Asian Inspirations

Discover the authentic in Asian cuisine food

Vegetables

Osaka Style Japanese Pancake (Osaka Style Okonomiyaki)

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To Prep
Mix 100g okonomiyaki flour with 100ml water together and set aside.
Finely chop cabbage and spring onion and add to batter mix. You could add in your chosen fillings.
Add egg and mix the ingredients together. Do not over mix.

To Cook
Heat up a frying pan, add in 1 tsp oil and spread evenly. Pour okonomiyaki mixture into a round pancake shape in the centre of the pan. If using meat, cook the meat separately so it is ready to add into the pancake.
Once the underside of the pancake is brown in colour, add the cooked meat to the top, flip over and cook the other side. Press down on pancake with a spatula to make it an even thickness.
When both sides of the okonomiyaki are golden brown, flip on to a plate and cut into slices like a pizza.
Lashing the pancake with okonomiyaki sauce and mayonnaise, sprinkle with bonito flakes, aonori seaweed, tenkasu tempura flakes and server with a portion of pickled ginger.

Tips
If you do not find Okonomiyaki Flour, use 100g of plain flour mixed with 75ml of dashi or water and 1 tsp of baking powder.
While the first side is cooking, try frying up some yakisoba noodles and flipping the pancake on to these when cooking the other side.
Try laying streaks of bacon on the top before flipping sides.

Fish-Flavoured Eggplant

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To Prep
Place the eggplant strips in a colander set over a plate and sprinkle lightly with salt. Leave for 30 mins to draw out moisture.
Rinse and pat dry with paper towel.

To Prep Batter
To make the batter, whisk all the ingredients together in a large bowl until smooth.

To Prep Fish-fragrant Dressing:
Gently fry the chilli bean, pickled chilli, garlic and ginger in vegetable oil until the oil is red and fragrant.
Add sugar and fry for 20 secs and then add both vinegar.
Reduce gently until sauce thickens enough to coat the eggplant.
Taste and add sugar if too salty/sour or add vinegar if too sweet.

Garnish
Gently toast the Sichuan pepper in a pan until fragrant and grind to a fine powder (save for garnish later).

To Cook the Eggplant
Heat the deep-frying oil to 180°C.
Working in batches, lightly coat the eggplant strips in corn flour then the tempura-like batter.
Place one at a time, in the hot oil and deep-fry for 4 mins, or until golden and crispy.
Drain oil on paper towel.

To Serve
Transfer the deep-fried eggplant to a bowl and gently toss with dressing.
Arrange on a serving plate. Sprinkle spring onion and Sichuan pepper to taste and serve.

Ramen Noodles with Spiced Tofu and Chilli Lemon Sauce

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To Cook
In a small saucepan combine the sweet chilli sauce, lemon rind and juice. Bring to the boil and then remove from heat. Set aside.
Cook noodles according to packet instructions. Drain, then refresh under cold running water. Drain well, set aside.
In a bowl, combine five-spice powder with the flour. Add the tofu cubes and toss to coat. Heat half the oil in a wok. Add the coated tofu (in small batches) and cook until browned on all sides. Set aside.
Heat the remaining oil in the wok. Add chopped onion, garlic and capsicum and stir-fry until onion softens. Add peas and half the chilli lemon sauce and stir-fry until peas are tender-crisp. Add noodles and gently toss to combine. Remove from heat.
Divide stir-fry between 4 deep serving bowls. Top with spiced tofu and a sprinkling of spring onion. Drizzle with the remaining chilli lemon sauce. Serve immediately.

Bun Cha Hanoi with Light Fish Sauce and Pickled Carrot and Papaya

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To Cook
Grilled Slice Pork
Slice the pork shoulder into slices about 5cm lengths, 4cm width, and about ½cm thickness. Place into a zip-lock bag with the rest of the ingredients to marinate for at least 2 hrs in room temperature or overnight in the refrigerator.
Grilled Pork Patties
Mix ground pork with the rest of the ingredients and leave to marinate in room temperature or fridge for the same amount of time as the sliced pork.
To make the minced pork into patties, first shape the ground pork mixture into round balls of approximately 5cm diameter and flatten patties to 1cm in thickness.
Use a grill rack or charcoal BBQ griller to cook the pork. If cooking in an oven, set oven to 200°C to broil until golden brown.
Grill the patties and the sliced pork until both sides are golden brown, roughly 10 mins per side.

To Prep Sauce
In a medium saucepan, combine all the ingredients above and cook over low heat until the broth is lukewarm (not boil).

To Prep Pickle
Make enough pickling vinegar to immerse the sliced carrots and papaya. Let it sit at room temperature for at least 2 hrs.

To Serve
When meats are done, place in a covered medium sized sauce pan containing the dipping sauce. The juices of the meat will darken and meld with the fish sauce.
Transfer to large serving bowl and serve with rice vermicelli topped with fresh herbs, lettuce, pickled carrot and papaya, and minced garlic.

Thai Laksa with Prawns (Laksa Goong)

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To Cook
Prepare the noodle as per packet instruction. Drain and divide between 2 serving bowls.
Heat oil then add Valcom Laksa Paste and stir-fry over low heat until fragrant. Add the prawns and stir well until cooked.
Add light coconut milk and bring to the boil. Spoon soup over noodles in bowls, then garnish with beansprouts and coriander.
Hint: chicken fillet can be used in place of prawns.

Sizzling Saigon Crepes (Banh Xeo)

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To Prep
Finely mix the rice flour, turmeric powder and salt. Add water and coconut milk and whisk well until the ingredient is smooth. Sieve through to ensure no lumps inside the mixture. Rest the batter for 30 mins.

To Cook
Use a large fry pan or non-stick saute pan, heat up with high heat. Add 1 tbsp lard/oil and then add one portion of pork, shrimp, onions, scallions, and mushrooms (and salt to taste) to stir fry until the pork and shrimp are half done.
Add in ½ cup of batter into pan, swirl pan to coat bottom evenly. Add bean sprouts over one half of the crepe.
Drizzle in 1 more tbsp of lard/oil around the edge of crepe and lower heat to medium.
Cover pan and cook for 1 min. Remove cover and continue to cook until edges begin to brown.
Loosen crepe from bottom of pan with a soft silicon spatula (hard spatula would break the crepe). When bottom turns light brown and crispy, fold crepe to encase bean sprouts.

To Prep Nuoc Cham Sauce
Add fish sauce, water, sugar and lime juice into a small bowl and mix well until sugar is completely dissolved.
Add garlic and chilies and stir, serve as tableside condiment.

To Serve
Roll pieces of cooked Banh Xeo in a lettuce leaf, dip in Nuoc Cham sauce and eat immediately.

Omelette with Chinese Sausage, Onions and Carrot

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To Prep
Add the salt into the beaten eggs and mix well. Set aside.

To Cook
Heat oil in a non-stick pan over medium heat, sauté the onion until fragrant.
Add in the carrots and Chinese sausage, stir fry for about 2 mins.
Pour in the eggs, making sure it covers all the ingredients. Pan fry for 2-3 min or until the bottom side is golden brown.
Flip the omelette to pan fry the other side. You can do this in batches with a spatula. Pan fry for 2-3 mins until golden brown and eggs are cooked. Remove from heat and serve.

Stir Fried Chinese Broccoli with Crispy Roast Pork

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To Cook
Heat oil in wok over medium high-heat. Add in minced garlic and sauté until fragrant.
Add Chinese broccoli and stir fry for 2-3 minutes, then add in oyster sauce and ground pepper.
Then add in the roast pork chunks and stir well to mix in the flavours. Taste to see if saltiness suits, light soy sauce and sugar may be added according to your liking. Continue to stir fry for another minutes and then dish up on a serving plate. Served with steamed rice.
Serve hot with steamed rice

Boiled White Radish Soup with Pork Ribs

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To Cook
Blanch the pork in boiling water for 5 minutes and remove from the water. Clean off any impurities and set aside.
Put in all the ingredients into a pot and add 2L of water. Make sure the water covers all the ingredients by 2-3cms, otherwise add more water to the pot.Bring the water to a boil on medium high heat, then reduce heat to low and allow to simmer for about 2.5 hours or until the pork is tender.
Season with salt and serve.

Fried Omelette with Green Beans

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To Prep
Add soy sauce into the beaten eggs and mix well. Set aside.

To Cook
Heat some oil in a fry pan over medium heat, add the beans and stir fry until cooked. Season with salt and mix well.
Use spatula to move the beans so that they are evenly spread out on the pan. Pour the eggs evenly over the beans and pan fry until the bottom is golden brown.
Flip the omelette in sections with spatula, pan fry the other side until golden brown. Transfer to a serving plate and serve.

Stir-Fried Noodles with Chicken

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To Cook
Place noodles in a heatproof bowl, cover with boiling water and allow to stand for 2 mins, then drain.
Heat oil and stir-fry chicken for 2 mins. Add carrot, baby corn and mushrooms and stir-fry for 3-4 mins.
Add oyster sauce, chicken marinade and noodles. Cook while stirring until heated. Transfer to a serving plate and garnish with spring onions.