Asian Inspirations

Discover the authentic in Asian cuisine food

Vegetables

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
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.

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 Begin
Cook noodles until al dente according to packaging instructions. Drain and immerse in iced cold water for 1 min until the noodles are cool to touch. Drain and transfer noodles to a bowl. Mix in oil until well combined and cover with cling wrap. Leave to chill in the refrigerator for 1 hr before serving.
Prepare garlic ginger water by mixing garlic, ginger and water in a bowl. Set aside for 1 hr. Discard garlic and ginger before using.
Prepare sauce by mixing all sauce ingredients in a bowl except 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. Add more chilli oil according to preference and 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.

Vegetable and Prawn Fritters Rice Bowl (Kakiage Don)

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To Cook
Season prawns with a pinch of salt.
Place all sauce ingredients in a small pot and bring to a boil. Set aside.
Sift flour, baking powder and salt into a large bowl. Mix eggs with iced water and sake then, pour into flour mixture. Stir the bowl 10 times lightly in circular motion.
Heat enough oil for deep frying and sesame oil in a wok over medium high heat. Meanwhile, place prawns and vegetables into a bowl and dust with corn starch, coating ingredients well. Pour batter over the ingredients and mix gently. Ladle a scoop of ingredients into a wire sieve and drain off excess batter. Carefully place the battered ingredients into the hot oil and work quickly to collect pieces of stray ingredients into a big piece using chopsticks. Once the fritter is golden browned, dish out and drain off excess oil by placing the fritter on paper towels. Repeat with remaining battered ingredients.
To serve, reheat sauce. Meanwhile, divide rice into individual serving bowls. Pour some sauce over the rice. Top each bowl with a fritter and drizzle with more sauce. Serve immediately.

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.

Yam Rice

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To Prep
Place pork belly slices into a bowl and mix well with all pork marinade ingredients. Set aside.

To Cook
Heat up oil in a wok or large pan. Sauté shallots until aromatic. Dish out and set aside. Toss dried shrimps into the remaining oil and fry until fragrant. Add marinated pork belly slices and stir fry for about 2 mins. Then, place in mushrooms and yam and stir fry for another 2 mins.
Add in rice and rice seasonings. Turn the heat to medium-low and gently stir fry to mix well.
Carefully pour in rice mixture into a rice cooker and pour in water. Cook the rice in the rice cooker and allow to rest for at least 5 mins once ready. Gently mix the rice to loosen the grains.
Serve yam rice with sprinkles of spring onions and fried shallots.