Asian Inspirations

Discover the authentic in Asian cuisine food

Dessert

Banana Fritters (Pisang Goreng)

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To Prep
Peel the bananas, and slice it once or twice lengthways to get a long slice of banana.
Mix all the dry ingredients in a large bowl and slowly whisk in the cold water until you get a smooth batter without lumps.
Add oil to the batter and mix until combined.
Add the bananas into the batter and make sure they are all fully covered in batter. Leave the bananas for 5 mins in the batter.

To Cook
In a large saucepan, heat oil until 180°C and deep fry the bananas until golden.
To absorb excessive oil, remove the bananas from the oil onto paper towels. Serve crunchy and hot.

Steamed Pandan Tray Cake (Nyonya Kuih Talam)

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Preparing the Green Layer
First extract the pandan juice by finely blending 15-20 pandan leaves with 300ml of water. Strain the blended mixture to get 300ml of pandan juice.
Make a simple sugar syrup by mixing the sugar, salt and plain water in a pot and bringing it to a boil, making sure all the sugar and salt has dissolved.
Then, combine the pandan juice with the rest of the ingredients in a mixing bowl.
Slowly mix in the hot sugar syrup into the green mixture while stirring constantly.
Then strain the mixture into a metal mixing bowl.
Bring a pot of water to a boil, reducing the heat to medium when it does. Set the mixing bowl with the green mixture over the pot and cook until it has thickened. Remove from heat and mix until smooth.
Pour the thickened mixture into a greased 20cm baking tin and steam over medium heat for 15 mins. Try to make an uneven surface to help the two layers stick to each other.

Preparing the White layer
Combine the coconut milk, rice flour, green bean flour and salt. Then, slowly pour in the hot water gradually while stirring constantly.
Once smooth, strain the mixture into a metal mixing bowl.
Repeat the same cooking process as with the green mixture.
Pour the white mixture on top of the steamed green layer and steam over medium heat for 15 mins.
Set aside to cool, and serve. Make sure to cut the Kuih Talam with a greased knife as it is quite sticky.

Harajuku Crepes

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To Prep
In a large bowl, sift in flour, sugar and salt. Then, add in eggs and half the milk. Beat until the batter is smooth without any lumps. Pour in the remaining milk, melted butter and beat until well combined. Cover the batter and allow to stand at room temperature for 30 mins.

To Cook
Using a pre-heated (medium heat), 30cm non-stick pan, pour in a little batter and quickly tip the pan in a circular motion to allow the batter to spread out. Cook over medium high heat until the underneath is golden brown. This will take about 2 mins. Gently lift the edges of the crepe using a spatula and flip the crepe. Cook for 30 secs and remove from heat. Repeat with remaining batter.
Fill each crepe with your desired ingredients. Try both sweet and savoury fillings! Refer to our suggestions for ideas.
To assemble the crepes, place the filling on ¼ of the crepe’s surface. Do not overstuff. Fold the crepe in half and start rolling the crepe from one end into a cone shape.

Red Bean Daifuku

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To Cook
Combine glutinous rice flour and sugar in a medium bowl and whisk all together.
Add water and mix well until combined.
Cover the bowl with some plastic wrap. Put the bowl in the microwave and heat it on high heat (1100w) for 1 min. Take it out and stir with wet rubber spatula. Cover again and cook for 1 min.
Stir again, cover, and cook for 30 secs to finish cooking. The color of mochi should change from white to almost translucent.
Cover the work surface with parchment paper and dust it generously with corn starch. Then transfer the cooked mochi on top.
Sprinkle more corn starch on top of the mochi to prevent it from sticking.
One it’s cook down a bit, spread the mochi into a thin layer with your hands or with a rolling pin.
Transfer the mochi with parchment paper onto a large baking sheet. Refrigerate for 15 mins until the mochi is set.
Take the mochi out from the refrigerator and cut out 7-8 circles with the cookie cutter.
Place a plastic wrap on a plate and then mochi wrapper on top, then lay another layer of plastic wrapper down. Repeat for all wrappers.
Place one sheet of plastic wrap on the work surface with a mochi layer on top. Using the cookie scoop, scoop out red bean paste on top of the mochi.
Pinch the four corners of the mochi layer together to wrap the red bean paste. Then, pinch the remaining corners together.
Put some corn starch on the sealed area and set aside. Continue making the rest of daifuku mochi.
Store in a cool dry place and enjoy within two days.