Asian Inspirations

Discover the authentic in Asian cuisine food

Vegetables

Japanese Savoury Pancake (Okonomiyaki)

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To Prep
Pour flour into a large mixing bowl. Make a well in the centre. Add in water and whisk into a smooth, runny paste. Cover with cling wrap and allow to rest in the fridge for about 30 mins. Meanwhile, chop up the vegetables.
In a sauce pan or small pot, combine all the okonomiyaki sauce ingredients and allow to simmer on low heat for about 1 min, stirring constantly to ensure the sauce does not burn. Remove from heat and allow to cool.

To Cook
Remove the batter from the fridge and crack in 4 eggs. Whisk to combine. Add in cabbage, mushrooms and ¾ of the spring onions. In a large pan, add about 1 tsp oil and ladle in ¼ of the batter. Spread the batter into a circle. Make a small well in the centre. Cook for about 2-3 mins or until the pancake has browned underneath (keep checking to make sure it’s not burning). Just before flipping, break an egg into the centre and top with 3 rashers of bacon. Using two spatulas, flip the pancake and cook for a further 2 mins or until golden brown.
Transfer the pancake to a serving plate. Repeat the process until the remaining batter has been used. Add dried anchovies to the pan and cook for about 1 min or until crispy.
Brush okonomiyaki sauce generously on top of each pancake. Squeeze kewpie mayonnaise on top and sprinkle with remaining spring onions, crispy anchovies and pickled ginger. Enjoy!

Tofu Milk Bao with Asian Pickle

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Preparing the Pickle
Generously salt the cucumber and leave for 20 mins for juices to extract. Meanwhile, place sugar and vinegar in a glass jug and microwave and stir in 30 sec intervals until sugar dissolves. Add cucumber and juices plus radish to cooled pickling liquid. Cover and refrigerate.

Preparing the Buns
Mix all ingredients together with a wooden chopstick or spoon and turn out into a clean bench. Knead milk dough for 10 mins then roll into a ball and place into a clean bowl. Cover with cling film and set aside in a warm area to proof for 1 hr.
Punch dough down and divide into 20 small balls. Place balls on a floured tray, cover with a damp tea towel, and set aside for another 1 hr to proof.
Using a rolling pin, roll balls into flat ovals. Then, fold in half over an oiled chopstick. Place on small squares of baking paper into bamboo steamer baskets (approximately 4 buns per basket). Steam in a large steamer for 8 mins or steam by batches.
Meanwhile, heat up a pan with oil and fry tofu pieces until crispy and blackened.
Assemble buns by placing hot tofu in the centre, then arrange pickles and garnishes on top. Drizzle generously with kewpie mayonnaise and place extra pickles on the table to serve.

Watercress Namul

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To Cook
Make sure your watercress has been washed thoroughly, watch out for any sand that might still be on the vegetables.
Blanch the watercress in a pot of salted water until they have wilted. This should about half a minute or so.
Remove the watercress from the boiling water and immediately transfer into a bowl of ice water. This will stop the watercress from overcooking.
Once cooled, drain the watercress and squeeze out any excess water.
Spread the watercress over your cutting board and cut lengthwise into 3 equal sections (they should be about 5-7cm long).
In a large mixing bowl, add the rest of the ingredients and mix well. You can use a silicone spatula or your hands so that the watercress remains intact.
Allow the watercress to marinate for about 10 minutes in the seasoning, then serve with steamed rice.

Crab and Dried Scallop Soup

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To Cook
When the shiitake mushrooms are softened, slice them thinly into strips. Also cut the bamboo shoots into strips.
Begin heating the chicken stock and water in a pot over medium high heat.
Add the dried scallops into the pot and boil for about 20 minutes.
Add sliced the shiitake mushroom, bamboo shoots and crab meat to the pot, quickly followed by the oyster sauce, abalone sauce, soy sauce and hua tiao wine. Mix well and season with salt and pepper to taste.
Boil the soup for about 5 minutes before adding in the cornstarch solution to thicken the soup.
Make the cornstarch solution simply by mixing the cornstarch and water in a small bowl. Stir well, making sure there are no lumps in the solution.
Thoroughly mix in the cornstarch solution with the soup and it will gradually thicken.
Ladle the soup into individual serving bowls and garnish with some fresh coriander.
Optionally, you can mix in some black vinegar and/or blanched beansprouts with the soup.

Bubur Cha Cha

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To Cook
Steam diced yam, golden and purple sweet potato in a wok over high heat, until softened, about 20 minutes. Test with a sharp knife or toothpick. They should be very easy to prick through.
Use a large deep pot. Add 1 litre of boiling water with the rock and fine sugar. Bring it to boil. Add pandan leaves. Reduce heat to simmer for 10 min.
Pour in coconut cream. Once it boils again, drain up and discard the pandan leaves.
Add the sweet potatoes. The rock and fine sugar should dissolved completely.
Taste and add more sugar if needed. Served hot. Or let it cool down and chill in fridge if you like it served cold.

To Make Tapioca Flour Cubes
Sift tapioca flour if lumpy flour is found in it. Then, place tapioca flour and salt into a large mixing bowl. Slowly stir-in hot boiling water and combine well until mixture turns dough-like texture. When mixture is cooled, form it into dough on a well-floured table top.
Dust some flour on your palm and divide dough into 4 parts. Mix each portion with 3 different colouring prepared and leave one portion as ‘white‘ original colour (no colouring added).
Knead to combine well and until it becomes a non-stick dough. Then, roll and shape each portion out into long and squarish thin stripes. Thereafter, dice into small cubes.
Bring a pot of water to a boil over high heat. When boiled, reduce heat, and put in tapioca flour cubes to cook for about 30 min, or until all the cubes float up. Texture of cooked tapioca flour cubes should be chewy, bright in colour with a little translucent appearance.
Dish up and plunge cubes into a bowl of iced water for few seconds. Drain and remove cubes from iced water. Reserve for later.

Filipino Omelette with Mussels (Tortang Tahong)

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To Cook
Pre heat oven to 180 degree Celsius.
In a bowl, crack eggs and add salt and pepper to taste, beat eggs with a fork until fluffy.
Heat oil in a pan over medium heat, add oil, shallots and garlic, saute until fragrant. Then throw in the chopped tomatoes, constantly stir frying, until tomatoes have softened.
Add in the pre-cooked mussels and cook for another minute, then add in oyster sauce. Stir through to combine all ingredients well. Next add in the beaten eggs and swirl the pan for the egg to go round the pan.
Add beaten eggs, swirling the pan to fully spread out the eggs and other ingredients. Then sprinkle the spring onions over the top of the eggs and let it allow it to cook until the eggs begin to set, approximately about 2 to 3 minutes.
Remove omelette from the pan and transfer on to a oven tray. Place omelette into the pre heated oven and let it cook until it is completely set, approximately for a further 10 minutes. Once set, transfer on to a serving plate to serve.

Eggplant Omelette (Tortang Talong)

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To Cook
Heat a pan over medium high heat, place 1 eggplant in with the skin still on. Let it cook on one side for about a minute or until the skin looks slightly charred smells smoky, but without burning the skin. Flip the eggplant over to the other sides and repeat the same steps of charring until all sides are completed.
Once completed with the first eggplant, remove from heat and allow to cool. Repeat the same steps with the remaining eggplants.
Once eggplants are cool enough to handle, peel skin off using a knife. Set aside.
In a bowl, crack eggs in and beat until fluffy, then season with salt and pepper. Dip an eggplant into the egg mixture and gently press down the flesh using a fork, making it flat but still in tack and remains attached to the stalk. Allow eggplant to submerge into the egg mix so that it is fully coated. Let it soak for a minute.
Heat oil in a fry pan and gently slide the soaked eggplant in, keeping aside the egg mixture for the remaining eggplants. Sprinkle some onions on top of eggplant and cook for about 1 minute on each side until golden brown.
Repeat the same steps for the remaining eggplants.

Miso Eggplant

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To Cook
Slice eggplants into quarters. Slice slits into eggplant quarters. Dress with olive oil and salt and place on a baking tray. Bake at 180°C for 20 mins until eggplants are brown on the outside.
Whisk together miso dressing ingredients. Once the eggplants are ready, spoon or brush miso dressing over the eggplants. Then continue to bake for another 5 mins in the oven. Keep a lookout as sugar burns easily.
Dish out and garnish with scallions and roasted sesame seeds.

Sesame Teriyaki Salmon Salad

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To Prep
In a small foil BBQ tray or baking tray lined with foil, lightly coat the bottom with sesame oil. Place the 2 salmon fillets on the oiled tray. Cut a grid pattern onto the top of the salmon with a knife and pour the teriyaki marinade into the cuts and around the salmon. Place the tray into the fridge and leave for 15 mins while heating up the BBQ to medium.
Meanwhile, prepare the salad dressing. Squeeze the juice out of 2 limes into a small jug. Grate palm sugar into the lime juice. Keep stirring the dressing until the palm sugar dissolve. Use a bit less palm sugar if a sourer taste is preferred. Add fish sauce and give it a good stir. Give the dressing a taste, it should taste noticeably savoury as well as tangy and sweet. Add more fish sauce a little at a time until perfectly savoury according to your taste. Add diced fresh chillies and give the dressing a final stir. Leave the chillies out if spicy flavour is not preferred.

To Cook
Take the salmon out of the fridge and place the tray on the BBQ and close the lid. It should take about 12-15 mins to cook, depending on how soft you like your salmon and how hot your BBQ is. Check on it after 10 mins to see how it’s going.
While the salmon cooks, prepare the salad. For a delicious (and photogenic) salad, use a spiralizer to thinly slice the daikon, cucumber, carrot and red onion into ribbons. Alternatively, you can grate the vegetables or finely slice them in a food processor. Put all the vegetables into a large salad bowl and cut any long ribbons into smaller pieces with a clean pair of kitchen scissors. Rinse the fresh herbs, pat them dry and then tear them into the salad. Pour the dressing over the salad and toss thoroughly. Garnish the salad with sesame seeds and divide into 2 bowls.
Once the salmon is nearly cooked, take the tray off the BBQ and leave it for 5 mins on the bench. The salmon will keep cooking for a few minutes. Once slightly cooled, flake the warm salmon over the top of the salad in each bowl. Pour the remaining marinade from the BBQ tray over the salmon for extra Teriyaki deliciousness. Garnish each bowl with more sesame seeds and a few sprigs of fresh coriander if desired.
Grab your chopsticks and dig in, yum!

Veggieful Soba Noodle Salad

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To Cook
Heat a pan and spray with preferred oil. Fry the tofu until lightly golden brown. Slice into ½ cm slices and set aside. In the same pan, add asparagus, carrot and zucchini and pan fry until they have some colour but not too soft. Put aside.
Place a saucepan of water to boil. Then add in edamame to the boiling water for a few mins. Remove the edamame and place into a bowl of cold water, reserve the hot water. Shell edamame once cooled and set aside. Reserved hot water can be used to cook the soba noodles to save time if preferred. Cook soba noodles according to packet instructions. Refresh under cold water.
Mix together soy sauce, mirin, grated ginger, garlic, red chillies, lemon juice and rice vinegar.
To assemble the dish, put noodles in a large bowl and add in coriander, shallots and mixed sauce. Combine thoroughly. Add in cucumber, zucchini, carrots and shelled edamame. Mix well, distribute fried tofu and garnish with toasted sesame seeds.
Drizzle some sriracha according to taste. Serve immediately.

Vegetarian Japanese Curry with Noodles

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To Prep
In a pot of boiling water, cook the somen noodles according to the packet instructions.
When the noodles have finished cooking, drain the water and then rinse them in cold water to stop them from over cooking, as well as to remove some of the extra starch.

To Cook
Heat a pan over a medium heat and add a tablespoon of oil. Allow it to heat up before adding in the onions and cooking until they become translucent.
Add the water in to the pan and bring it to a boil. When it begins to boil reduce it to a simmer, add the carrots and cook until they become tender.
Add in the cauliflower, broccoli and green beans.
After about 2 minutes have passed, add in the curry roux and stir the roux until the curry thickens.
To serve, plate the somen noodles in to a bowl or dipped plate and spoon over some of the curry.

Korean Army Stew (Budae Jjigae)

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To Cook
Assemble the main ingredients (except for instant ramen noodles, rice cakes, green onion and cheese) in a shallow pot. Add the sauce in the middle. Pour the stock in the corner of the pot. Close the lid and boil it on medium high heat until the stock starts to boil (about 8 mins).
Add the remaining ingredients – instant ramen noodles, rice cakes, green onion and cheese on top of the pot and boil uncovered until the noodles are cooked (about 2 to 3 mins). Reduce the heat to low (if you’re cooking on a portable burner and sharing the food at the dining table).
Start dishing out soup, protein and vegetables onto your own soup bowl. Serve with steamed rice.