To Cook
Bring coconut milk, curry paste, fish sauce and sugar to boil in a wok; stir occasionally.
Add mushrooms and eggplant; simmer for 2 mins or until cooked.
Add tofu, kaffir lime leaves and basil leaves. Simmer for 1 min and remove from heat.
Garnish with chilli and basil. Serve hot with steamed rice.
Vegetables
Korean Army Base Stew (Budae Jjigae)
To Cook
Gently cook mince in a heated pan and add garlic, making sure not to caramelise meat. Add water, bring it to a boil, skim off any scum that may float to the top. Simmer stock for about 10 mins. Reserve stock.
Combine gochugaru, sake, gochujang and soy sauce in a small bowl.
Neatly place spam, sausage, zucchini, onions, rice cakes, baked beans, kidney beans and chilli mixture in a jeongjol pan (shallow but wide pan). Pour in stock and bring it to a boil and simmer until the vegetables are cooked and the rice cakes have softened, should take about 5 mins.
Add in green onions, chilli slices and tofu towards the end of cooking. Serve jjiae without ramen initially. Reheat soup and add ramen and cook for a few minutes for another serve of jiggae with the noodles. Budae jjigae is best served using table top cooking.
Kimchi Stew (Kimchi Jjigae)
To Cook
Heat saucepan and add pork belly and sauté gently for a few minutes or until light in colour.
Add kimchi, minced garlic, onion and gochugaru and cook until kimchi is softened, about 5 mins.
Add kimchi juice and water to the pot and bring it to a boil. Skim off any impurities and simmer gently for about 15-20 mins, lid covered.
Add in tofu and simmer for another couple mins.
Add salt or soy sauce to taste, and garnish with spring onions.
Korean Kimchi Radish (Gak Dugi)
To Prep
Add salt to radish in a big bowl and mix well. Leave for about 30 mins.
Add rice powder to cold water in a saucepan and mix until flour is dissolved. Bring flour mixture to a boil, stirring constantly. Cook until mixture comes to a paste. This should take about 2 mins. Let this cool.
Mix chilli powder to the cooled rice paste. Set aside.
Blend garlic, ginger, shrimp paste, fish sauce and half the onions. Set aside. Cut rest of onions into 2cm dices. Set aside this garlic mixture.
Drain radish well in a colander. Mix in the chilli powder mixture to the radish in a large bowl. Leave for at least 5 mins.
Mix in blended garlic mixture to radish as well as diced onions. Gently mix in sugar and green onions to radish. Season with extra salt and sugar if needed.
Pour kimchi into a clean, good quality Tupperware container or glass jar and leave to ferment at room temperature for at least 2-3 days. After this, keep radish kimchi in the fridge.
Assam Fish Curry
To Prep
Blend chilli paste ingredients into paste.
To Cook
Heat oil in a wok or pot, add in blended chili paste, sauté till fragrant.
Add curry powder, curry leaves and lemongrass, stir to mix well.
Add tamarind juice and tomato, bring to boil.
Add the water and bring it all to boil again.
Add fish cutlets, season with salt and sugar, cook fish till done.
Add in okra and cook for 1 min.
Dish your Assam Fish Curry and serve with rice.
Nyonya Style Pickled Vegetables (Achar)
To Prep
Mix all the vegetables with 1 tbsp salt. Leave aside in a colander to drain off excess liquid for about 30 mins to get the crunchiness. This step can be skipped, if you prefer your vegetables to have softer bite.
Blend the spice paste in a food processor.
To Cook
Heat up the wok on medium heat. Heat oil and fry the blended spice paste until aromatic. Add vinegar and water, bring to boil. Add salt and sugar to taste.
Turn off fire, add all vegetables into the work and stir well, ground peanuts, sesame seeds.
Dish out, garnish with peanuts and sesame seeds, let it cool to store in a jar or container. Keep chilled in the fridge.
Note: Achar taste best overnight after the flavours have developed. It can last for about 4 weeks.
Northern Thai Sauce (Nam Prik Ong)
To Prep
Combine dried chilli, lemongrass and salt in a mortar and pound until fine, adding shallot, garlic and salted soy bean, continue pounding until become fine paste.
Add tomatoes to the paste and gently pound together, until well combined Transfer the mixture into a mixing bowl, add the minced pork and mix well
To Cook
Stir fry chopped garlic in heated oil over low heat, until fragrant. Combine curry mixture and stir well, adding water and stir fry until well cooked and thickens. Remove from heat
Place the mixture in a serving bowl, top with spring onion and coriander. Serve as dipping with vegetables; ie. Carrot stick, cucumber, celery, etc. and pork crackling as an entrée.
Your Northern Thai Dipping Sauce is ready!
Hint: It is also good for topping rice vermicelli, served as a light meal, or used as cooking sauce for various stir fried.
Korean Seasoned Bean Sprouts
To Cook
Rinse bean sprouts twice in cold water and blanch for 1 min or until the bean sprouts are slightly softened. Drain quickly.
When cool enough to handle, gently squeeze out the excess water.
Toss well with the remaining ingredients.
Sample and add more salt to your taste.
Chicken and Papaya Salad
To Cook
Mix chicken with marinade ingredients.
Heat oil in a pan and pan fry chicken until golden brown and cooked through. Remove and allow to cool. Dice and set aside.
Mix all ingredients in a bowl and chill. Stir in seasoning mix ingredients before serving.
Braised Vegetables in Vegetarian Stir Fry Sauce
To Cook
Bring half a pot of water to boil. Add in a little oil and salt and cook the Shanghai cabbage until tender. Drain and arrange on a serving plate. Keep warm.
Heat 2 tbsp oil in a pan. Toss in Chinese mushrooms, straw mushrooms and button mushrooms. Sauté until fragrant.
Add in cloud fungus, baby corns, white fungus, carrots and fried wheat gluten pieces. Mix in Lee Kum Kee Vegetarian Stir Fry Sauce and water. Bring to a boil. Then, cover and simmer for 10 mins.
Place the cooked ingredients on top of Shanghai cabbage to serve.
Soba Salad with Soy Sauce
To Cook
Cook soba noodles in boiling water according to packet instructions or until tender. Remove and soak in iced water. Drain and place into a serving bowl.
Arrange cucumber and carrots on soba noodles. Chill until cold.
Add seasoning mix just before serving and mix well. Garnish with sesame seeds.
Chicken Coconut Soup
To Cook
Place 1 cup of extra light coconut milk on medium heat. Boil chicken fillet for few minutes and drain. Set aside.
In a saucepan, over medium heat, bring the light coconut milk to the boil, adding galangal and lemongrass, for 3 mins, until fragrant.
Combine the meat and chilli, return to the boil for few minutes, adding fish sauce, sugar and lime juice.
Add kaffir lime and coriander before removing from heat.
Serve your Chicken Coconut Soup warm in a soup bowl.
Hint : If old galangal is available, put a piece of 2 inch length, a little crushed, and boil it first in the coconut milk for 5 mins and take it out. Galangal will help smooth taste and also good for digestion and will enhance the soup flavour