Asian Inspirations

Discover the authentic in Asian cuisine food

Vegetables

Doenjang Marinated Pork with Chives (Dwaejigogi Doenjang Gui)

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To Prep
Combine all the marinade ingredients in a bowl and mix well.
Add the meat, and mix well until evenly coated. Marinate at least for 30 mins.

To Cook
Heat a skillet (or frying pan) with a tablespoon of oil, and briefly stir-fry the vegetables until slightly wilted. Add salt to taste and transfer to a plate.
Heat a grill pan (or a skillet) over medium-high heat and add the pork slices. Then lower the heat to medium to avoid burning the marinade. Cook for about 2 mins on each side, until it is slightly caramelised. Keep turning the meat slices over to prevent the marinade from burning. Remove from heat and prepare a plate to serve.
Layer base of plate with the stir-fried garlic chives and top with the cooked pork slices. Serve along with vegetables for the wraps and ssamjang paste on the side.

Chicken Katsu Sushi Sandwich (Chicken Katsu Onigirazu)

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To Prep the Chicken Katsu
Preheat the oven to 200°C. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper on a baking tray.
Heat up frying pan on medium heat and combine the panko and toast until golden brown. Transfer panko into a shallow dish and allow to cool.
Butterfly and cut the chicken breast. Pound the chicken to equal thickness if necessary. Sprinkle salt and pepper on both sides of the chicken.
In a shallow dish, add flour and in another dish, whisk together the egg and water.
Dredge each chicken piece in the flour to coat completely, pat off the excess flour. Then dip into the egg mixture and finally coat with the toasted panko.
Place the chicken pieces on the prepared baking sheet and bake for about 25-30 mins.

To Prep the Onigirazu
Place a cling wrap on a chopping board and put a sheet of nori seaweed on top (shiny side facing down).
Evenly spread the steamed rice (thinly) to form into a square shape in the centre of nori sheet. Sprinkle a little bit of salt.
Place the shredded cabbage evenly on top of rice and then the chicken katsu on top.
Spread the mustard and tonkatsu sauce on the chicken katsu and flip the chicken so the sauce is on the cabbage.
Place another thin layer of steamed rice on top of the chicken katsu. Fold left and right corners of nori sheet towards the centre. Fold gently but tightly to wrap around the layers at the centre.
Then fold bottom and top corners towards the centre. Fold gently but tightly around the layers. Ensure the rice is tucked in nicely.
Wrap with cling wrap tightly and set aside for 3 mins.
Cut the onigirazu with a sharp and clean knife. Run your knife in cold water before cutting so that the cross-section will be clean.

Japanese Potato Salad

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To Cook
In a saucepan, place peeled potatoes and enough water to cover the potatoes and boil until they become soft.
Drain the potatoes and spread dashi well over them. Then, mash the potatoes roughly with a fork. Put them back to cook on the stove for about 2 mins and add rice or sushi vinegar. Remove potatoes from the heat and put in the fridge to cool off.
Mix in the rest of your ingredients. Then combine salt, Japanese mayonnaise and spicy shichimi togarashi (optional). Garnish with sesame seeds and serve.

Easy Carrot & Enoki Beef Rolls

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To Cook
In a small bowl, combine sauce ingredients.
Boil a small pot of water and blanch carrots.
Season beef with salt and pepper. Place 3 carrot sticks on each sliced beef and roll them up. Then, place a small bunch of enoki mushrooms on each slice of beef and roll them up. Repeat until all beef slices are used.
Dredge each beef roll with cornstarch and shake off the excess.
In a frying pan, heat oil on medium-high heat and pan-fry the beef rolls until browned. Cover with lid for 2-3 mins and turn the rolls over to cook the insides, and around the meat.
Pour the sauce from Step 1 over the meat rolls and turn them over to coat evenly. When the sauce thickens, turn off the heat and transfer to a plate.

Vegetables Wrapped in Beef Roll (Beef Yawata Maki)

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To Cook
Place a sheet of cling film on a chopping board. Place a slice of beef on top, then place another sheet over beef. Flatten the beef with a kitchen mallet to reduce thickness, to allow to cook more quickly.
Blanch vegetables separately in boiled water until tender.
Place beef slices on preparation board, followed by blanched vegetables in the centre of the beef slices. Wrap vegetables with beef to form a cylinder.
Securely wrap and tie rolled beef with string to keep its shape.
Pre-heat frying pan with oil, pan fry rolled beef until meat and vegetables are cooked. Turn occasionally for an even cook and colour.
Once cooked, coat with yakitori sauce and cut into smaller pieces.
Place rolls onto a plate and pour over extra sauce. Serve.

Asian Chicken Salad in a Jar

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To Cook
In a bowl, add ½ tbsp sesame oil, ½ tbsp soy sauce, honey and chicken pieces. Mix well to coat chicken pieces evenly with marinade.
Heat a frying pan over medium-high heat. Pan-fry chicken strips until fully cooked through. Then, set aside to cool.
In a small pot, blanch bok choy, enoki mushroom and corn. Then, set aside to cool
Gather all the ingredients and prepare two clean jars.
Assemble your jars by layering – green and red cabbage, enoki mushroom, chicken slices, bok choy, carrot, more cabbage and corn. Drizzle leftover oil from the pan into the jars if desired. Seal the jars and refrigerate up to 3-5 days.
When you’re ready to eat, dig in or, empty jar contents into a bowl, and add any dressing, salt or pepper if desired.

Miso Soup in a Jar

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To Cook
Firstly, drain tofu and slice into 1cm cubes.
Fill a small pot with water and bring it to boil. Blanch enoki mushrooms and sugar snap peas.
Prepare two clean jars. Then, divide all the ingredients into two, and add them into the jars.
Seal and refrigerate up to 3-5 days. When you’re ready to enjoy some miso soup, add boiling water to fill half the jar (adjust according to your liking), and stir to mix well.

Teriyaki Jar

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To Cook
In a bowl, add 5 tbsp teriyaki sauce to chicken tenderloins. Set aside to marinate for 5 mins.
In the meantime, add sushi rice seasoning to rice and mix well.
Add 1 tbsp oil to a pan, and heat over medium-high heat. Add chicken tenderloins and pan-fry for 5-10 mins, or until meat is fully cooked through. Then, set chicken pieces aside to cool. Once cooled, slice to bite-sized pieces.
Gather all the ingredients and prepare four clean jars.
Start assembling by adding 2 tbsp teriyaki sauce to each jar. Then, add ingredients layer by layer – chicken pieces, cucumber, red cabbage, corn, shiitake mushroom, seaweed salad, sushi rice, and top with pickled ginger and a sprinkling of sesame seeds.
Refrigerate jars up to 5 days. Enjoy meal straight from the jar or, empty all contents into a bowl and tuck in!

Bang Bang Chicken

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To Cook
Bring 5L water to the simmer in a large saucepan over medium heat, plunge in chicken, cook for 10-20 seconds, then rinse under cold running water (discard water).
Transfer chicken to a clean saucepan and add Shaoxing wine, ginger, ½ tsp sea salt and top up with enough cold water to cover generously.
Bring it to a boil and then reduce heat to low-medium and gently simmer until chicken is cooked through for 1-1¼ hours.
Remove from heat and let chicken cool completely in liquid for about 3-4 hours.
Coarsely shred meat (discard skin, bones and sinew) and transfer to a bowl.
While the chicken is cooling, make the dressing. Combine ginger, garlic and 120ml hot water in a bowl and stand to infuse (20 min).
Pass through a fine sieve (discard solids) into a clean bowl, add remaining ingredients and set aside.
Blanch bean sprouts in a saucepan of simmering water until just wilted for about 5 secs.
Refresh in iced water, drain well and place over a serving platter.
Top the chicken, drizzle the dressing, garnish with spring onion and sesame seeds and serve at room temperature.

Meat-Free Sushi in a Jar

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To Prep
Add sushi rice seasoning to rice and mix well.
Gather all the ingredients and prepare clean jars. Depending on the size of the jars, this recipe makes about 2-3 meals.
Start by adding 3-4 tbsp rice to the bottom of the jar, then layer on the omelette, edamame, carrot, red cabbage, cucumber, and top with seaweed salad. Repeat with another clean jar, or until all ingredients are used.
Seal and refrigerate up to 3 days. Drizzle 2-3 tbsp teriyaki sauce before digging in.

Instant Noodles in a Jar

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To Cook
Prepare noodles according to instructions on package, then set aside to cool.
Add soy sauce, miso, red curry paste, chicken bouillon and ginger to the bottom of the jar. Stir to mix well.
Then, layer with carrot, broccoli, enoki mushrooms, edamame, noodles, shiitake mushroom, and garnish with coriander and spring onions.
Seal the jar and refrigerate up to 5 days. When you’re ready to eat, fill jar with boiling hot water and set aside to warm up for 30 secs. Then, squeeze lime over and enjoy!