Asian Inspirations

Discover the authentic in Asian cuisine food

Vegetables

Wakame Cucumber Salad (Sunomono)

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To Prep
To rehydrate wakame, soak in water for 10 mins. Drain well and transfer to a bowl.
Cut the cucumber in half lengthwise. Then, peel the cucumber by alternating 1.5cm strips lengthwise, leaving strips of the skin intact. By doing this, the cucumber slices will have decorative green accents and retain some extra crunchiness. Then, thinly slice the cucumber to about 0.3cm thickness.
Sprinkle salt over the cucumber slices and rub them. Set aside for a few minutes, and squeeze out excess water from cucumber. Then, transfer cucumber into the bowl (Step 1).

To Cook
In a small saucepan, add in all the dressing ingredients and cook over high heat until sugar is dissolved completely. Set aside to cool.
To serve, pour dressing over cucumber slices and wakame, and mix well. Spoon sunomono into individual dishes and garnish with ginger.

Hijiki Seaweed Salad (Hijiki no Nimono)

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To Prep
Soak the dried hijiki in water for at least 30 mins. After the hijiki has hydrated, strain the hijiki and drain out as much water as you can.
While the hijiki re-hydrates, slice the carrot, konnyaku, and aburaage into thin, long strips of 3cm in length.

To Cook
In a frying pan, heat the oil and stir-fry the hijiki, carrot, konnyaku, and aburaage for 5 mins.
Add seasoning ingredients in to the pan and stir. When the sauce has coated the ingredients, cover the pan with a lid and continue to cook for another 10 mins.
Remove the cover and add the edamame in to the pan. Continue to cook until the liquid has almost all evaporated and then remove the pan from the heat and set aside.

To Serve
Serve warm or even cool. Store leftover in an airtight container and keep refrigerated for up to a week.

Scattered Sushi (Chirashizushi)

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To Prep the Rice
Cook sushi rice according to instructions on rice packaging. Add ¼ cup rice vinegar, 2 tbsp sugar and 1 tsp salt to the cooked rice. Using a wooden spatula, fold the seasoning into the rice.

To Prep the Shiitake
Gently squeeze shiitake mushrooms to drain water, remove stems and slice thinly.
In a medium pan, heat 160ml water used for soaking the mushrooms. Then add shiitake, soy sauce, sugar, and mirin.
Simmer on low heat until the liquid is almost dried up. Set aside.

To Cook the Omelette
In a bowl, beat eggs and add ½ tbsp sugar. Continue mixing until the sugar dissolves.
In a medium skillet, evenly oil the surface and heat over medium heat. Pour a scoop of egg mixture into the skillet to make a thin crepe-like omelette.
Repeat until egg mixture is used up. To slice, roll up the omelettes and slice into thin strips.

To Serve
Serve sushi rice on a large plate or individual bowls. Scatter simmered shiitake, shredded crab sticks, sliced omelette, and cucumber over rice. Top with sashimi slices, ikura and sesame seeds. Serve with pickled ginger on the side.

Miso Glazed Eggplant (Nasu Dengaku)

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To Prep
Preheat an oven to 200°C.
In a bowl, mix together the miso paste, mirin, sugar and sake until well combined.
Cut the eggplants in to halves and score them on the inside.
Line a baking tray with aluminium foil and set aside.

To Cook
Heat up oil in a pan over a high heat and cook the eggplant skin side down. Cook the eggplant until the skin has browned before flipping the eggplant over, covering the pan and continuing to cook for another 5 mins or until the flesh has cooked through.
Remove the eggplants from the pan and set on to the baking tray. Brush over the miso mixture until the flesh is fully coated.
Place the baking tray in the oven and broil for 5-10 mins or until the miso has lightly charred.

To Serve
Remove the eggplants from the oven and sprinkle with sesame seeds. Serve while hot and enjoy!

Buckwheat Porridge (Sobagome Zosui)

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To Prep
Clean niboshi by removing heads and cuts. Then put the niboshi into a straining/dashi bag.
In a pot, add 4 cups of water and put niboshi bag in. Leave to soak for 10 hrs or overnight. This will be the pot of dashi.

To Cook
Rinse sobagome. In a pot, add the rinsed sobagome and enough water to immerse it. Bring to boil for 15 mins, then remove from heat and drain the water. Set sobagome aside.
In the meantime, soak dried shiitake mushrooms in water to rehydrate. Slice shiitake mushrooms, carrot, chikuwa, konnyaku, and chop the spring onions. Rub salt onto konnyaku slices and rinse to remove smell.
Cut chicken thighs into 1cm pieces and rub sake into it. Set aside.
In the dashi pot, add shiitake and bring contents to boil.
Leave to simmer for 2-3 mins before removing the niboshi bag.
Add chicken, carrots, konnyaku, and mirin into the dashi pot and simmer.
Add the cooked sobagome, garnish with spring onions, and flavour with light soy sauce.

Optional step: Add a slice of sudachi or chopped yuzu peels to add more flavour to the dish.

Chunky Vegetable Soup Niigata Style (Noppei Jiru)

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To Prep
Soak dried shiitake mushrooms and scallops (optional) in 2 cups of water overnight to rehydrate and draw flavours into the water. The juices will be used as part of the soup stock.

To Cook
In a small pot, bring roughly 4 cups of water to boil and drop in konnyaku, return to boil, then drain and set aside the konnyaku.
Prepare the dashi by heating 4 cups of water in a saucepan over medium heat. Just before the water boils, remove the kelp from the saucepan.
Increase the heat to high and bring to a boil. Keep cooking for another 5 mins.
Lower the heat and add bonito flakes into the saucepan. When the water boils, turn heat off. Set aside to cool for at least 5 mins and let the bonito flakes sink to the bottom.
Strain the liquid through a strainer lined with a paper towel or several layers of cheesecloth. Set aside.
In the meantime, remove shiitake mushrooms and scallop (optional) from the water. Lightly squeeze to drain water and slice the shiitake mushrooms.
In a pot, add dashi, shiitake mushroom water and scallop (optional), seasoning and heat over medium-high heat.
Add in all the ingredients and bring to boil. Then, lower the heat to a simmer and keep cooking for another 20 mins, or until the taro softens.
Turn off heat and scoop into individual serving bowls. Best enjoyed hot.

Chinese Cabbage Soup

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To Prep
Cut cabbage and carrot into pieces, cut corn into segments.

To Cook
Cut chicken into pieces and scald in boiling water for 3 mins, rinse and drain.
Fill a pot with 3L of water and place chicken pieces in pot, cover and cook over medium heat for 1 hr.
Add the remaining ingredients and continue cooking for 30 mins, then add seasonings. Serve hot

Fried Rice with Stir-Fried Beef

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To Cook
Heat oil in frying pan and stir-fry the eggs until cooked. Remove and set aside.
Fry the nasi goreng paste in heated sesame oil until fragrant.
Add rice and stir-fry thoroughly until every grain is coated. Add carrots, peas and the eggs. Mix well and set aside on a serving plate.
Stir-fry sambal oeleck in heated sesame oil for 1 min.
Brown onion, add beef and stir-fry for 2 mins. Remove and place at the side of fried rice.
Sprinkle sesame oil. Garnish fried rice with cucumber, cherry tomato and coriander. Serve hot.

Pickled Mustard Leaves (Nozawana-zuke)

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To Prep
Cut Nozawana into 4cm long pieces.
Place cut vegetable into plastic seal bag and mix with ingredients. Remove air from the seal bag by rubbing out any air pockets until plastic clings tightly to the packed vegetables. Alternatively, you can place vegetables in a glass pot/jar and put a heavy bowl on top of the greens to keep them down and immersed in the pickling ingredients.
Place plastic seal bag in a bucket. Place heavy items on bag to prevent vegetables from floating. The pickled vegetables can be served after 24 hrs. Leave to pickle up to 2 weeks for more flavour.
Always use clean, dry utensils when taking the pickles out to serve to avoid contamination. Store pickles in refrigerator after you start consuming them or after you open the jar.

Japanese Savoury Buns (Nozawana Oyaki)

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To Prep
Put dough ingredients in a bowl and mix well with a whisk.
Add the warm water and mix until the dough is no longer floury.
Form the dough into a ball, cover with plastic wrap – or put it into a plastic bag – so it doesn’t dry out, and let it rest at room temperature for about an hour.
In the meantime, soak the nozawana in a bowl of water to de-salt them.
Squeeze to dry the nozawana and chop them. Put them into a pan with the sesame oil and white sesame seeds, mix well, add the Seasoning ingredients and stir fry over medium-low heat until there’s no moisture left.
Divide the rested dough into 10 portions, and press each one and stretch it out into a circle with a diameter of around 10cm.
Fill each portion of dough with the filling made in Step 5, wrap the dough around the filling and press the dough together with your fingers to seal it as an individual bun.

To Cook
Lightly spray some oil on a frying pan, place the buns seam side down in the pan, and pan-fry them on low heat.
Cook until the bottom is brown, then add 100ml of water to the frying pan, cover with a lid and steam-cook the buns over medium heat. Turn the heat down to low when there is no water left in the pan.
Top the buns with white sesame seeds, and turn them over to pan-fry over medium heat. The buns are ready to serve when this side is browned as well. Best served warm.

Classic Pork Gyoza

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To Make Filling
Add the cabbage and salt to a large bowl and thoroughly mix together. Let the cabbage sit at room temperature for 15 mins.
Transfer the cabbage to a clean kitchen towel or cheese cloth. Roll up the cloth and wring out the liquid in the cabbage, like you’re wringing a wet towel. This is a key step so that the gyoza doesn’t become watery. Wring out as much as possible. Do this in batches if it’s easier.
Add the wrung out cabbage, chives, garlic, ginger, pork, soy sauce, 2 tbsp of the sesame oil, black pepper, salt, sugar, and potato starch to a large bowl.
Use your hands to mix the ingredients together for about 2 mins. Mash and mush the ingredients together, squeezing it through your fingers so it turns into a sticky filling that will hold together when you spoon it into a dumpling skin.

To Make Gyoza
Prepare a tray by lightly dusting it with potato starch. Place a gyoza skin in the palm of one hand with the floured side down. (The skins are sold with one side floured.)
Dip a finger in the potato starch solution and wet the entire edge of the skin. This water starch mixture is the “glue” that will hold the skin closed.
Add about 1-2 tbsp of the filling to the center of the skin. Use the index fingers and thumbs of both hands to fold the skin and pinch it together. Place the completed gyoza on the tray, fold side up. Repeat until you’ve used up all the fillings.

To Make Dipping Sauce
Combine the soy sauce, vinegar, and rayu. Adjust to your own taste.
Pour the dipping sauce into individual small bowls and set aside.

To Cook
Heat a non-stick pan or cast-iron skillet over high heat for about 5 mins. When the skillet is hot, add 1 tbsp of the sesame oil, making sure the entire surface is coated.
Begin adding the gyoza one at a time, in neat rows, the seam up. A 12-inch skillet will hold about 20 gyoza. Once all the gyoza are added, fry them for about 10 secs. Now quickly pour in the water over the gyoza and cover the skillet tightly.
Cook over high heat for about 4 mins. Uncover the skillet, there should be little or no water remaining. Cook for another 1 min. Drizzle the remaining 1 tbsp sesame oil over the gyoza and cook for an additional 1 min. The gyoza should look glossy with the skins cooked through.
Turn off the heat and use spatula to transfer the gyoza to a serving plate, this time with the seam side down (you want to show off the beautifully crispy, browned bottoms of the dumplings). Serve the dumplings steaming hot, with the dipping sauce on the side. Dip in the sauce to eat.

Variation
You can substitute the salt and soy sauce in the gyoza filling with 2 tbsp of red miso, for a savoury twist.

Hot and Sour Soup (Suan La Tang)

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To Prep
Mix ¼ cup cornstarch with an equal amount of water and use a spoon to stir until completely dissolved.
Cut the dried chilli peppers in half discard the seeds. Mince them up and set aside. Keep the seeds if you want to increase the broth’s spiciness.
Slice the pork into small strips and place into a bowl with the last teaspoon of corn starch and ½ teaspoon of oil. Stir it all together.
Soak the dried lily flower, wood ears, and mushrooms for an hour or two until hydrated. Once they’re ready, slice the mushrooms and give the wood ears a rough chop. Trim the tough ends off the lily flowers and cut them in half.
Cut the spiced tofu and the firm tofu into 2in long and ¼in thick pieces.
Slice the winter bamboo shoots into the same shape.
Wash and chop the scallion and set aside.
Beat the two eggs in a bowl.

To Cook
Bring the chicken stock to a boil in a wok or pot and add the pork. Stir to ensure the slices are not clumped together. Skim off any foam that floats to the top.
Add the chilli pepper, white pepper and both soy sauces, and check the soup for salt. Add the lily flowers, wood ears, mushrooms and bamboo shoots, and bring the soup to a simmer. Add the two kinds of tofu, sesame oil, vinegar, and a pinch of sugar and stir. Stir until the broth thickens.
Use a spoon to mix your corn starch in the bowl so it’s all combined. Bring the mixture to a simmer. Use a soup ladle to stir the soup at the center of the wok in a steady circular motion to make a whirlpool while slowly pouring the corn starch slurry in a thin stream. This prevents the corn starch from clumping. Stop when you are about ¾ of the way done with your slurry to check the consistency of the soup. It should be thick enough to coat your spoon or ladle. Add the rest if needed.
Keep the soup simmering and use the same technique with the beaten eggs and again, make sure the motion is fast enough or you will end up with egg clumps instead of the beautiful swirls or egg “flowers” (which is what the Chinese call it).
Garnish with the chopped scallions and serve.