Asian Inspirations

Discover the authentic in Asian cuisine food

Vegetables

Sauteed Fish with Celery

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To Prep
Marinate fish fillet with some salt and ground pepper for 15 mins. Coat it with corn starch, shaking off excess.

To Cook
Heat 1 tbsp oil in a frypan over medium heat. Cook fish for 2-3 mins each side until cooked through. Set aside.
Bring a saucepan of water to the boil. Add celery and blanch for 1 min or until half-cooked. Drain and set aside.
Heat extra 1 tsp oil in a frypan and stir-fry ginger, celery, carrot and lily bulbs (optional) until lightly cooked.
Add fish fillet, soy sauce, sesame oil and sugar and gently stir-fry. Combine ½ tsp corn starch with 2 tbsp water until you have a smooth paste. Add to pan and cook until heated through. Serve hot.
Hint: fish can be replaced with chicken or other meat.

Warm Somen Noodle Salad

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To Cook
Prepare somen noodles according to packet instructions.
While noodles are cooking, heat the vegetable oil in a wok or fry pan until it is hot.
Add celery and carrot; sauté until tender. Add green onions, ginger, garlic and five-spice powder and sauté for another minute or two.
Turn off heat. Add drained somen noodles to the wok and lightly toss with vegetable mixture through using a pair of tongs until thoroughly combined and noodles are heated through.
Add sesame oil and light soy sauce and stir through.

Wasabi Chicken with Mashed Potato

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To Prep
Combine marinade ingredients in a bowl. Add chicken and marinate in the fridge overnight.

To Cook
Boil potatoes until soft. Meanwhile, place cream and butter in a separate pot, bring to boil. Mash potatoes, add cream mixture. Stir in wasabi and salt to taste. Keep warm.
Preheat grill to medium. Grill chicken, skin side down, until browned. Increase heat to high, turn chicken and cook skin side up until meat is cooked through and skin is crisp.
Serve mash and chicken with extra wasabi.

Japanese Curried Pork Buns

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For the Dough
Mix dry ingredients in a bowl. Slowly add water, mix with hands until combined. Cover, rest at room temperature for 30 mins. Divide dough into 80g balls and cover on a tray.

For the Filling
Slowly saute vegetables in oil until soft. Add pork, cook through. Stir in curry, mix until dissolved, cover and cool in fridge.
Roll dough into small balls, flatten on bench and place 70g of filling in centre. Bring dough up to enclose filling, pinching to seal.
Steam in a lined steamer for 20 mins until cooked through. Serve hot.

Japanese Curry Soba Tsukemen

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To Cook
Curry sauce: heat oil in a pan over medium heat. Add onion and cook, stirring for 4-5 mins until soft. Stir in stock and curry, simmer until thickened.
Soup: in another saucepan, bring soup ingredients to the boil. Remove from heat and set aside.
Cook noodles as per packet instructions. Refresh in cold water, drain well, divide noodles and salad among 4 bowls.
In 4 separate bowls combine 1 tbsp curry sauce and ⅓ cup soup. Serve with noodles and salad for dipping.

San Choy Bow with Rice Vermicelli

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To Cook
Deep-fry vermicelli according to instructions.
Trim edges of each lettuce leaf to form a bowl shape.
Combine pork, oyster sauce and corn flour.
Heat wok, add oil. Add sausage and mushroom; stir-fry for 30 secs. Add pork mixture and hoisin sauce; stir-fry for 5 mins.
Add spring onion, combine well.
Fill lettuce cups with stir-fried mixture. Garnish with extra spring onion and deep-fried vermicelli. Serve.
To eat, fold over bottom edge of lettuce to cover filling, fold in the sides; roll up to make a parcel.
Hint: For the filling, minced chicken or quail can be substituted for pork. For a completely vegetarian version, minced water chestnuts, bamboo shoots and Chinese mushrooms make a delicious substitute for meat.

Indonesian Tofu Kecap

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To Cook
In a wok, deep-fry the tofu in 180ml of the oil at high heat for 2-3 mins or until golden brown, set aside and allow oil to drain.
In a wok, fry the garlic and shallots in the remaining 15ml of cooking oil for 3 mins or until light brown and fragrant.
Add red and green capsicums and stir-fry for a further 2-3 mins. Add the ginger, bay leaves, sweet soy sauce, sugar, pepper, water and tofu and simmer for 10-15 mins. Serve hot with rice.

Korean Chives Pancake (Chives Pajun)

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To Cook
Mix water to the pajun mix in a bowl and lightly whisk.
Add chives to the mix. The batter should have a crepe batter consistency.
Heat frying pan with 2 tbsp of oil. Ladle ½ – ¾ cups of batter to the pan and spread batter thinly.
Pan fry until crisp on either side, turning over once. Place on a plate with kitchen towel to drain oil.
Repeat with the remaining batter and oil.
Serve with soy dipping sauce.

Korean Fish Cake Soup (Odeng Gook)

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To Cook
Place kombu, dried anchovies, Korean radish and onion in a saucepan with cold water.
Bring it to a boil and discard kombu when the stock has just started to boil. Continue to simmer the stock for about 15 mins. Discard the anchovies and onion.
Add the fish cakes, mirin, soy sauce, hon dashi and salt, cook for about 5-7 mins.
Add the pickled chilli and enoki mushrooms, simmer for another 5 mins. Discard the chilli and season to taste.
Serve into individual bowls, top with some crown daisy and parsley. Sprinkle in some green onions and ground pepper, garnish with sliced chilli.

Korean Pork Bibimbap

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To Cook
Set aside each type of vegetables on one big plate after the following cooking steps.
Heat pan and ½ tbsp oil. Add carrot and cook briefly about 20 secs. Season lightly with salt.
Repeat sauté process as above with zucchini but add ⅛ tbsp garlic and ½ tbsp green onions.
Repeat with shitake mushrooms but season lightly with soy sauce.
Mix salad leaves with ⅛ tbsp garlic, ½ tbsp green onions and 1½ tbsp of sesame oil.
In a saucepan, place soybean sprouts with ⅛ tbsp garlic, 1 tbsp sesame oil and 2 tbsp water. Cook for about 5 mins until sprouts are cooked.
Drain and add ½ tbsp green onions and ¼ tsp Korean chilli powder. Season with salt.
In a bowl, ladle 1 cup of cooked rice. Arrange vegetables, meat and then an egg on top. Drizzle some sesame oil and sprinkle some sesame seeds. Serve with Korean chilli paste for individual taste. Repeat with another 3 bowls. Mix Korean chilli paste with rice and topping before eating.

Braised Chicken and Bitter Melon in Black Bean Sauce

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To Prep
Combine all Seasoning ingredients in a bowl and mix well. Set aside.
In another bowl, combine all Marinade ingredients and mix well. Coat Marinade mix with chopped chicken and leave in the fridge for at least 30 mins.

To Cook
Heat wok with 2 tbsp oil and fry bitter melon for about 3-4 mins. Remove from heat and set aside.
Heat the same wok with 1 tbsp cooking oil on high, add chicken and stir-fry for about 3-4 mins or until chicken is brown. Remove and set aside.
Reheat wok on high, add remaining cooking oil, add the Seasoning sauce mixture. Stir-fry until fragrant and aromatic.
Add in bitter melon to braise. When sauce boils, add cooked chicken, stir to combine.
Cover the wok and cook until chicken is tender. Serve.

Chicken Lettuce Cups

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To Cook
Heat oil in a pan over medium heat. Sauté garlic until fragrant. Toss in chicken and stir fry until cooked through.
Add in carrots and asparagus, stir frying until heated through.
Mix in oyster sauce and plum sauce until well combined.
Stir in roasted pine nuts and remove from heat. Leave to cool slightly.
Wrap chicken filling with lettuce leaves and serve immediately.