To Cook
Place minced pork in large bowl, and mix in ingredients for seasonings. Set aside.
Rinse the salted fish, then pan fry briefly for about 2-3 minutes in a small pan. Remove from heat and cut into small pieces.
Mix in the chopped shiitake mushrooms, chopped water chestnuts, half of the salted fish and 1 tsp of the grated ginger in the bowl of marinated minced pork. Mix thoroughly.
Transfer the minced pork mix on to a shallow plate and level the surface with a wet spoon without pressing the mixture down. Cover with cling wrap and let it chill in the fridge for at least an hour.
Sprinkle the remaining salted fish and 1 tsp shredded ginger on top of the meat patty. Drizzle with fried garlic oil or fried onion oil.
In a wok or steamer, steam on high heat for about 10 to 12 minutes, or until well cooked through.
When done, garnish with chopped spring onions and serve immediately with steamed rice.
Vegetables
Crispy Pork with Thai Basil (Kra Pao Moo Grob)
To Cook
Score the skin of the pork belly and rub the fats with salt.
Grill until it is golden brown and crispy. Cut into 1cm slices.
Smash chillies and garlic with a mortar and pestle.
Heat the oil in a wok over medium heat.
Add chilli and garlic paste, stir-fry for a few seconds.
Stir in the pork, then add the fish sauce, oyster sauce, chicken stock and sugar.
Stir fry for another minute, then add the beans. Keep stir frying until the pork is heated through.
Lastly, add in the Thai basil leaves, stir fry for about 20 secs, then take off the heat and serve piping hot with steamed rice.
Blanched Chinese Brocolli in Oyster Sauce (Blanched Kai Lan In Oyster Sauce)
To Cook
Split up kai lan by cutting the bottom stems, wash thoroughly and then drain.
Prepare a wok or a big pot and bring water to boil.
Blanch the kai lan quickly for around 30 secs – 1 min depending on how thick the stem is. Remove and drain.
Place the kai lan neatly on a plate and then drain excess water. Set aside.
In a wok, heat up oil on medium heat and saute the minced garlic until light brown and crispy. Turn heat off. Make sure not to overcook the fried garlic as it will be very bitter.
Drizzle the fried garlic and oil over the bed of kai lan, followed by topping with the oyster sauce.
Tofu and Seaweed Udon
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.
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.