To Cook
Combine the dressing sauce ingredients and mix well.
Brush a bit of oil on both sides of the prawns and then grill the prawns for a couple mins each side until they’re cooked through.
Combine the chopped lettuce, mint and coriander leaves, shallots, red onion, lemongrass and chilli peppers and toss through with the dressing.
Finally, add the grilled shrimp to the bowl and toss everything together.
Vegetables
Grilled Lobster with Spicy Basil Garlic Sauce
To Cook
Heat oil in a wok or saucepan over medium heat. Add the garlic and both types of chillies and stir fry until fragrant. Combine the oyster sauce, fish sauce and basil and stir fry for a further minute until well mixed. Add the cornflour mixture and cook until the sauce is thickened. Remove and set aside.
Rub the salt and pepper onto the lobsters. Grill on charcoal, pan grill or under the broiler for several minutes on each side until cooked. Transfer on serving platter.
Spread the spicy basil garlic sauce over the grilled seafood. Squeeze lime over lobster. Serve hot and garnish with crispy fried basil leaves and fresh coriander.
Hanoi Style Rice Vermicilli with Grilled Pork (Bun Cha Hanoi)
To Prep
For the pork marinade, combine water, sugar, fish sauce, garlic and shallot together in a small bowl.
Slice the pork shoulder into 2 inch by 2 inch pieces. Add half the marinade in the minced pork and the other half in the sliced pork shoulder.
For the ground pork, add the roasted rice powder and form into golf-ball size patties.
Marinate the pork for at least 30 min or overnight.
Cut the papaya, remove the seeds and slice thinly. Add salt to papaya and let it sit for 30 minutes. Then rinse the salt off under cold running water. Squeeze out the water in the papaya. Pat dry and set aside.
Mince garlic cloves and shallots.
Prepare the bean sprouts by cutting off heads and tails, mint, chillies deseeded and sliced.
Prepare vermicelli as per packet instructions.
Prepare the dipping sauce, combine the hot water and sugar. Mix until dissolved. Add lime, garlic, chillies, fish sauce, coconut soda.
To Cook
Grill the pork over charcoal fire for a more authentic taste. You can also bake them in the oven at 200 degrees for 10 min. Make sure to flip and rotate to evenly cook the pork. Let it rest for 10 min.
To Assemble
When you are ready to serve, add a single portion of meat to a small bowl. Ladle on the sweet papaya chili sauce on the meat. Then serve with a side of rice noodles and top it with fresh Vietnamese herbs.
Indonesian Corn Fritters (Bakwan Jagung)
To Prep
Separate corn kernels from the cob and transfer into a bowl.
Combine all the remining ingredients. Mix well and set aside.
To Cook
Heat oil and then scoop in corn batter, a tablespoonful at a time. Cook for 2-3 minutes on each side and transfer on a wire rack to drain excess oil.
Serve hot with sweet chilli sauce, vinegar dip or tomato sauce.
Vietnamese Beef And Noodle Soup (Pho Bo)
For the Pho Broth
Place onions and ginger on cooking grate (on an open flame a gas stove) and let skin burn. Remove when fragrant. Under warm water, remove charred onion skin and discard blackened bits on the ginger with a knife.
Place bones in a stockpot, add water and bring to boil for a few mins. Dump bones and water into sink and rinse bones with warm water to remove impurities. Clean stockpot and return bones.
Add 6 litres of water to pot, bring to boil over high heat, then lower flame to gently simmer. Use ladle to skim any scum that rises to surface. Add remaining broth ingredients and cook meat, uncovered, for 1 1/2 hrs.
Remove cooked meat and place in bowl of cold water for 10 mins. After draining and cooling the meat, refrigerate it. Allow broth to continue simmering for around 3 hrs.
Strain the pho broth and use ladle to skim as much fat from top of the pho broth. Adjust flavour with additional salt, fish sauce and yellow rock sugar.
For the Noodles and Garnishing
Fill large saucepan with water and bring to boil. Blanch noodles for about 10-20 seconds and arrange into bowls.
Then, blanch bean sprouts for 30 seconds. Drain and add to the garnish plate.
Place slices of cooked meat atop noodles. Garnish with onion, scallion and chopped coriander.
Ladle in broth and serve.
Braised Hairy Melon with Bean Thread
To Cook
Cut softened mung bean vermicelli into thirds.
Heat cooking oil on medium heat. Fry garlic and dried shrimps until fragrant.
Stir in hairy melon, add stock and cook over medium heat for 10 mins.
Add mung bean vermicelli and mix well. Simmer over low heat until the stock is almost absorbed by the vermicelli.
Season with salt and pepper to taste, and serve.
Braised Pork Belly with Lotus Root
To Prep
Marinade the pork belly overnight with the marinade ingredients for at least 1 hour.
To Cook
In a wok, heat oil and fry garlic, ginger and preserved red bean curd until fragrant.
Add pork belly and stir fry for about 5 minutes.
Add lotus root and fry for a further 2 minutes until well mixed.
Add chicken stock cube and enough water to cover.
Transfer to a claypot and cook on low to medium heat for another 40 minutes until pork and lotus root softens, stirring occasionally to prevent burn and sticking.
Dish out and garish with coriander. Serve hot with rice
Javanese Fried Noodles
To Cook
In a pot, cook egg noodles in boiling water for 5 mins, drain and cool under cold running water, set aside.
In a wok, heat 1 tbsp of oil over high heat and stir-fry chicken for 10 mins. Remove chicken from wok and set aside.
Heat 1 tbsp of oil in the wok and add in eggs and scramble. Once cooked, remove from wok and set aside.
With remaining 1 tbsp of oil, stir-fry cabbage and celery leaves for 2 mins.
Add in the cooked noodles, scrambled eggs, stir-fried chicken, bean shoots, ABC Sweet Soy Sauce and light soy sauce, salt, pepper and mix well. Stir-fry for another 3 mins and transfer to a serving plate. Garnish with chilli and serve.
Fried Noodles with Water Mimosa (Sen Mee Pad Kra Shed)
To Prep
In a mortar, pound the garlic, chillies and goat pepper, then mix well with the shrimp paste.
To Cook
In a wok, heat oil on medium and fry the paste mixture. Add a little water, then the prawns and water mimosa, stir-fry well.
Add the oyster sauce, soy sauce and sugar, then the noodles. Add water if it gets too dry, stir-fry well and serve, garnish with sliced chilli.
Asparagus and Fish Roll in Oyster Sauce
To Cook
Combine dace fish meat with seasoning mix ingredients. Mix well.
Pour some oil into a pan and swirl to coat the pan with oil evenly. Over medium flame, pour in half the eggs and swirl the pan to spread whisked eggs out evenly. Pan fry until lightly browned, then flip to cook the other side. Remove and set aside. Repeat with remaining whisked eggs to make 2 pcs of egg sheets.
Blanch asparagus in boiling water. Drain.
Spread fish mixture evenly on a piece of nori sheet. Dust with a little corn starch. Cover with cling wrap and turn over so that the nori sheet is facing up. Place a piece of egg sheet on top of the nori. Put a piece of asparagus on top and roll up with a sushi mat. Repeat with the other nori sheet and egg sheet.
Heat some oil in a pan. Remove the cling wraps and pan fry the fish rolls over low heat until done. Cut into pieces and serve.
Caramel Prawns (Tom Rim)
To Cook
Heat some oil in the pan and add the chopped garlic and onions. Stir-fry until fragrant. Add prawns and fry until pink.
Add the sugar, fish sauce and black pepper and stir well. Add in the spring onions as it tastes better when it absorbs some of the sauce.
Taste and add extra sugar, fish sauce or salt to taste.
Fry the shrimp on high heat for a few seconds until the mixture caramelised.
Serve hot with rice.
Chinese Omelette with Tomatoes
To Cook
In a fry pan, heat 1 tbsp of oil on medium high. Pour in the egg and pan fry for about 30 secs or until the bottom is cooked.
Stir the eggs with a spatula and break into smaller pieces. When the egg is cooked, remove and set aside.
Heat the remaining oil on low, sauté garlic until fragrant.
Add in the tomatoes and increase the heat to medium high. Stir for 1 min or until the tomatoes are soft, then add the egg, salt and sugar into the pan. Stir quickly until well mixed, serve.