Asian Inspirations

Discover the authentic in Asian cuisine food

Dessert

Steamed Tapioca Cake (Kuih Bingka)

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To Prep
Line a 23×5 cm square cake tin with banana leaves, and grease the surface making sure is the right side up (shiny side is right side up). If banana leaves are unavailable, they can be replaced with baking paper. Preheat oven to 180°C.
Peel the tapioca and grate finely. Place the grated tapioca in a strainer over a bowl. Leave for 30 minutes to allow juices to drain into the bowl.
Discard the liquid in the bowl slowly. Take care to leave behind the tapioca starch at the bottom of bowl.
Put the strained, grated tapioca into a large mixing bowl. Then add the tapioca starch from the previous step. Add sugar, beaten eggs and salt. Mix the ingredients thoroughly until the sugar has dissolved.
Add the pandan leaves to the mixture. Knead, squeeze and twist pandan leaves in mixture. This is to release the oils from the leaves into the mixture.
Next, pour in the coconut milk and water and mix thoroughly. Remove the pandan leaves from the batter.
Pour the batter into the cake tin and make sure the batter is evenly mixed. Smooth the top layer of the cake.

To Cook
Bake in preheated oven for 1 hour or until top is golden brown. Make sure not to over bake the cake, otherwise the cake will be dry and tough.
Remove cake from oven and cool on wire rack for 30 minutes. Remove the cake from the cake tin and leave the cake on wire rack to cool completely.
The tapioca cake is quite sticky, so use an oiled knife to cut the tapioca cake. Serve at room temperature.

Banana Pancake (Roti Gulay)

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To Prep
Add flour, salt, and sugar in the mixing bowl of a food mixer.
Pour ¼ cup of ghee into the mix and start mixing with a dough hook on low speed until dough clumps.
Add egg, water and condensed milk into the mixer, and keep kneading until the dough is soft and elastic, about 5 mins.
Cut the dough into 6-8 equal size pieces, about 100g each, then roll into balls.
Coat each ball with a teaspoon of ghee, and then place them in one single layer in a large mixing bowl, plate or baking tray. Cover with cling film and allow to rest at room temperature for at least 2 hrs or overnight.

To Cook
Prepare a workspace by oiling a substantial area with extra ghee. Take the dough, one at a time, and place on the bench. Flatten it with your palm and stretch the centre outwards until it is around 0.5 cm thickness.
If you choose to use the traditional stretching method, grab one edge of the dough, lift it up in a swift motion and quickly slap it back on the bench.
Keep doing it in a clockwise direction and the dough will start stretching as thin as paper. If you are not confident with the traditional method, alternatively you can just keep pushing the dough outwards with the palm of your hand in all directions. Eventually, it will become paper thin. It is okay to have a few tears here and there on the dough, as it will be folded later on.
Once the dough is paper thin and almost see-through, fold four corners inwards to make a large square. Lightly grease a large fry pan with ghee then heat it over low heat. Add the roti, and swirl it around to stop it from sticking to the pan.
Cook for about 1-2 mins, then place half of the sliced bananas in to the centre and then fold in the sides of the pastry over the banana to form a parcel.
Add another teaspoon of ghee to the pan and continue cooking the roti for about 2-3 mins then flip over and cook for another 2-3 mins.
Once both sides are golden brown, transfer the banana roti to a plate and repeat with the remaining dough. Cut the banana roti into squares and serve with condensed milk and white sugar.

Crispy Peanut Pancake (Apam Balik Tipis)

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To Prep
In a bowl, whisk and combine all ingredients for Batter. Wrap bowl with cling wrap and leave to rest for 3 hours, or refrigerate overnight.

To Cook
Lightly oil a small non-stick pan over a medium heat. When the pan is hot, evenly coat the pan with 2-4 tbsp of batter and cook for about 1 min or until the batter sets and forms small bubbles
Sprinkle sugar evenly on top of pancake and keep cooking for another 4-6 mins or until pancake is light golden brown. Top with 1 tsp of butter and some cream corn. Lift pancake from the pan, fold into half and serve immediately.

Thick Peanut Pancake (Apam Balik Tebal)

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To Prep
In a bowl, combine all ingredients for the batter. When the batter is fully mixed, wrap the bowl with cling wrap and refrigerate for 6 hours or overnight.

To Cook
Lightly oil a small non-stick pan over a medium heat. When the pan is hot, pour in half a cup of the batter or enough to evenly coat the pan. Cook until the batter sets and when small bubbles begin to form.
When the batter has set, sprinkle sugar evenly on top of it and continue to cook while covered for about another minute.
Next, remove the lid and sprinkle the ground peanuts on top of the sugar and put the cover back on to the pan.
Keep cooking until the base of the pancake has become brown before loosening the edges with and folding the pancake into half.
Transfer the cooked pancake onto a plate, slice into 2-3 pieces and serve!

Coconut Cake (Kue Pancong)

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To Prep
Combine all ingredients in a mixing bowl. Knead for about 3 mins until the dough is smooth and does not stick to the sides of the mixing bowl.

To Cook
Preheat the oven to 180°C.
Dust a 15cm round cake pan with a little rice flour, then press the dough into it with your fingers. Bake in the oven for about 35 mins until the cake is golden brown and cooked. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool.
Run a knife between the pan and the sides to loosen the cake from pan, then place a platter over the pan and invert it. Slice the cake into serving pieces and serve at room temperature.

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).

Indonesian Fried Banana (Pisang Goreng)

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To Prep
Place the flour in a mixing bowl. Make a well in the middle and add the water, coconut cream and salt. Using a wooden spoon or a whisk, gradually incorporate the flour into the liquid and whisk to make a lump-free smooth, thick batter. Add more flour or water as needed.

To Cook
Heat the oil in a wok or large saucepan until moderately hot. Dip and coat banana pieces thoroughly in batter. Gently lower the coated pieces into the oil, a few at a time, and deep-fry over medium heat for 5-10 mins. Turn occasionally, and fry until golden brown and crispy. Remove from saucepan and drain on paper towels. Transfer to a serving platter and serve with vanilla ice cream if desired.

Balinese Black Rice Pudding (Bubur Injin)

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To Prep
Rinse both types of glutinous rice until the water runs clear.
Soak them overnight.
Mix pinch of salt and coconut cream. Set aside.

To Cook
Heat up a saucepan over medium heat. Add glutinous rice, water and pandan leaves or extract, cooking until boiling.
Lower the heat to low-medium and cook uncovered for 40 minutes. Stir occasionally until the glutinous rice becomes porridge-like.
Remove the pandan leaves. Add palm sugar and stir until the sugar is dissolved. Simmer for 5 minutes.
Combine the coconut cream and salt in a bowl and mix well.
To serve, drizzle salted coconut cream over the pudding.

Pan-Fried Sweet Rice Cakes with Edible Flowers (Hwajeon)

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To Prep Syrup
Combine sugar and water in a small sauce pot. Cook on low heat and simmer for few minutes until the sugar has dissolved.
Remove from heat and cool down. Set aside.

To Prep Rice Cakes
Combine sweet rice flour and salt in a bowl.
Slowly add hot water and mix with a wooden spoon until the dough has cooled.
Knead the dough with hand until it became smooth; divide it into 10 equal-sized pieces. Roll each piece into a ball.
Press each rice cake ball into a disc about 6-7 cm wide in diameter.

To Cook
Heat up a non-stick pan over medium high heat. Add in vegetable oil, swirl the pan to coat the surface. Once it’s heated up, turn the heat to very low.
Put the dough on the pan and pan fry them for a few minutes. When the bottoms are slightly crispy turn them over and flatten them out with a spatula. Cook for another few more minutes.
Place edible flowers on top of each rice cake, flip them over and press them down for 2 secs so that the flower gets slightly cooked and sticks to the cake. Don’t overcook the edible flowers. Take it out from the pan and serve with syrup drizzle on the rice cake.

Cheese Tart

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To Prepare
Sieve the plain flour and corn flour into a bowl with sugar and salt. Add the cold butter using your hands to mould it into the mixture if you do not have a food processor. The result should be a breadcrumb texture.
Mix the egg in with the mixture. Wipe down your workspace and start kneading the mixture. Once it has been kneaded enough, shape the dough into a mixture and wrap with cling wrap. Place in the refrigerator for 25 mins.
Preheat the oven to 180℃ while waiting for the dough.
Flour your clean workspace and roll your refrigerated dough to a thickness of ½ cm thick. Cut out the shape for your tart tins and line them properly. Fork the bases of your tart. Line the tray with baking paper and put the pastry beads into your shells.
Bake the pastry shells for 10-12 mins or until the edges have slightly browned. Let the shells cool on the wire rack.

To Cook
Combine the milk, sugar, cream cheese, ricotta cheese and Parmesan cheese in a saucepan at medium heat. Wait until the cheese has melted and the filling mixture is smooth in consistency. Remove from heat and let it cool down. Stir in the egg yolk and vanilla extract. Let the pan cool fully.
Pour an appropriate amount of filling into the tart shells. Bake for 8-10 mins. Let them cool slightly before garnishing with cocoa powder. Serve while it is still hot.

Hokkaido Milk Toast

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To Make Tangzhong
Mix flour and milk evenly until all lumps are well combined. Cook over medium-low heat and stirring consistently to avoid burning and sticking.
Remove from heat when the mixture thickens to a stage where lines are visible when stirring.
Transfer mixture to a clean bowl and cover the surface of the mixture with cling wrap. Let cool to room temperature.

To Make Bread
Pre-heat oven to 180°C.
In a bread maker, add the milk, cream, egg and tangzhong.
Add the salt, sugar and milk powder, then the bread flour, making a well, and add the yeast to the well. Choose the “dough” mode of your machine.
Pour in melted butter when all ingredients are combined. Allow the dough to knead until smooth and elastic, about 30 mins of kneading in total. Rest the dough for 40 mins until double in size.
Remove dough to a clean surface and deflate. Divide the dough into 3 equal portions and cover with cling wrap. Rest for 15 mins at room temperature.
Using a rolling pin, roll each portion into an oval. Fold ⅓ from the longer edge to the middle and press, then fold ⅓ from the other long edge to the middle and press.
Flip over to make the seal face down. Then with the rolling pin, roll along the length to stretch the dough to about 30cm. Then flip over again to make the seal face up, roll the dough with hand from the shorter edge into a Swiss roll form.
With the seals facing down, put the doughs into a loaf tin and allow to proof in warm temperature until double in size.
Use whisked egg to apply egg wash on the surface. Bake for 30-35 mins until the surface is brown. Remove and transfer to a wire rack. Let cool.