To Cook
Heat a wok over medium heat and add half a jar of the Valcom Yellow Curry Paste. When fragrant, add the carrot and cook for a further 2 mins.
Pour in coconut cream and stir to combine. Add the fish sauce and the palm sugar. Once bubbling, reduce to simmer for 5 mins.
Add puffed tofu and cook for a further 2 mins.
Add bok choy and serve on top of a bowl of rice.
Top with lemon wedges, a handful of coriander, pinch of chopped fresh chilli. Sprinkle with fried shallots for some extra crunch!
Vegetables
Crispy Sesame Tofu with Radish Salad & Yuzu Mayonnaise
To Cook
Finely shred the cabbage. Finely slice the radishes. Set aside. Combine soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, sugar and toasted sesame seeds in a small screw top jar and shake to combine. Set aside.
Combine Kewpie mayonnaise and yuzu juice. Whisk to combine.
Place tofu pieces between two sheets of paper towel and press to remove excess moisture. Combine sesame seeds and panko crumbs. Take each tofu piece and coat in corn flour, then dip in the egg and finally the seed/crumb mixture.
Heat the oil and fry in two batches in a small frying pan for a couple of minutes each side (or until golden). Place on paper to drain.
Toss salad with the wafu dressing. Drizzle the yuzu mayonnaise over the tofu.
This dish can be served with steamed rice.
Sesame Soba Noodle Salad
To Cook
In a large pot, fill with enough water to cover the soba noodles and bring to a boil, then add the noodles. Cook the soba noodles according to the instructions on the package, generally this is approx. 5 mins. Drain and rinse immediately with cold tap water. Make sure you rinse them thoroughly, so they are not too starchy. Drain the cooled noodles and set aside.
In a medium sized bowl, add the ginger, garlic, soy sauce, mirin, lime juice, sesame oil, red chillies and sesame seeds. Whisk all ingredients together to combine well.
Now in a large salad bowl, add the soba noodles, spring onions, coriander, julienne carrots and asparagus ribbons and drizzle the dressing over the salad. Gently combine well, cover and chill down in the fridge before serving.
Teriyaki Tofu Sushi
To Cook
Cut tofu into long thin pieces and marinate in teriyaki sauce for 20 mins. (I left some tofu unmarinated for those in the family that did not like teriyaki)
Cook the sushi rice by following the packet instructions. Once cooked, fold through Obento seasoning and cool in fridge.
Lightly fry the tofu and place in the fridge to cool.
Prepare vegetables while the rice is cooling by slicing long thin pieces of avocado and cucumber.
Cover your sushi roller in plastic to keep it clean and begin by placing your sushi sheet (shiny side up) in the middle of the mat.
Push rice flat onto the sushi sheet taking up the bottom three indents on the sheet. Put a generous line of mayonnaise horizontally along the rice followed with a slice of tofu and vegetables. Be careful not to overfill.
From the bottom up, roll the sushi mat over the sushi to form a roll, making sure to tuck in the seaweed tightly as it folds over.
Repeat this for all sushi folds. Once the rolls have set for a minute, use a wet knife to cut into slices and serve with ginger and soy sauce. Enjoy!
Spicy Rainbow Soba Noodle Salad
To Cook
Prepare Obento Soba Noodles as per packet instructions, allowing to cool in the fridge while you prepare the other ingredients.
Prepare cherry tomatoes, carrot, cucumber and cabbage and roughly toss together in a bowl.
Make salad dressing by combining all salad dressing ingredients.
Serve salad by first placing the noodles, then the vegetable mix, then the dressing and garnish with fresh coriander and fried onion for that extra crunch.
Dumpling Laksa
To Cook
Heat oil in a wok and add laksa paste for a few minutes, then add coconut milk and 1 cup of water. After a few minutes, add the vegetarian dumplings and the tofu puffs.
Meanwhile, heat egg noodles in a bowl with hot water. Once both dishes are ready, transfer the egg noodles to bowls and pour in the laksa and dumplings. Garnish with bean sprouts and lime wedges.”
Toshikoshi Soba
To Cook
Make the dashi stock by combining 1.5L of water with 8 tbsp of dashi granules into a large saucepan.
Add the mirin to the dashi stock and bring to a gentle simmer, then add the tamari sauce.
Reduce the heat to the lowest setting and continue to simmer until the broth is ready to be served.
Cook the soba noodles by bringing a saucepan of water to boil and then adding the soba noodles.
Reduce the heat to a simmer and allow the noodles to cook for approximately 4-5 mins.
While the soba noodles are cooking, add the asparagus and mushrooms to the dashi broth and cook in the simmering liquid.
Drain the noodles and rinse under cold water and set aside until ready to serve.
Scoop the asparagus and mushrooms from the broth and set aside.
To Serve
Pour the broth into bowls.
Add the noodles.
Add the tofu, asparagus and mushrooms.
Garnish with sliced chives and toasted nori flakes.
Grandma’s Gado Gado
Vegetables
Slice choko and cabbage into strips.
Steam choko, cabbage, water spinach, english spinach, bean sprouts, eggs and potatoes.
Arrange on plate.
Top with quartered tomatoes, cucumbers, fried crackers and fried tofu.
Peanut Sauce
Fry red onion.
Add water and peanut butter and stir.
Add vinegar and coconut milk.
Add brown sugar and salt to taste.
Vegan Unagi (eel)
Rice
First thing to do is to cook your rice. Follow the “absorption method” directions on the back of the rice packet and by the time your rice is done, so will your delicious unagi.
Teriyaki Sauce
Mix the cornflour and water together first and then combine with the soy sauce, sake, mirin and sugar in a small saucepan.
Cook over a medium heat stirring constantly. Once the sauce turns dark brown and thickens take it off the heat immediately and put it aside.
Unagi
Cut the nori sheet into little rectangles about 5cm long by 2.5cm wide and set aside.
Peel and coarsely grate the sweet potato. Squeeze out any excess moisture.
Put grated potato into a mixing bowl and season with a bit of salt and pepper, then sprinkle the flour over and toss gently so that all the grated potato is lightly and evenly coated with flour but stays nice and loose.
Take a little rectangle of seaweed sheet and place it with the shiny side down. Gently press a small amount of the sweet potato mixture onto each rectangle to cover the seaweed. The small amount of moisture in the grated potato with the flour should make it sticky enough so that it stays attached to the seaweed quite firmly. There is no need to be too neat and delicate with this, it’s fine if there are little strands of potato hanging over the edges of the seaweed.
In a non stick pan, heat the oil so it’s nice and hot and shallow fry each unagi, seaweed side first, for 2.5 mins, then turn them over and fry for a further 2.5 mins or until they are golden brown and crispy on the edges. Be sure not to crowd them in the pan or they stick together and won’t get crispy!
Drain on paper towel and be sure to keep them warm in the oven till they are all cooked.
Finishing
Use a pastry brush to coat each unagi liberally on both sides with the teriyaki sauce.
Sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds and serve with the steamed rice.
Thai Grilled Prawns with Zucchini
To Cook
Wash and devein prawns, leaving the tail on.
Marinate prawns with oyster sauce, sesame oil, soy sauce, fish sauce, lime juice and pepper. In the meantime, slice zucchini lengthwise and pat dry.
Spray/brush zucchini with oil and grill until cook.
Grill marinated prawns.
Plate up zucchini with prawns and decorate with alfalfa and mayonnaise on the side. Tip: To eat, wrap prawn, alfalfa in a strip of zucchini, and add a dollop of mayonnaise. Eat it in one bite to get all the flavours in one go.
Hoisin Chicken with Chinese Pickles & Sesame Mantou
Chinese Pickles
Heat vinegar, sugar, water and salt until dissolved.
Place the vegetables in a sterilised jar, add the vinegar mixture and allow the flavours to develop, for 2 days or longer.
Hoisin Chicken
Combine the marinade ingredients, cut the chicken thighs in half, marinate for 4 hours.
Cook on a hot BBQ grill, turning to avoid burning, until the chicken is cooked through and the outside caramelised.
Black Sesame Mantou (Steamed Buns)
Process 25g black sesame seeds with 15g caster sugar until powdered, set aside.
Dissolve the yeast & sugar in the warm milk, set aside to develop for 10 mins.
Add the flour, oil and 25g black sesame seeds and mix together until dough forms.
Turn out onto a floured surface and knead for 10 mins, form into a ball and place in an oiled bowl, covered with cling wrap, to rise for 45 mins or until doubled in size.
Punch down, roll out into a thin rectangle, lightly dampen the surface, sprinkle evenly, with the powdered black sesame/caster sugar mixture.
Roll up from long side, like a Swiss roll. Cut into 1.5cm slices. place on squares of baking paper, rest in a warm place for 15-30 mins, to rise.
Place in a steamer, bring water to boil and steam for 10-15 mins or until cooked through.
Serve with caramelised chilli sauce, spring onion curls and steamed rice.
Whole Snapper with Vietnamese Sauteed Tomatoes and Bokchoy
To Cook
Rinse the cavity and fish with water and dry very well with paper towels. Make 3-4 incisions into the thickest part of the fish fillet. Generously season with salt just before cooking.
Heat your barbecue grill or fry pan to medium-high heat. Make sure the grill/pan is cleaned and well oiled.
Lay the fish directly on the grill or fry pan and cook for 7-8 mins. Do not attempt to turn fish until the skin has browned and crisped or it will stick.
Using a spatula, carefully turn fish and cook for another 7-8 mins. The fish is done when it flakes at the thickest part.
Place onto a plate and cover with foil to keep warm.
Sauteed tomato sauce
Heat oil in a pan on a medium-high heat.
Add the onions and cook until translucent before adding the tomatoes, coriander stems and cooking wine.
Sautee until tomatoes start to soften around the edges.
Add fish sauce and sugar. Continue cooking for another 2 mins. If the sauce is too dry add the water. You want a chunky thick sauce.
Spoon sauce over the snapper to serve. Garnish with coriander leaves.
Bok Choy
Heat oil in a pan on high heat, add garlic and cook for 20 secs or until fragrant.
Add bok choy and Shaoxing wine. Stir fry constantly until bok choy leaves wilt. Add oyster sauce and continue to cook for a further 1 min.
Place bok choy around snapper to serve.
Notes
Shaoxing wine can be replaced with water or stock. Bok choy can be replaced with any Asian greens. Serve this dish with steamed jasmine rice.