To Cook
Bring a pan of water to the boil. Add the tofu. Bring back to the boil. Immediately drain, then cut into small cubes.
In a small saucepan, combine the remaining Tofu ingredients, bring to the boil. Add the tofu cubes and simmer for 5 mins. Drain and discard the cooking liquid.
Cook the Udon noodles according to packet instructions. Put the spring onions in a small wire sieve. Dip them briefly into the boiling water. Refresh under cold running water and set aside. Drain the noodles, rinse and drain well.
Put the Noodle’s dashi broth and dark soy sauce into a saucepan. Add the light soy sauce, brown sugar and sake (or sherry). Bring to the boil. Season to taste with salt.
Arrange the noodles in serving bowls. Top with the tofu, spring onions and the nori sheets. Ladle in the hot broth and serve immediately.
Vegetables
Stir-Fried Vegetables with Cashews
To Cook
Heat up the wok with the oil and stir-fry onions for 1-2 mins.
Add in broccoli and cook for another 3 mins.
Add capsicum and cook for another 3 mins.
Pour the vegetarian stir-fry sauce onto the ingredients. Mix well and heat through.
Serve with jasmine rice and sprinkle with cashews and sesame oil.
Korean Steamed Eggplant (Gaji Namul)
To Cook
Cut the eggplants into 4 pieces, lengthwise. Then cut crosswise into about 5cm pieces.
In a pot with, bring some water to boil, then place a steaming tray or basket in the pot. Place the eggplant pieces in the steamer, and steam for about 3 minutes, until tender but still slightly firm.
Remove from heat, transfer to a separate bowl to cool.
Then add all remaining ingredients to the eggplant, and gently toss everything together.
Grilled Japanese Eggplant (Yaki Nasu)
To Cook
Spray grill with cooking oil. Cook eggplant in their skin over medium high heat for about 5 mins on each side until the inner flesh is soft and tender and the outer skin is charred.
Either place the eggplant (skin on) in cool water, or allow it to rest until room temperature. Once the eggplant cools, gently remove all of the charred skin. Remove the stem, and chop the eggplant into thirds or fourths, creating small bite size pieces.
Plate the Yaki Nasu and garnish with fresh grated ginger, bonito shavings and sliced green onions. Drizzle with soy sauce. (Dashi shoyu or ponzu are alternative seasonings).
Korean Stir Fried Eggplants (Gaji Bokkeum)
To Prep
Cut the eggplants into half, lengthwise. Then cut crosswise into about 2cm thick chunks. Set aside.
Cut the pepper into about 2-3cm pieces, diagonally. Set aside.
To Cook
In a pan, heat oil over medium-high heat. Stir fry the eggplants quickly, about 1-2 mins or until the outer part of eggplants start to soften.
Add all the remaining ingredients in to the pan.
Continue to stir-fry until the eggplants are well coated with the seasonings.
Hiroshima style Okonomiyaki
To Prep
In a large bowl, mix mirin and water, then add the flour. Mix with a whisk until well combined.
To Cook
Heat up a frying pan over medium heat. With a ladle, pour in a little less than ½ of batter into the pan. Spread immediately from the center outwards in circular motion to about 20-23cm in diameter.
Sprinkle in bonito powder liberally and add half of the cabbage. Then add ½ of spring onions and bean shoots on top.
Place 3 slices of pork belly, without overlapping, over the vegetables.
Pour 1-2 tbsp of batter over the ingredients to bind them together.
Flip the okonomiyaki carefully to cook the meat with medium high heat until done, then reduce the heat to low.
Heat oil in another frying pan and stir-fry 1 packet of noodles with 1½ tbsp of okonomiyaki sauce, while shaping them to the size of the okonomiyaki. Transfer the okonomiyaki on top of the noodles with 2 spatulas.
In the empty frying pan, heat some oil and add 1 egg. Spread the egg immediately into a circle of the size of the okonomiyaki. Transfer the okonomiyaki, with noodle at the bottom, onto the egg.
Fry the egg until cooked and check that it is not sticking to the pan. Transfer the okonomiyaki to a serving plate by placing the plate on top of the okonomiyaki and flip over.
Add okonomiyaki sauce, mayonnaise and seaweed powder on top. Repeat to make the second okonomiyaki. Serve hot.
Steamed Minced Pork with Preserved Mustard Greens
To Cook
Rinse the mui choy thoroughly to remove any sand and dirt. Soak in water for 10 mins in order to decrease the saltiness. Rinse thoroughly again and then squeeze out any excess water with your hands. Roughly chop the mui choy and then fry them in a wok or pan over low heat for a few minutes, without any oil to bring out the aroma. Remove from wok or pan and let it cool.
Once the fried mui choy has cooled down, mix in the marinade for mui choy. Set aside.
In a big bowl, place the minced pork, finely chopped water chestnuts, minced ginger and mix in all the ingredients for minced pork marinade. Add the water bit by bit so that the pork absorbs all the water well. Combine well and stir towards one direction. Set aside for 20 minutes. And then stir in the marinated mui choy to the minced pork mixture.
Transfer the pork mixture onto a shallow plate and level the surface with a wet spoon without pressing the mixture down. Use a pair of chopsticks to poke some holes in the meat so that it is thoroughly cooked. Cover the plate with foil and for about 10-12 mins over high heat, or until well cooked through. Turn the heat off but let the pork stay in the wok or steamer for further 5 mins before removing. Serve immediately with steamed rice.
Vegetarian Gyoza
To Make Dipping Sauce
In a small bowl, combine all dipping sauce ingredients and set aside. Rest for 10-15 mins.
To Make Gyoza
Keeping the gyoza skins aside, combine all gyoza ingredients in a mixing bowl. Adjust the amount of salt and pepper to taste.
Separate into 8 portions, scoop each portion onto the gyoza skins.
Fold in half and pleat the edges to seal. You can secure the bottom layer with your index finger and fold the top layer in 1cm intervals with your thumb onto the bottom layer.
Heat oil in a frying pan on medium high, place the gyoza with the seal facing up. Without flipping the gyoza, pan-fry until the bottom is golden brown.
Add ⅓ cup water and cook covered until water is dry and the gyoza are cooked.
Transfer to serving plate and serve with dipping sauce.
Stir Fried Green Beans with Minced Meat, Preserved Radish and Dried Shrimps
To Cook
In a pot of boiling water, blanch the green beans for 1 min. Drain well and set aside.
Heat some oil in wok on medium, add the dried shrimps and fry until crispy and fragrant.
Add in the minced pork and stir well until cooked.
Add in the green beans and preserved radish, stir fry 1-2 mins until the beans are cooked. Remove from heat and serve.
Steamed Korean Kimchi Dumplings (Kimchi Mandu)
To Prep
Finely chop the kimchi and squeeze out as much liquid as possible by hand. Then using a cheesecloth, squeeze out water from tofu. Blanch the bean sprouts in boiling water, drain, then finely chop and squeeze out water. Finely chop the onion and spring onions. The ingredients, especially the ones where liquid has been squeezed out, should be dry and crumbly.
Combine all of the filling ingredients in a large bowl and mix well by hand.
Place the other half of the egg in a separate bowl, to be used for sealing the dumpling wrappers in the next step.
Place one teaspoonful of the filling on a dumpling wrapper. Wet the edges of the wrapper with the egg wash and seal tightly, pushing the air out with your fingertips, and into a half-moon shape. Then, join the two ends together, by applying the egg wash to one end and then press tightly to create a round shape.
Repeat this process until all the fillings and wrappers are used. This recipe should make about 25 – 30 pieces of mandu.
To Cook
Line baking paper or cheesecloth on the steamer to prevent
mandu from sticking to the base of the steamer. Freshly made Kimchi mandu can be steamed for about 8 minutes in a steamer. Alternatively, the mandu can be freezed, and cooked later by placing in steamer for about 12 mins or until cooked.
Combine all the sauce ingredients and mix well. Serve the mandu with the dipping sauce.
Korean Noodles in Black Bean Sauce (Jajangmyeon)
To Prep
Prepare the pork by cutting them into 2-3cm cubes. Marinate the pork with a tablespoon of rice wine (or mirin), ginger, salt and pepper. Set aside.
Cut the onion, cabbage and zucchini to 2-3cm cubes. Set aside.
To Cook
In a small saucepan, heat up 2 tbsp of oil then add the black bean paste, sugar, and oyster sauce. Fry it over medium heat for 2-3 mins, stirring constantly.
Heat a large pan over medium high heat with the remaining1 tbsp of oil. Add the pork and stir fry until cooked. Add the vegetables and cook until soft, stirring occasionally.
Stir in the black bean paste and mix everything thoroughly together until all the meat and vegetables are coated well with the paste.
Pour in the stock and bring it to a boil for 3-4 mins.
Place the potato or corn starch into a small bowl, dissolved in ¼ cup of water. Stir in to the pot of sauce and cook briefly until the sauce is thickened.
In a separate pot, heat water and add the noodles in the boiling water. Cook according to the package instructions and drain, the noodles should have a firm bite to them. Place a serving size of noodles in each bowl. Spoon the sauce over the noodles and garnish with the thinly julienned cucumber and carrot.
Tom Yum with Chicken (Tom Yum Gai)
To Cook
Bring the water to the boil, add Valcom Tom Yum Paste and mushrooms, then cook over high heat until tender.
Add chicken and simmer until cooked, then add coconut milk.
Garnish with Valcom Kaffir Lime Leaves, coriander and chilli. Remove from heat.