Asian Inspirations

Discover the authentic in Asian cuisine food

Vegetables

Two-ways Yellow Curry

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To Make
In a saucepan, begin heating enough water and add in salt. Once the water is boiling, toss in the sweet potatoes and boil for 3 mins. Then, add in the cauliflower and boil for further 2 mins. Lastly, add in the capsicum and cook for another 2 mins. Drain and set aside.
Heat up frying pan with 1 tbsp of oil and slightly pan-fry the firm tofu cubes on all sides. Set aside.
Add 1 tbsp of oil and slightly pan-fry the prawns on both sides until cooked. Set aside.
Using the same frying pan, heat the remaining 1 tbsp of oil and fry the Valcom Yellow Curry Paste until bubbling.
Add in the coconut milk and stir until well combined. Then, add in light soy sauce and brown sugar, and continue stirring until the sugar has fully dissolved.
Toss in the tofu and the blanched vegetables. Stir for 2 mins until all ingredients are completely coated with curry sauce. Remove half from the pan for the Vegetarian Yellow Curry.
Add prawns to the remaining Yellow Curry for the Meat Version.
Garnish the Two-Ways Yellow Curry with cut chillies and Thai sweet basil.

Note: For Vegetarian version only, skip steps 3 and 7.

Crispy Vegan Tofu with Yellow Curry and Vegetables

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To Cook Tofu
Heat oil in a pot for deep-frying on medium-high heat.
Dust tofu with flour, then deep-fry until golden and crispy. Set aside.

To Cook Vegetables
Heat 1 tsp oil in medium heat pan, then add onions and cook for 30 secs.
Add Valcom Yellow Curry Paste to the pan and cook until fragrant. Then add green beans and baby corn, cooking for 2 mins.
Season with salt and sugar and mix well until sugar has dissolved, then turn off the fire.
Separate baby corn and green beans.

To Serve (2 Options)
Place sauce with onion on a plate followed by crispy tofu then green beans and corn on top.
Add deep fried tofu into the sauce and gently mix until the tofu is coated all over. Plate tofu, green beans and corn with onion and sauce.

Prawn Salad with Tom Yum Mayo

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To Cook
Add mayonnaise, Valcom Tom Yum Paste, tomato sauce, oil (1 tbsp), water and sugar in a bowl and mix well. Set aside as salad dressing.
Mix prawns with fish sauce and black pepper.
Heat the remaining oil in a hot pan until the oil begins to smoke. Add prawns into the hot oil cooking them for about 30 secs each side.
To serve, arrange all the vegetables, avocado and prawns on the plate. Add some dressing on top or serve at the side.

Vegetarian Yellow Curry Bun

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To Cook
Heat up frying pan with 1 tbsp of oil and slightly pan fry the firm tofu cubes on all sides. Set aside.
In a saucepan, begin heating enough water and add in salt. Once water is boiling, toss in sweet potatoes and boil for 3 mins. Then add in cauliflower and boil for 2 mins. Lastly, add in the capsicum and cook for another 2 mins. Drain and keep aside.
Using the same frying pan, heat the remaining 1 tbsp of oil and fry the Valcom Yellow Curry Paste until bubbling.
Add in coconut milk and stir till well until combined. Then add in light soy sauce and brown sugar, stirring until the sugar has fully dissolved.
Toss in the tofu then add the blanched vegetables. Stir for 2 mins until all ingredients are completely coated with curry sauce.
Slice off the top of the boule and dig out the white inner section of the bread leaving about an inch surrounding inside.
Gently scoop the vegetable curry into the bread bowl. Garnish with cut chillies and Thai sweet basil.

Thai Fried Tempeh with Cashew (Pad Med Mamuang Tempeh)

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To Prep Cashew Nuts & Chillies
In a pot, heat ¾ cup of oil on medium heat.
Deep-fry cashew nuts until lightly golden (the cashew nuts will continue cooking even after they are taken out from the oil). Set aside.
Deep-fry dried chillies for 10 secs, set aside.

To Cook Tempeh
Coat tempeh with flour then deep fry in 2 cups of oil until golden brown, set aside.

To Serve
In a pan, heat oil over medium-high heat until the pan is hot.
Add garlic and onion and stir fry for 1 min, then turn to high heat.
Add capsicum then stir-fry for another 1 min.
Add all sauces, chilli paste and water to the pan, mix well.
Add tempeh and toss to coat the tempeh.
Top with cashew nuts, spring onion, and fried chillies to serve.

Home-style Air Fryer Vegetable Dumplings

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To Make Vegetable Dumplings
In a large mixing bowl, combine all the ingredients for the filling and mix well.
Place 1 tbsp of filling onto dumpling wrapper, wet the edges with some water and fold in half. Pleat the folded edges while pressing to the back to seal dumplings.
Brush completed dumplings with some sesame seed oil before arranging them onto the air fryer basket.

To Cook
Air fry at 180°C for 12-15 mins or till dumplings turn golden brown.

To Make the Dipping Sauce
Mix all the ingredients for the dipping sauce and stir well.

Japanese Mild Curry

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To Cook
Heat pot, add a small amount (approx 30ml) of vegetable oil and saute onions until it caramelises.
Add chicken and mushroom to the pot and further cook until the chicken is almost fully done.
Add carrots, potatoes, and water. Cook until the carrots and potatoes are tender.
Add broccoli and continue cooking until they cooked through or to your liking.
Add curry roux and stir until the roux is fully dissolved
Serve curry on freshly cooked rice.

Japanese Cold Ramen (Hiyashi Chuka)

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To Make Sauce
Combine Sauce ingredients, except sesame oil, in a pot and bring to boil. Take off heat and cool in fridge.
Add crushed white sesame seeds and sesame oil in the cooled sauce to finish it off. Leave aside.

To Make Hiyashi Chuka
Cook noodles by following the instructions on the package. Cool in ice water then drain and leave aside.
In a bowl, place desired amount of noodles in the centre, followed by desired amount of salad. Then pour sauce over the top to serve.

Pork Bone Style Ramen (Tonkotsu Fu Ramen)

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To Make Soup
Place all ingredients in a pot and bring to boil.
Reduce heat to low and continue to cook for 15-20 mins.

To Serve
Cook noodles by following the instructions on the package. Drain and place in bowl.
Heat the soup in a pot to boiling temperature, ladle over the noodles.
Top with pork slices, bamboo pickles, egg, wood ear mushrooms and garnish with spring onion and red pickled ginger.

California Maki Sushi

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To Make Sushi Rice
In a pot, bring sushi rice and water to a boil, lower heat and simmer for 12-14 mins. Remove from heat and let stand covered for 5-10 mins.
Move cooked rice into a big bowl to fluff up the rice.
Add in powdered sushi mix and mix well. Let rice cool.

To Cook Egg omelette
Beat eggs with all the ingredients till well mixed.
Heat up tamagoyaki pan with some oil and pour egg mixture over. Cover and cook under low heat till surface is drying up, then flip over. Continue to cook the other side for another min and remove to cool.

To Make Maki Sushi
Place nori sheet shiny side down on bamboo mat and spread rice all around, leaving 1cm space around the edge.
Arrange 1 cucumber stick, 2 crab sticks, 1 carrot stick and 1 egg omelette strip in the centre of the rice.
Bring the bamboo mat forward while using fingers from both hands to press the filling in, gently rolling the mat and adding a little pressure to wrap in the fillings.
Roll and press to seal the nori at the edge, then use both hands with a little pressure to firm up the roll.
Remove sushi from bamboo mat. Rub a little oil on a sharp knife to cut roll into 6 to 8 slices.
Serve with soy sauce, wasabi and pickled ginger.

Buddha’s Delight (Vegetarian Lo Han Jai)

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To Cook
In wok over a medium-high heat, add in the oil, sesame oil and ginger. Cook the ginger until fragrant before pouring in the Shaoxing wine from the side.
Add in the garlic and mushrooms, give it a quick stir, then separate them to the side of wok and add in the fermented red bean curd to the hot wok, stirring until the pieces have broken up, and stir well with the mushrooms.
Add the carrots, lily flowers, bean curb sticks, stir well to coat with sauce, and add the wombok.
With high heat, add the vegetable stock and bring it to a boil before turning the heat down for a gentle simmer while covered (optional) for 6 – 10 mins (until the wombok has softened).
Uncover and add in the noodles. Allow to cook and soften for 5 mins.
Prepare the corn flour roux by mixing 2 tbs water to the corn flour and immediately pour into the pot to thicken and create a silky sauce.
Remove the wok from the heat and serve!

Miso Glazed Zucchini Tempura

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To Make Miso Glaze
Combine miso paste, mirin and sugar into a stainless-steel based pot. Heat on a medium heat until sugar is dissolved. Set aside to keep warm.

To Make Beetroot Hummus
Combine cooked beetroot, garlic & chickpeas to a food processor and blend for 1 min. Add lemon juice, oil & tahini then blend until combined. Season with salt & pepper to taste.

To Make Tempura Batter
Sift flour twice and place in a mixing bowl. Add ice cubes to water to chill water, once chilled strain out ice and mix one cup iced water with the egg. Combine water and egg mix to flour, lightly stir until combined. For a good quality batter avoid over mixing.

To Cook Zucchini
Heat vegetable oil to 180°C, add zucchini strips to tempura, stir to ensure they are evenly coated. Scatter the coated zucchini into the heated oil ensuring pot is not over loaded. Fry until crisp for approximately 2-3 mins. Remove from the oil and drain on absorbent paper.

To Serve
Place a generous dollop of beetroot hummus to desired serving plate, mix miso glaze with tempura zucchini and place on beetroot. Place 3 large dollops of yuzu mayo on the plate and garnish with flat parsley and baby cos leaves.