To Cook
Heat oil in a pan over medium heat. Sauté chopped onions and minced garlic until fragrant. Then add minced pork and cook until lightly brown. Add shrimp paste and continue stir-frying for 5 minutes. Add coconut milk and bring to boil. Add in chili then season with salt and pepper to taste.
Bring down the heat and allow to simmer for 15 minutes or until pork is well cooked.
Then add coconut cream and green beans, stir well to combine and then continue to cook for a further 15 minutes.
Vegetables
Pork Adobo
To Prep
Combine pork belly and marinate ingredients in a large bowl. Mix well and place in the refrigerator to marinate for at least 30 minutes.
To Cook
Heat oil in a wide based pan over medium heat. Add marinated meat to cook, turning occasionally.
Add in vinegar and allow to boil for about 5 minutes.
Lastly add in soy sauce and water. Gently stir and allow to a boil for another 5 minutes. Then cover pan with lid, turn heat down to low and allow to simmer for about 45 minutes, or until meat is tender.
Filipino Vegetable and Prawn Fritters (Ukoy Na Togue)
To Make
Crack egg into a large mixing bowl and beat till fluffy. Then add cornstarch, flour, water, fish sauce, salt and pepper in the bowl with the beaten egg, and whisk all ingredients to combine thoroughly.
Next add in turmeric powder and continue stirring until fully dissolved. The batter should now be in a light orange colour.
Then add bean sprouts, carrots and shallots into the batter and gently stir so that all ingredients are well soaked in the batter.
Heat about 5cm deep of oil in a large pan over medium heat. Scoop a large spoonful of ukoy batter and place a prawn on the batter, gently pressing it down, then slide the batter into the pan and cook for about 3 minutes on each side.
When fritters are slightly browned and crispy, remove from heat and leave to drain on a wire rack. 2 – 3 large spoonfuls of ukoy batter with prawns can be done at one time in the same pan.
Repeat until all batter is cooked.
Korean Summer Bowl
To Begin
Combine sashimi dressing ingredients and toss in ahi tuna and salmon to coat.
Top oysters with 1 tsp lime juice, a dollop of kimchi mayonnaise and 1 tsp of fried shallots.
Divide lettuce leaves, sliced mangoes, sliced avocados and pickled ginger between 4 bowls. Top with marinated sashimi slices and oyster. Serve.
Hiroshima Style Okonomiyaki
To Prep
To make the batter: Mix the flour, water, dashi powder and baking powder together in a bowl to make a runny batter that is the same consistency as pancake batter. Cover and place in the fridge.
To Cook
To make okonomiyaki sauce: Heat the sugar, oyster sauce, tomato sauce and Worcestershire sauce in a small saucepan. Simmer gently then check the taste. If you prefer a tangier sauce, add more Worcestershire sauce. Set aside.
Heat a BBQ hot plate or a large non-stick pan, add a dash of oil and spoon approximately ¼ cup of batter onto the hot plate and spread into a circle. Sprinkle some crispy bits onto the batter, then place a large handful of shredded cabbage on top. Place some of the shredded spring onions on top of the cabbage. For the last layer, place the pork belly on top and drizzle over some batter to hold it all together. With two spatulas, flip the okonomiyaki over so that the pork side is down.
On a spare part of the hot plate or in another pan, drizzle some okonomiyaki sauce over a handful of soba noodles and stir fry it. Once the pork is cooked, use the spatulas to place the okonomiyaki pork side down on top of the fried noodles. Move this aside, then crack an egg onto the hot plate or pan. Move the okonomiyaki noodle side down onto the egg, cook for 1 min, then place the whole okonomiyaki onto a serving plate.
Serve with the okonomiyaki sauce and Kewpie mayo.
Japanese Savoury Pancake (Okonomiyaki)
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
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
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
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
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)
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)
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.