Asian Inspirations

Discover the authentic in Asian cuisine food

Dessert

Matcha Soft Steamed Bao

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To Make Red Bean Filling
In a pot of boiling water enough to cover red beans and boil for 5 mins.
Drain and return rinsed red beans back into pot, cover with enough water and boil for 1 hour till they are soft and mushy.
Drain red beans again and return to pot on medium heat. Add in sugar and cook beans till they form into a paste. Set aside to cool.

To Make the Dough (Using a Breadmaker)
Add all ingredients with dry yeast as the last item into the breadmaker machine bowl.
Set bread machine to dough mode.

To Make the Dough (Without Breadmaker)
Simply add all ingredients into a big mixing bowl and mix till all ingredients are well combined.
Remove onto floured surface and knead for 15 to 20 mins till dough is smooth and non sticky. Cover the dough with a cloth and let it proof for 40 mins to an hour.

To Shape the Matcha Baos
Once dough is ready, remove from bread bowl and roll out into a round disc on a floured surface.
Cut dough into 8 equal pieces or weigh with a scale for accurate measurement and form them into balls. Cover with a damp towel as you work.
With a rolling pin, roll each dough ball into 1cm thickness but thinner on the edge before filling with a big tablespoon of red bean paste.
Holding the flatten dough with the red bean paste with your palm, start to pleat the edges of the dough together to seal.
Place completed bao onto cut out baking paper.
With some excess dough, pinch a small amount of dough and roll it into a long strip. Arrange a ‘+’ strip onto bao.
Arrange completed bao into a bamboo steamer. Leave enough room around each bao as it will expand when steaming.
Steam bao on high heat for 18-20 mins.

Creamy Red Bean Popsicles (Kacang Merah Potong)

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To Make
Rinse red beans and soak with 250ml water overnight.
Strain away soaking water and put into a soup pot. Cover soaked red beans with 5 cups of water.
Boil on medium heat till bubbling and turn to low and let it simmer for 45 mins.
Strain cooked red beans into a bowl and set aside to cool.
In a milk pot, heat up coconut milk and sugar till it starts bubbling. Set aside to cool.
Keep ¼ cup of cooked red beans aside and toss the rest into a blender.
Pour in cooled coconut milk mixture into blender and blitz till fine and creamy.
Toss in the remainder ¼ cup of cooked red beans into the blender and blitz for 2 secs.
Fill the mixture into popsicle moulds and spoon the bigger chunks of red beans into mould with a teaspoon.
Freeze overnight.

Asian Banana Bread

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To Make
Preheat oven to 160°C.
Sift plain flour, baking powder and soda bicarbonate powder, set aside.
Beat butter, brown sugar and caster sugar with a mixer till light and fluffy.https://asianinspirations.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/GMBC-4-Large.jpg
Add in beaten eggs in 4 additions.https://asianinspirations.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/GMBC-5-Large.jpg
In a small sauce pan heat up water and shaved palm sugar (Gula Melaka) to melt.
Add in mashed bananas into the egg mixture, followed by melted palm sugar (Gula Melaka).https://asianinspirations.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/GMBC-7-Large.jpg
Fold in flour in 3 additions.https://asianinspirations.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/GMBC-8-Large.jpg
Pour batter into lined loaf pan and bake for 70 mins on the second lower rack of the oven. Check for doneness with a cake tester before removing from oven.https://asianinspirations.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/GMBC-10-Large.jpg
Let cool and serve.

Vietnamese Banana Bread Pudding (Banh Chuoi Nuong)

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To Make
Peel bananas and cut some into coins and some into halves length wise. Marinate them with sugar and rum for at least 8 hours or overnight.https://asianinspirations.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/VBP-3-Large.jpg
In a big mixing bowl, mix together coconut cream with milk, condensed milk, egg, salt, vanilla extract and melted butter. Stir till well combined.https://asianinspirations.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/VBP-13-Large.jpg
Add the bread chunks together with the rum infused bananas into the custard mixture and let them sit for 20 mins.https://asianinspirations.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/VBP-17-Large.jpg
Preheat oven to 180°C.
Grease a 9”x5” loaf pan and gently layer the bread and bananas custard.https://asianinspirations.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/VBP-18-Large.jpg
Arrange the halved bananas on top.https://asianinspirations.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/VBP-19-Large.jpg
Bake for 70 mins until the bread and bananas surface turned golden brown and well caramelised. Cover with an aluminium foil if any parts are starting to burn.https://asianinspirations.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/VBP-21-Large.jpg
Let it cool and keep in the fridge overnight before serving.

Crispy Panko Banana Fritters

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To Cook
Heat up oil to 170°C in a pot for deep frying.
Mix all purpose flour, rice flour and salt together. Add in vanilla extract and followed by cold milk. Mix all into a thick batter.
Cut bananas into halves. From about 2.5cm from the tip, slice each piece into 3, and slightly spread out to make into fan shape.
Set up breading station consisting of sliced bananas, batter and panko bread crumbs.
Coat bananas in batter then panko. Press the panko slightly to ensure panko stick onto banana securely.
Deep fry till golden brown, about 4-5 mins with medium heat.

Steamed Banana Cupcakes (Apam Pisang)

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To Make
Sift plain flour, baking powder and soda bicarbonate powder, set aside.
Heat up steamer with enough water and wrap the cover with a kitchen cloth to absorb water droplets from dripping onto cupcakes.
Blend sugar, egg and condensed milk in a blender for about 2 mins till pale and fluffy. Transfer to a big mixing bowl.
Add cooking oil and mashed bananas. Beat with a whisk for 2-3 mins till smooth and fluffy. Add vanilla extract and beat a further 3 mins.
Add in flour mixture in a few additions till batter is well combined.
Grease cupcake moulds with oil before filling to ¾ full with batter, then place a slice of banana on top of each cupcake.
Steam banana cupcakes on high heat for 20-25 mins. When cupcakes are cooked, remove the steamer’s cover and let it continue to steam for 3 mins to help dries up the surface.
Let cool on cooling rack and serve.

Indonesian Fried Banana Balls (Cekodok Pisang)

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To Cook
Heat up oil to 170°C in a pot for deep frying.
Combine plain flour, rice flour, salt and bicarbonate soda powder, mix well.
Add mashed bananas into flour mixture.
Once oil has reached 170°C, add sugar into banana mixture.
Using two dinner spoons, scoop and drop banana mixture into oil.
Use a spatula to gently move banana fritters and fry till golden brown, about 4-5 mins.

Durian Sticky Rice (Khao Niew Durian)

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To Prep Thai Glutinous Rice
Soak Thai glutinous rice in cold water for 3 hrs.
Prepare the coconut cream mixture by combining the coconut cream, sugar and salt into saucepan.
On medium heat, stir the coconut mixture to dissolve the sugar without bringing it to boil. Turn off the heat and set aside.
After 3 hrs, drain off excess water from glutinous rice. Steam the rice for 15 mins. Half way through steaming, you may open the steamer to turn the rice once.
Put the cooked glutinous rice into a large mixing bowl, add the coconut cream mixture and stir to mix well. Cover the bowl with a tea towel, after 5 mins stir the rice mixture once more and cover again with tea towel then set aside.

To Prep Coconut Cream with Durian
Add 500ml of coconut cream, palm sugar and salt into saucepan.
Turn on the heat and bring coconut mixture to simmer till sugar dissolved. Remove from heat. Set aside till cooled down to room temperature.
Add fresh durian into coconut mixture. Break durian flesh into chunk piece. Ready to serve.

To Serve
Place glutinous rice portion size into serving bowl, then top with durian coconut mixture, making sure some durian chunks are on top of the rice.
Serve immediately.

Wasabi No-Churn Ice-Cream

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To Cook
Add all the ingredients into a blender and blend until all are mixed completely and becomes hard, like whipped cream.
Scoop a few tbsp of cream into a bowl and add 1-2 drops of green food colouring. Mix well.
Pour the white mixture into a freezer safe container, and then the green mixture over the top. Use a stick to twirl and mix slightly. Cover and freeze until solid.
Before serving, allow the ice-cream to thaw slightly and remove the block from container. Cut into cubes and serve with berries.

Tip:
Line container with baking paper or plastic wrap before filling the ice cream will ease the process to remove the ice cream from the container.

Mango Coconut Pudding

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To Make
Blend mango, maple syrup and ½ cup coconut cream, in a blender, until smooth.
In a small saucepan combine the other ½ cup of coconut cream and water, until it just simmers. Remove from heat.
Whisk gelatin through coconut cream and water mixture making sure there’s no lumps.
Combine gelatin liquid with mango.
Pour into cups and allow to set for 2-3 hrs.

To Serve
Optionally serve with diced mango, shaved coconut flakes and a sprig of mint. Enjoy!

Mirin, Mint and Black Sesame Ice-cream in Coconut Soba Birds’ Nests

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To Make the Ice Cream
Combine cream and milk in a saucepan and bring to a simmer over low heat.
Using a mixer, beat the egg yolks, palm sugar and mirin till the mixture is pale and the palm sugar has dissolved.
Slowly add the heated milk mixture to the egg yolk, sugar and mirin mixture while beating on a slow speed. Once combined, transfer the liquid back into the saucepan and stir constantly with a spoon over a low heat.
Once the custard mixture is thick enough to coat the back of the spoon, turn off the heat and allow to cool in the refrigerator. When the mixture is chilled, add the fresh mint and black sesame seeds and transfer to an ice-cream maker. Follow the instructions for the ice-cream maker.

To Make the Birds’ Nest
Heat the coconut milk and sugar in a saucepan to a simmer. Add the soba noodles to the simmering coconut milk and allow to soften for 4-5 mins.
Using a sieve, drain the coconut milk from the noodles.
Pre-heat an oven to 180°C (fan-forced).
To create the bird’s nests, take the noodles and spread them in a network fashion on the outside of 7 or 8 rounded silicone muffin moulds.
Bake in the oven for about 20 mins or until the noodles have dried and have a light brown crispy texture.
Allow the nests to cool and carefully separate them from the mould.

To Serve
Once the ice-cream has fully set, place a scoop or two into a crispy coconut soba birds’ nest.
Garnish with a sprig of fresh mint. Serve and enjoy!

Japanese Matcha Cotton Souffle Cheesecake

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To Prep
Line a 15cm cake pan (non loose base) with baking paper.
Pre-heat the oven at 100°C.

To Make Cheese Batter
Fill a small pot with hot water to half full and turn on medium heat.
In a glass bowl, add in cream cheese, butter and milk, then place the bowl over the pot to heat the cheese with the steam. Gently and slowly whisk the ingredients until it becomes a smooth batter.
Remove pot from heat and let cool until 50°C or below, then mix in the egg yolks until smooth.
Add in cake flour and matcha powder and continue to mix well until no clump left. Pour into a big bowl and set aside.

To Make Meringue
In a separate bowl, pour in the egg white and brown sugar, use a electric beater to beat the mixture until it has a soft firm peak.

To Make Cheesecake
Add half the meringue into cheese batter and gently mix them together, then add the remaining half and mix gently again. Use a spatula to make sure the bottom and sides are mixed thoroughly. Don’t over mix the batter but enough that the mixture is well mixed through.
Pour the batter into the lined cake pan. Bang the cake mould on benchtop once to remove any big bubbles.
Line a deep, larger baking tray with cloth and place the cake mould onto it. Pour warm water into the baking tray up to 2cm high.
Place the cake mould with water bath into the oven and bake for 1 hr, then 17 mins at 160°C.
Once the top of the cake is slightly golden brown, remove from oven and let cool on a rack.
To remove the cake from mould, place a baking paper and a flat plate on top, then turn it upside down. Gently remove the mould and the liners. Place another flat plate on the bottom of the cake and gently flip it back upright.
If serving immediately, dust the cake with icing sugar and matcha powder for garnish (optional).
Otherwise, let chill overnight in fridge for a cold cheesecake (do not dust icing sugar and matcha powder).