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.
Vegetables
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. The ingredients, especially the ones where liquid has been squeezed out, should be dry and crumbly.
Finely chop the onion and spring onions.
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 the dumplings from sticking to the base of the steamer.
Freshly made Kimchi dumplings can be steamed for about 8 minutes in a steamer. Alternatively, the dumplings can be frozen 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.
Green Curry With Roast Pork (Gaeng Keow Wan Mu Yang)
To Cook
Grill or roast pork steak in an oven (medium-rare) and slice into 1cm thick. Set aside.
Heat oil in a wok or frying pan, stir-fry Valcom Green Curry Paste over low heat for 2 mins or until fragrant. Slowly add half of the Valcom Premium Coconut Milk and bring to the boil over medium heat.
Add the roast pork, Squid Brand Fish Sauce and sugar. Stir through.
Mix the remaining of Valcom Premium Coconut Milk with water and slowly add into the mixture. Bring to boil for 2 minutes.
Add eggplants, capsicum, kaffir lime leaves and red chilli. Stir well. Return to boil until the eggplants are cooked. Add basil leaves before removing from heat. Serve with steamed rice.
Miso Katsu
To Prep
Thinly slice or shred the cabbage with a shredder into thin slices. Wash under cold running water and drain completely. Keep it cool in the fridge.
To make miso sauce, heat 1 tbsp mirin and 2 tbsp sake in a small saucepan over high heat and let the alcohol evaporate. Then lower the heat and add 2 tbsp. sugar, ½ cup dashi, and 3 tbsp Hatcho Miso.
To Cook
Combine well with a silicone spatula. Cook for 3 mins on low heat, stir frequently to avoid burning on the bottom of the saucepan. Turn off the heat and set aside when the sauce is thickened.
To make the Tonkatsu, remove excessive fat from each pork loin and make a couple of slits on the sides where the connective tissue is between the meat and fat. This is because red meat and fat have different elasticity, and they will shrink and expand at different rates cooked. This will prevent meat from curling up and will allow the meat to stay flat when deep frying.
Pound the meat with a meat pounder, or you may prefer to use the back of the knife to pound. Using your hands, mold the extended meat back into original shape.
Season both sides of the meat with salt and pepper.
Whisk together 1 large egg and 1 tbsp water in a large bowl. Prepare panko breadcrumbs in a separate plate.
Place flour in a bowl and coat pork loin with flour. Remove excess flour.
Then dip in egg mixture, followed by coating with panko breadcrumbs. After removing excess breadcrumbs, press the loin gently.
Heat oil in a pot over medium high heat and wait till oil reaches 180°C. If you don’t have a thermometer, stick a chopstick in the oil and see if tiny bubbles start to appear around the tip of the chopstick. Alternatively, you can drop one piece of panko into the oil, and if it sinks down to the middle of oil and comes right up, then that’s around 180°C as well.
When the oil reaches to that temperature, gently lower the pork loin into the oil. Make sure that the oil does not go over 180°C or the pork katsu will look burnt.
Deep fry for 1 min on one side and flip to cook the other side for 1min. Reduce to 45 secs for each side your meat is thinner than 1cm.
Remove meat from pot and hold it vertically for a few seconds to remove excess oil. Place on top of wire rack, or paper towel and let it sit for 4 mins. There is no need to check whether the inside is cooked or not at this stage.
After resting for 4 mins, bring the oil back to 180°C and deep fry the meat for 30 secs on each side.
Poke the meat with a chopstick and if clear liquid comes out then it’s done. Drain the oil by holding the meat vertically again for a few seconds. Then leave it on top of a wire rack or paper towel for 2 mins. If you are using a paper towel, keep the meat in a vertical position so that the other side does not get soggy.
Cut the Tonkatsu into large pieces, lengthwise by pressing the knife directly down instead of moving back and forth. This way the breadcrumbs will stay intact. Plate the Tonkatsu and serve with the fresh cabbage on the side. You may like to pour the sauce just before serving or you may serve the sauce on the side.
The sauce can be kept in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks, or alternatively you may freeze it. You can also use this sauce for marinating other meat such as fish or use as a dipping sauce for hot pot and steamed vegetables.