wrap, and chill in the refrigerator for 1 hour.
Mix garlic ginger water ingredients in a bowl. Set aside for 1 hr. Remove garlic and ginger.
Mix all sauce ingredients in a bowl except Sicuhan peppercorn powder. Stir in garlic ginger water and mix until well combined.
Divide cold noodles and carrots into four individual bowls.
Pour a quarter of the sauce into each bowl and sprinkle with ¼ tsp of peppercorn powder into each bowl.
Garnish with spring onions. Serve immediately.

Shanghai Stuffed Sticky Rice Balls (Ci Fan Tuan)

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To Begin
Place short grain rice and sweet rice with 1½ cups water into a rice cooker. Cook.
If using frozen Chinese crullers, refry until crispy.
Line a sushi rolling mat with cling wrap and spread ½ of the rice across the mat into a thin layer. Top with a piece of fried Chinese cruller in the middle and sprinkle ½ the pork floss and ½ the zhacai.
Roll the rice using the sushi mat to cover the filling, squeezing the mat to ensure the roll is compact. Repeat with remaining ingredients.
Cut into half if desired and serve.

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.

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.