Asian Inspirations

Discover the authentic in Asian cuisine food

Vegetables

Tom Yum Fried Rice (Khao Pad Tom Yum)

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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

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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

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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.

Nyonya Sweet Broth (Pengat)

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To Prep
Cut all the sweet potatoes and yam into small diamond shapes. Peel the bananas and cut diagonally into 3cm thick slices.

To Cook
Steam the purple sweet potato for 10 mins and set aside. Steam the yellow and orange sweet potatoes and taro for 15 mins and set aside.
In a pot, boil the water then add on the coconut cream, steamed sweet potatoes, yam, sugar and pandan leaves. Bring contents in the pot to boil for abother 5 mins. Add in the banana slices right before turning off the heat.
Pengat can be served either hot or cold (chilled or with ice cubes).

Stir-fried Jicama with Shredded Cuttlefish (Ju Hu Char)

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To Cook
In a small pot, boil water and cook the pork belly for about 20 mins. Let it cool and cut into long strips. The water now becomes the stock base for the dish. Set stock aside.
Heat 6 tbsp of oil to saute ingredients A till fragrant. Dish out the garlic and shallots and set aside roughly 3 tbsp of the now flavoured oil.
With the remaining oil in the wok, add the thinly sliced pork, ingredients B and saute till cooked. Dish out on a large plate.
In the same wok, pour in the balance of the flavoured oil and ngredients C. Add enough stock to cover vegetables and simmer until all the moisture dries up. Add in stir fried ingredients B and mix well.
Ju Hu Char is great eaten in a lettuce wrap, topped with sambal belacan. You can also garnish with crispy shallots or chopped coriander.

Stir-fried Beef with Green Curry

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To Cook
Heat oil in a wok and when oil is hot, add the curry paste and stir-fry for 1-2 minutes.
Add ½ of coconut milk and the beef, stir-fry for about 2 mins.
Then add all the vegetables and stir-fry until everything is well combined and cooked through.
Serve with steamed Jasmine rice.

Prawns in Soybean Paste (Ssambap Doenjang Bokkeum)

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To Prep
Combine aromatics, mix well and set aside.
Combine sauce ingredients, mix well and set aside.
Mince onions, green pepper and red pepper and set aside.
Chop shrimps into bite sized pieces and mince the mushrooms.

To Cook
Heat a pan over medium heat. Add shrimp, mushrooms, and aromatics. Lightly saute. Then, add water ½ cup and sauce mixture. Bring the pan’s contents to boil.
Stir the pan’s contents for several minutes. Then, simmer to reduce the broth to a paste-like consistency making the sauteed soybean paste.
Transfer the paste to a small sauce dish. Garnish with chopped spring onions and peppers to serve.

Sauteed Zucchini (Ae-Hobak Namul)

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To Prep
Combine the seasoning ingredients. Mix well and set aside.
Cut zucchini into half and thinly slice the zucchini into half-moon shapes.

To Cook
On a hot pan, add the sesame oil and sliced zucchini. Saute until al dente.
Next, add seasoning ingredients to the pan. Saute and mix well with the zucchini.
Add the julienned red pepper to the pan mixture and saute; making the squash ban chan. Transfer to a serving dish and serve.

Minced Pork Noodles (Zha Jiang Mian)

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To Prep
In a small bowl, combine water, sweet bean paste and soybean paste well and set aside.

To Cook
Heat up around ½ tbsp cooking oil in wok, stir fry finely chopped ginger, green onion, pork, mushroom and scallion until almost cooked(when the pork starts to change colour). Transfer out.
Heat up 1 tbsp of oil again; pour the sauce prepared in step 1. Bring all the content to a boiling. Return stir fried pork.
Slow down the fire to simmer for around 10 mins. Turn up the fire to thicken the sauce. Stir occasionally during the process.
Cook carrot shreds in boiling water for around 1 min. Transfer out;
Cook fresh noodles in boiled water for 5 mins or follow the instruction on the package.
Transfer the noodles to serving bowls and lay side vegetables firstly and then the sauce. Garnish with some green onions and serve immediately.
Mix well with the gravy before enjoying.

Dan Dan Noodles

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To Cook
Toast peppercorns in a small frying pan over low heat for about 1 min or until fragrant. Be careful not to let them burn. Using a mortar and pestle, grind until crushed. Using your hands, mix pork with crushed peppercorns, mustard greens and 1 tbsp light soy until combined.
Heat 1 tbsp oil in a wok over high heat. Add chillies and cook, stirring, for 30 secs or until fragrant. Add pork (and 1 tbsp soy sauce) mixture and brown, breaking up lumps, for 4 mins or until slightly crisp. Transfer to a bowl. Keep warm.
Clean the wok and heat remaining 1 tbsp oil over medium heat. Add onions and garlic, and cook for 1 min or until fragrant. Add sesame paste, remaining 1 tbsp light soy, dark soy, chilli oil and 250ml water. Cook and keep stirring for another 2 mins or until sauce thickens.
Meanwhile, cook noodles according to the instructions on the packet and drain. Divide among bowls and spoon over sauce and pork mixture. Scatter with extra spring onions to serve.

Braised Beef Short Ribs (Galbijjim)

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To Cook
Boil the short ribs in boiling water for 7-8 mins, drain and rinse the meat, set aside.
Mix all the sauce ingredients in a bowl.
Take a large pot, put the clean beef ribs and add in the sauce mix. Boil it over medium heat for 20 mins.
Add in onions, potatoes, carrots and jujubes and simmer for about 50 mins. Stir the beef and vegetables in between.
Add the remaining ingredients, ground pepper and sesame oil, add in salt if you want saltier. Cook for another 10 mins.
Serve with plain rice.