Asian Inspirations

Discover the authentic in Asian cuisine food

Vegetables

Fresh Spring Roll (Popiah)

by Leave a Comment

To Make Popiah Skin
In a food processor, add flour, water and salt. Process on medium speed for 6 mins, at 2 mins intervals. The batter should be glossy and elastic. Let the batter rest for an hour.
After an hour’s rest, the dough should look slimy yet elastic.
Heat a heavy-based non-stick pan over low heat to warm the pan.
With gloves on, scoop a ‘ball’ of dough onto your hand, enough to fit your hand that it doesn’t overflow. Using a motion as if you are wiping the dough onto the pan, press and spread the dough onto the warm pan in a circular motion until a thin layer forms a circle. Lift your hand, and in doing so, the uncooked extra dough will lift from the pan. (Note: If pan is too hot, the dough will not stick to the pan. Turn off the heat and let the pan cool off before spreading the dough on the pan again.)
Once a thin layer is formed on the pan, use the rest of the dough ball to dab on thicker parts of the popiah skin to lift unwanted bits of dough and to ‘thin’ parts of the popiah skin.
As the popiah skin cooks, the outer parts will curl up from the pan. Use your other hand to gently peel it off the pan set aside to cool on a cooling rack.
Repeat until all the dough is used. Makes about 25 popiah skins.

To Make Filling
Heat up 1 tbsp of canola in a pan medium heat. Add in the prawns and cook until they are cooked through. Remove the prawns from the pan and set aside.
Add the remaining oil in to the pan and heat over a medium heat. Add the shallots and garlic, and cook until soft.
Add in the jicama, oyster sauce, and sugar (optional), and toss evenly. Add water to the pan and turn the heat to low. Let it cook for 15 mins or until the jicama is soft.
Return the prawns to the pan. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Strain the jicama filling and set aside to cool.
Reserve the remaining sauce from the strained jicama filling.

To Assemble Popiah
Lay a sheet of popiah skin on a clean surface and put a piece of lettuce on top.
Spread the hoisin and chilli sauce onto the lettuce.
Scoop jicama filling with prawns, and any optional ingredients of your choice. Top with a teaspoon of fried shallots and gently fold the extra skin over to form a roll.
Serve whole or slice up rolls into 3/4-inch-thick slices. Serve with extra hoisin or chilli sauce on the side.

Note
Besides the must-have jicama filling in the popiah, there are not set rules to what you can add in the wrap. Pack your very own version of popiah with any meat or vegetables of your choice.

Black Pepper Beef Stir- Fry

by Leave a Comment

To Prep
Cut beef into slices 3-4mm thickness. If you find it difficult to slice thinly, freeze beef for 15-20mins before slicing. If you’re using frozen beef, slice it when it’s partially thawed. Place sliced beef in a bowl and wait until completely thawed.
Add vinegar, light soy sauce, Shaoxing wine and corn starch. Gently mix beef and other ingredients by hand until the beef is completely coated in the mixture. Cover bowl with cling film and place in fridge to marinate for 15 mins.
Combine all the ingredients for Sauce in a small bowl. Mix well and set aside.

To Cook
Heat 1 tbsp oil in a non-stick pan/wok over medium high heat. When oil is hot, spread beef in the pan and let it sear for 1 min. Using a spatula, flip beef slices over to cook both sides until slightly charred but still pink inside. Lower the heat and transfer beef to a plate.
Add 1 tsp oil in the same pan and turn to medium high heat. Add chopped onions and capsicum and saute for about 2 mins until half-cooked. Lower the heat and transfer vegetables to a plate.
Add remaining oil into the same pan and turn to medium heat. Add ginger and garlic. Saute until fragrant. Stir the Sauce mixture until corn starch is dissolved completely. Add Sauce into the pan and keep stirring until it boils and thickens. Add beef, onion and capsicum into the pan again and give it a quick stir. Turn off heat. Dish out and serve immediately with steamed rice.

Sichuan Green Beans

by Leave a Comment

To Prep
Combine all seasoning and minced pork in a small bowl to marinate for about 15 mins.

To Cook
In a wok, heat oil over high heat until you see light smoke rising from the surface. Add drained green beans to fry for about 3 mins over low to medium heat. Stir the beans occasionally during the process.
Transfer green beans to a plate and discard oil leaving only a remaining of 1 tbsp of cooking oil in the wok.
Add minced pork and saute for 1 min until fragrant, then add ginger, garlic, Sichuan pepper, Ya Cai and dried red chillies. Saute for another 1 to 2 min.
Return green beans to the wok and add salt, sugar and light soy sauce and saute until everything is well combined. Dish out and serve with steamed rice.

Note: Ya Cai is a popular ingredient in Sichuan cuisine. It is a kind of pickled vegetable and is usually quite salty. Remember to reduce salt if Ya Cai is added to a dish

Fried Carrot Cake (Chai Tow Kway)

by Leave a Comment

To Prep
Grease an 8in square or round pan and set aside. Prepare the steamer.
Take the grated radish and squeeze out as much juice as you can into a separate large bowl. Add additional water to the daikon juice to make up to 900ml of liquid.
Mix rice flour, wheat starch, cornflour, salt, pepper and sugar into the liquid. Stir until batter is smooth.

To Cook
Place radish in a large pot, and heat over medium heat. Continue stirring for a few minutes to let any excess liquid evaporate. Add the batter and continue stirring to mix evenly. Continue cooking and stirring until batter thickens and turns starchy. Turn off the heat and continue stirring to mix well. Pour into the greased pan and level the top.
Steam for about 45 mins until cooked. The cake firms up when cooled. Refrigerate the cake so that it’s easier to cut into cubes for frying.
In a non-stick wok or pan, add the oil and place over high heat. When heated up, carefully add cubed carrot cake into the pan. Spread them out and be careful of oil splattering. Leave to cook on one side for 1-2 mins before turning them over to fry the other side.
When both sides are crisp and golden brown, push the cubes aside with a spatula. Using the spatula, bring the oil to the centre and add garlic and preserved radish. Saute for ½ min and using the spatula, combine with the carrot cake. Drizzle in the soy sauce, fish sauce and sugar and sambal. Mix it thoroughly.
Arrange the carrot cake in the centre of the pan in one layer. Slowly pour the beaten egg mixture over the entire surface. Use your spatula to gently move the carrot cake so that the egg settles in between the pieces. Leave it for a minute to crisp up.
Then using the spatula, cut into and flip each carrot cake cube over to cook the other side for ½ min. Flip over again for a few seconds, then flip back. Turn off the heat and transfer to a serving plate. Sprinkle with chopped scallions and serve immediately.

Singapore Fried Noodles

by Leave a Comment

To Prep
Prepare rice vermicelli according to instructions on package, then strain in a colander.
Coat chicken with corn starch and set aside. Combine all of the sauce ingredients together and stir until they are well mixed.

To Cook
In a wok, heat oil over high heat. Add garlic, onion, and stir fry until aromatic. Then add chicken and prawns, stir-fry until they change colour. Add the rice sticks and sauce mixture, stir to combine well with all the ingredients and cook for 5 mins until noodles soften.
Move the noodles to one side of the wok using the spatula and pour in the beaten eggs onto the now empty side of the wok
Let it cook for about 1 min or until the bottom sets. Add a dash of pepper and begin to fold the noodles over the eggs.
Continue to fold the noodles until all of the ingredients are evenly spread with in it.
Turn off the heat and serve the noodles immediately with a wedge of lime on the side.

Vietnamese Steamed Rice Rolls (Banh Cuon)

by Leave a Comment

To Prep
In a large bowl, combine the rice flour, tapioca starch and all of the water together. Whisk the ingredients until they are well combined and then let rest until all of the starch has settled.
Meanwhile, soak the dried wood ear mushrooms in a bowl of warm water for 10 mins. Drain well and then finely chop.
Finely dice the yellow onion.
Season the ground pork with salt and pepper and then mix well.

To Cook
Heat a wok over medium heat and add the ground pork and wood ear mushrooms. Cook until the pork has browned while breaking the meat into small pieces. Add in the onions and cook until they have softened before transferring in to bowl.
Take the batter that’s been resting and carefully pour out the water from the top of the bowl into a measuring cup.
Note the amount of water in the measuring cup and replace it with clean water. Pour it back into the batter, add in the vegetable oil and season with salt before mixing till the starch has combined.
On a cutting board or a plate, lightly brush with oil so that the cooked pancakes won’t stick to it.
In a pan over a low heat, lightly brush with oil and add in ⅛ cup batter. Swirl until the batter has evenly coated the pan. Cover the pan with a lid and cook for 45-60 secs.
Remove the lid from the pan and flip the pan over the work surface to remove the cake. Try to flip the pancake in one motion so that there are as little folds as possible.
Allow the pancake to cool for 1 min before placing a heaped tablespoonful of the meat filling on to the centre.
Fold over the sides and then roll-up the cake. Continue with the remaining batter and meat until all of the ingredients have been used.

To Serve
Cut the steamed rolls into bite sized pieces and arrange the vegetables and pork roll on to a large plate. Place the banh cuon rolls on a plate and top with the bean sprouts, cucumbers, fresh herbs and steamed pork roll. Garnish with fried onions and serve with a side of fish sauce.

Singapore Fruit Salad (Rojak)

by Leave a Comment

To Prep
Cut vegetables and fruit into bite sized pieces. Set aside in a large bowl with the fritters and tau pok (fried beancurd).
In a sauce bowl, combine all of the sauce ingredients together along with 2 tbsp sesame seeds and 5 tbsp toasted peanuts and mix well.

To serve
Combine the sauce and the salad ingredients together and toss so that the mix thoroughly.
Place on to a serving plate and sprinkle with more peanuts and sesame seeds. Serve!

Stir-Fry Green Beans with Minced Pork

by Leave a Comment

To Cook
In a wok, sauté green beans in 2 tbsp of oil for 3-4 mins and set aside.
Heat remaining 2 tbsp of cooking oil in wok and fry garlic for 1 min until fragrant.
Add minced pork and minced shrimps, stir fry for 2 mins.
Add water, sambal oelek, sweet soy sauce, sesame oil, sugar, salt and green beans, stir fry until cooked. Garnish with sesame seeds (optional) and serve.

Tom Yum Fried Rice (Khao Pad Tom Yum)

by Leave a Comment

To Make the Sauce
Pound lemongrass, galangal, kaffir lime leaves, and chillies until fine. Add in the fish sauce, soy sauce, sugar and lime juice. Alternatively, blend all ingredients in a blender.

To Make Thai-style Fried Egg:
In a wok or small frypan, heat about 1cm of oil to very hot over medium high heat, before smoking.
Crack egg into the oil, then reduce the heat to medium. The egg white would bubble immediately if the oil is hot enough. Fry the egg for about 1.5 mins or until the edges are browned. For non-runny yolk, reduce heat to medium low after adding the egg. If the egg sticks to the pan, gently nudge it with a thin spatula after frying for 1 min for the bottom of the yolk to get firm. Keep the oil for later.

To Make the Fried Rice
Coat a wok with the oil from fried egg, heat over medium high until hot. Sear the prawns until browned on each side and cooked. Remove and set aside.
Add a little oil to the work and saute onion until translucent. Add the Chinese broccoli and toss slightly until the leaves turn bright green, then the rice and toss until most lumps are loosened.
Add the sauce over the rice and toss until they are evenly coated by the sauce and dry.
Remove from heat and stir in green onions. Serve with fried egg, prawns and cucumber. Garnish with spring onion, coriander, chillies and lime.

Oi-Sobagi

by Leave a Comment

To Prep
Combine Seasoning ingredients and mix well.
Rinse cucumbers in running water. Rub salt onto the cucumbers and set aside for about an hour. Then, quickly rinse the cucumbers and drain the excess water.
Cut the salted cucumbers into halves, then cut the cucumber pieces lengthwise into quarters leaving the flesh in the centre of each piece intact. This will hold the cucumber pieces together.
Combine pear, red peppers, spring onion, garlic, and Seasoning to make the stuffing.
Add stuffing into cucumbers to make Oi-Sobagi. Plate and serve.

Vegetarian Thai Red Curry

by Leave a Comment

To Cook
In a saucepan, heat curry paste and coconut milk together.
Add vegetables and brown sugar and cook on medium heat for 5 mins (if you prefer a thicker curry, add cornflour paste at this point).
Garnish with coriander and chilli, serve with steamed jasmine rice.