Recipes

1. In a bowl, whisk together water and sugar until sugar dissolves.

2. Add in lime juice, fish sauce, garlic, vinegar and chili (if using) and stir to combine.

3. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator (will last for weeks) 

This recipe makes approx 1L. For less, split the recipe in half. 

Make the Sugar Syrup

Heat the sugar and mandarin juice in a small pot until the sugar has dissolved.

Simmer on low for 2 minutes.

Turn off the heat and leave to cool completely.

Make the Cake

Preheat a fan forced oven to 160C.

Line the base and sides of a deep round 20cm cake tin.

Cream the butter, sugar and zest in a stand mixer until light and fluffy.

Add eggs in one at a time, mixing well between each addition.

Remove the bowl from the stand mixer.

Add in sour cream and stir with a spatula.

Sift in flour and stir until just mixed through.

Add in almond meal, mandarin juice and vanilla. Stir until just combined.

Pour mix into prepared tin.

Bake for 1 hour 20 mins or until a skewer inserted comes out clean.

Use a skewer to poke holes into the top of your cake once it comes out of the oven,

Pour the prepared mandarin syrup over the top of your cake and let it sit for 15mins inside the tin to allow for the syrup to soak in.

After 15 mins, remove your cake from the tin onto a cooling rack and allow to cool completely.

Decorate your Cake (1)

You can simply top your cake with fresh mandarins.

Just slice a few mandarins in half.

Leave some halves with their peels intact and peel the others to reveal the segments.

Decorate your Cake (2)

Heat 1/2 cup sugar with 1/2 mandarin juice in a small pot. Once the sugar dissolves, simmer until the syrup thickens and starts to darken.

When the syrup has thickened, remove from the heat and let it cool completely.

Once cooled, add in 1/4 cup mandarin juice and mix into the syrup to loosen it so that you can pour it.

Whip 300mL thickened cream with 3T icing sugar and 1 tsp vanilla extract until soft peaks form.

Smear cream on top of your cake, leaving a small clear border without cream.

Drizzle prepared syrup over the cream.

Let most of the syrup pool in the centre at the top of the cake. Allow some of the syrup to drip down the sides of the cake.

Decorate your Cake (3)

Decorate as per suggestion in (2) above.

Top with prepared mandarins from suggestion (1) above.

Rice Balls

1. Add glutinous rice to a large bowl filled with water and leave to soak overnight.

2. The next day, pour rice into a sieve/colander and drain.

3. Rinse with fresh tap water.

4. Line a steamer basket with parchment paper and add in rinsed rice (no water).

5. Steam for 30 minutes.

6. Meanwhile, prepare the rest of the ingredients for making the rice balls and place into a large mixing bowl.

7. After 30 minutes, remove the steamer and leave it to cool for 5-10 minutes on the bench top.

8. Remove the rice from the steamer and when cool enough to handle, mix all ingredients together in the bowl until everything is well combined.

9 Shape balls with your seasoned rice mix (larger than a golf ball but smaller than a tennis ball).

10. Deep fry rice balls until golden.

Set aside.

Dressing

1. Combine the lime juice and sugar in a medium bowl. Stir to dissolve the sugar. 

2. Add in fish sauce and taste (You should be able to taste the sugar, lime and fish sauce but nothing should overwhelmingly stand out).

3, Keep adding fish sauce to the dressing until you achieve this balance.

4. Add water to thin out the dressing a little.

5. Add in garlic and chilli.

Assemble the Salad

1. Toast the glutinous rice grains in a dry skillet until golden.

2. Grind the toasted rice grains using a mortar and pestle to make the toasted rice powder. (The rice powder should not look like dust but needs to be fine enough to not resemble gritty sand.)

3. In a large mixing bowl, add salad ingredients.

4. Break up rice balls into big chunks and add into salad.

5. Pour in dressing and toss through.

6. Garnish serving platter with oak leaf lettuce leaves and serve. Best eaten immediately :) 

Preheat fan forced oven to 170C.

Mix dry ingredients in a large bowl until well combined.

Add cubes of butter and golden syrup into a small saucepan. Heat on medium until the butter is melted.

In a small bowl, mix the bicarb of soda with the boiling water and stir. Add this mix into the saucepan of melted butter and golden syrup. The mix will start to foam and increase in volume. Using a spatula, add this wet mix into the bowl of dry ingredients and stir everything together until well combined.

Make roughly 20 balls of dough from this ‘dough’ (about the size of a heaped tablespoon each). Place each ball evenly across 2-3 baking trays lined with baking paper. Lightly press down on each ball to make a disc. They will continue to spread when they bake so allow a 5cm gap between each disc.

Note: the thicker the disc, the chewier your biscuit will be. The thinner the disc, the crispier it will be.

Bake for 10-11 minutes. Check on them around 9 minutes. These biscuits will be darker than your usual ANZAC biscuit because of the brown sugar. Leave the biscuits to cool on the tray. They will firm up more on cooling so take the trays out of the oven just before your desired level of chew. Garnish biscuits with rosemary the moment they come out of the oven. Their temperature will help release the oils in the rosemary and impart the scent into the biscuits. Sprinkle with sea salt flakes.

Measure out ingredients to make the buns and leave out on the bench top to come to room temperature.

Attach dough hook onto your stand mixer and add the dough ingredients in this order:

Cream

Milk

Egg

Sugar

Cake Flour

Ground Cinnamon

Bread Flour

Yeast

Salt

Turn on your stand mixer and mix on low for 12mins.

Now add in the dried cranberries and mix for another 5mins

Lightly dust the benchtop with bread flour.

Remove the dough from the stand mixer onto your prepared bench and quickly knead with your hands to form a ball. Place this ball of dough (seam side down) into a large lightly oiled bowl.

Cover with cling film and leave in a warm and dark spot to prove for about 1 hour.

Line the bottom of a 29ccm round baking tin with baking paper. Place a small ramekin or heat proof bowl in the centre of the tin.

Weight your dough then divide into 25 evenly weighted pieces of dough (you can divide into 26 if you want the middle hole filled with a bun as well). Cover the pieces of dough with a clean tea towel or cling film while you shape them.

Shape each piece of dough into round balls and place evenly around the baking tin. You should aim for two concentric circles of dough spaced evenly around your ramekin:

9 balls in the inner circle

16 balls in the outer circle

Cover with cling film and leave to prove for another hour (leave the ramekin in the centre of the baking tin. It should stay there until you finish eating all your hot cross buns).

Preheat fan-forced oven to 175C.

Make the Butterscotch Sauce

In a small pot, add cream, sugar and butter. Heat on medium heat until sugar dissolves.

Allow the sauce to simmer for a few minutes before turning off the heat.

Add the vanilla and pinch of salt.

Prepare to Bake

Mix the flour and water together in a small bowl until well combined and you have formed a loose paste.

Transfer to a piping bag/zip lock bag.

Pipe a cross onto each bun.

Bake at 175C for 28 mins or until buns are golden and sound hollow when tapped.

Finishing Touches

Once the buns come out of the oven, give them a shiny glaze by brushing the tops with warm butterscotch sauce.

Pour the remaining warm butterscotch sauce into the ramekin which is in the middle of your baking dish.

Serve warm.

Prepare the Salsa

Depending on the size of your tomatoes, slice them in quarters or eighths. 

Place in a medium mixing bowl.

Add in other ingredients and mix to combine.

Leave aside to allow the flavours to develop.

Prepare the Bruschetta base

Cut the baguettes on the diagonal into slices.

Add minced garlic into the melted butter

Brush each side with melted butter and arrange in single layer on lined baking trays.

Bake in a 160C oven for about 5-10 minutes or until golden.

Turn each piece at the halfway mark and continue to bake so that both sides are golden.

The bake time will change depending the type of baguette you use. Dense sourdough baguettes take less time and light -Vietnamese style baguettes take longer. You basically want a crunchy bread base to hold your topping.

Assembly

Taste the salsa and season if necessary.

This salsa is best eaten at room temperature to get maximum flavour from the tomatoes and avocados.

Spoon salsa on top of prepared bruschetta base.

Top with a grilled prawn (optional).

You can prepare this salsa hours in advance and chill until needed. Bring it out to room temperature and grill the prawns and assemble just before serving.

Mix all ingredients together until well combined. 

Fry up a 1 tsp of this prepared kofta mix and taste for flavour and seasoning. Make any necessary adjustments then refrigerate for at least one hour to firm up. 

Divide mix into 12 portions and shape onto skewers. 

Refrigerate for at least one hour to set. 

Cook koftas on the bbq for maximum flavour, or on the stovetop/grill.

*dried herbs can be used a replacement if you don't have fresh herbs 

Bring the stock to the boil in a medium-large pot.

In a small bowl, add all the 'Seasonings' ingredients together and mix to dissolve the sugar and salt.

Rinse the dehydrated ingredients and squeeze out any excess water. Now slice them into thin strips.I like to cut the ends off the lily flowers and just sliced them vertically down the centre.

Crack the egg into a small bowl and lightly whisk. Set aside.

When the stock comes to the boil, add in char siu and rehydrated small prawns.

Let the stock return to the boil.

Add the seasoning sauce mix. Stir to combine.

Add the lily flowers, shitake mushrooms, black fungus mushrooms and bamboo shoots.

Bring the soup back to the boil.

Add five spice tofu, firm tofu and vinegar. Stir and bring back to the boil.

Taste and adjust seasoning as needed.

Mix the cornflour slurry in a small bowl. When the soup is boiling, swirl your ladle around inside the pot and slowly drizzle in the slurry.

Bring the soup back to the boil. Once again, swirl your ladle around inside the pot and slowly drizzle in the beaten egg.

Turn off the heat.

Ladle soup into serving bowls and garnish.

Make a few slashes across the underside of each piece of chicken (ie: the flesh side), taking care not to cut into the skin. These slashes will allow your chicken to cook quickly and evenly.

Marinate the prepared chicken with all the ingredients in a bowl or sealed ziplock bag.

Leave overnight.

When ready to cook, take out the chicken from the fridge and place on your benchtop.

Cook your rice.

Cook your edamame according to packet instructions.

Dress the salad.

Have your rice bowl ready for assembly.

Cook your Chicken:

Heat a large fry pan or cast iron skillet.

Add 1 Tbsp Olive oil.

Add chicken pieces, skin side down.

Be sure to leave behind the marinade as you want your pan/skillet to be as dry as possible.

Also do not over crowd your pan or your chicken will stew.

Adjust your heat to medium-high or medium if your pan is too hot.

Using your tongs, press down on each piece of chicken to ensure contact on the pan/skillet. Most of the cooking will be done with the skin side down.

You will know your chicken is ready to flip when the skin is nicely caramelised and the sides of each piece have turned opaque. The top surface of each piece of chicken (ie the flesh side) should look like it is also turning opaque.

Flip each piece of chicken over to finish cooking.

This will not take long. Check by turning a piece over. It should be completely opaque.

Turn off the heat and leave the chicken in the pan while you assemble your bowls.

To assemble to each bowl:

Place rice in one half of each bowl.

Place dressed salad leaves in the other half of the bowl.

Place sliced avocado in one corner on the bed of rice.

Season with furikake.

Scatter edamame beans however you like in your bowl.

Now remove the cooked chicken from the pan onto a clean chopping board.

Slice each piece then evenly distribute amongst the prepared bowls.

1. Finely dice water chestnut and tomato .

2. Finely chop eschalot, brown onion and garlic. Thinly cut shallot for garnish and set aside for later.

3. In a medium bowl, add the pork mince, water chestnut, brown onion, garlic, fish sauce, salt, pepper, sugar and corn starch. Mix together by hand to combine all of the ingredients well. Let this marinate for 30 minutes. 

4. Using your hands, roll the meat into a golf ball size (or you can use ice-cream scoop to keep size consistent). 

5. Place the meatballs into steamer and steam for 10 minutes.                

6. In a medium pot on medium high heat add oil, garlic, eschalot and fry until frangant. Add tomato paste and cook this down. Add the diced tomatoes and mix together. Add water, fish sauce, salt, sugar and chicken powder for seasoning. Bring sauce to boil then reduce the heat to medium low and cook for 5 minutes.

7. Gently add meatballs into the sauce and simmer for 10-15 minutes.

8. To make the sauce thicker, mix 2 teaspoons of corn starch and 1 tbsp water until smooth. Add the mixture to the sauce, combine gently. 

9. Place meatballs into a bowl and sprinkle the top with shallots and some pepper. 

10. Serve with bread roll.
 

1. Put the black fungus in warm water for 10 minuntes to hydrate. Chop into small pieces.

2. Chop onion and mince garlic and eschalot finely . Dice tomato.

3. Marinate pork mixture : add pork mince, eschalot, 1/2 garlic, salt, pepper, black fungus together and mix until combined. Marinate for 30 minutes.

4. Slice tofu in half to make a small pocket and slowly stuff the marinated pork in the tofu.

5. Place tofu into steamer and steam for 5-7 minutes.

6. In a pan or wok, add oil bring to medium heat.  Add garlic and onion and cook fry until frangant. Add tomato paste and cook it down, add the diced tomatoes until combined.

7.  Add water, fish sauce, salt, sugar, chicken powder to sauce. Bring sauce to boil, add tofu and reduce the heat to simmer until pork stuffing mixture is  cooked and sauce is reduced.

8. Serve with steamed rice.

1. Soak dried fungus in hot water and mung bean thread in warm water for 10 minutes. Rinse and drain them.  Cut dried black fungus and mung bean thread into small pieces.

2. Finely chop garlic and the white part of the shallots. Slice green part of shallots and coriander for garnish set aside.

3. Cut off the two ends of bitter melon and discard. Cut bittermelon into 5-6cm thick slices and use a small spoon to remove seeds.

4. Chop the pork bones into small pieces. Bring a pot to boil. Add a large pinch of salt. Add the pork soft bone and cook for about 5 minutes to remove all the impurities (this will keep the stock clear). Rinse the bones under cold running water until water runs clear and then drain it.            

5. Marinate the bones with 1/2 tbsp fish sauce, pepper and 1/2 tsp white part of shallots and 1/2 tsp garlic for at least 30 minutes.

6. (Meat Filling) In a large bowl, add pork mince, fish paste, eschalots, 1/2 the garlic and white part of shallots, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/4 pepper, 1/2 tbsp fish sauce, 1/2 tbsp sugar, black fungus  and vermicilli together. Mix well with your hand (this will make the mixture become chewy and have greaat texture). Marinate for 30 minutes.

7. Use a small spoon to stuff the filling into each bitter melon ring. Any left over filling can be rounded into small meat balls.

8. In a medium pot on high heat, add oil and remaining garlic and white part of shallots and fry until fragrant. Add the marinated pork soft bone and stir evenly. Cook for about 1-2 minutes then add water into the pot. Bring to boil and place the stuffed bitter melon and meat balls in. Add remaining raw sugar, fish sauce, salt, pork seasoning powder then cover pot with a lid, simmer on medium low for about 45 minutes or until the stuffed bitter melon are tender.

9. Place soup into a bowl and sprinkle the top with shallots, coriander and some pepper.

10. Serve with rice and main dish.

1. (Pickled carrots) Use the julienne peeler to shred the carrot. In a medium bowl, add sugar, salt, rice vinegar and water. Mix well until the sugar is dissolved and add carrot into the dressing bowl. Let it sit for at least one hour before serving. 

2.(Fish sauce) In a medium bowl, add sugar, boiled water and fish sauce. Mix well until the sugar is dissovled, let it cool down before adding the lemon juice in (otherwise it will taste bitter). Then add chilli and minced garlic. Set aside.

3. Peel the dried leaves and layers of lemongrass and  cut off the root and discard them. Then chop the stalk finely and put in food processor to be grated. Finely chop one eschalot and one clove garlic. Thinly slice shallots and place it into a small bowl with a pinch of salt and pepper. Set aside.                        
4. Thinly slice the beef. Marinate beef with soy sauce, oyster sauce, cooking wine, sesame oil, pepper, chicken powder, 1 teaspoon of sugar and 1/2 teaspoon garlic, lemongrass for at least 1 hour.                        

5. Prepare all the herbs: Washing all the veggies and slice the cucumber into 4cm long and thin pieces. Set aside for later.  

6. Bring a large pot of water to boil. Once water is boiled, add noodles into the pot and cover with lid. Turn the heat off and let the noodles cook for about 8 minutes. Drain and cool under cold water (this will help the noodle not stick together). Set aside.

7. (Fried eschalot) In a small pan on medium low heat, add oil and when it is hot, add eschalot and fry until fragrant and golden brown, then remove the fried eschalot into a small bowl. Set aside.

8. (Shallot oil) Add the already hot eschalot oil into the small shallot bowl (prepared before) and mix well.

9. In medium pan on medium high heat. Add garlic and fry until fragrant, then add beef (dividing the beef in small batches for a more even stirfry) and stir fry beef for about 1 minute. Add brown onion and continue to stir fry for 30 seconds or until just cooked through.

10. Divide the noodles into 4 bowls. Add bean sprouts, salad, pickled carrot and beef and top with fried shallot, shallot oil and roasted peanuts. (add fried spring rolls)

11. Serve with fish sauce.

1. Prepare the squid: Remove the head to detach from the body, pull out the quill and remove the outer skin. Be careful not to break the ink pocket and the eyes.  Clean the squid by placing them in a medium size bowl and massaging salt on them throughly. Rinse and drain. This will get rid of any fishy smells. Cut the squid into rings.

2. Cut pineapple, tomato, brown onion, cucumber into bite-size pieces and chinese celery into 4cm long pieces. Finely chop garlic.

3. In a small pot, add some water in and bring to a boil. Add the squid and pinch of salt, cook for 2 minutes. Rinse the squid under cold water and then drain it.                  

4. In large wok over medium high heat, add oil. Once oil is hot, add garlic and fry until fragrant. Add tomato and cucumber and stir well for 1-2 minutes until they are cooked but still crunchy. Then add squid and pineapple, chinese celery and brown onion. Season with fish sauce, salt and chicken powder.

5. Tranfer to a serving plate and sprinkle the top with some pepper. Serve with rice.                     

1. Wash glutinous rice and soak at least 2 hours before cooking.                                     

2. Finely chop garlic and 1 clove of eschalot. Thinly slice the rest of eschalot and shallot and set aside.                                    

3. In a medium bowl, add chicken, 1 teaspoon of garlic, 1 teaspoon of sliced eschalot, cooking wine, five spice powder, fish sauce and 1 tbsp oyster sauce, sesame oil and 1/2 tbsp sugar. Mix well to combine and let it marinade for 1 hour.

4. Take glutinous rice out and drain well. Add glutinous rice to steamer on medium high heat, add salt and stir evenly. Steam for about 10 minutes. When it turns soft and sticky, add coconut cream into sticky rice and stir evenly to combine and cook for another 5 minutes. Make sure glutinous rice is not too mushy or too dry.

5. (Fried Eschalot) In a saucepan on medium heat, add 1/2 tbsp of oil. Once the oil is heated, add sliced eschalot and fry it. When eschalot turns golden brown, turn off the heat and set aside.                                                                            

6. (Shallot Oil) In a saucepan on medium heat, add the remaning oil. Once the oil is heated, add shallot in and quickly stir for 15 seconds and then add a pinch of salt and pepper. Turn off the heat and set aside.

7. (Sauce) In a small pan on medium heat, add oil, the remaning garlic, chopped eschalot and fry until fragrant. Add soysauce, chilli sauce, oyster sauce, sugar, chicken powder and mix well to combine. Turn off the heat and aside.           

8. Turn oven on 180 degree, grill the chicken for 30 minutes.                                    

9. Remove chicken from the oven and rest it. Then cut chicken into small pieces.

10. Place sticky rice on a plate. Place pate, shallot oil, sauce, fried eschalot and chicken on the top.                                     
 

1. Finely chop garlic and shallots. Peel taro stem. Cut pineapple, okra, taro stem in diagonally intosimilar sized batons. Slice tomato into quartered pieces. Roughly cut herbs for garnish.

2. In a medium pan, add 2 tbsp oil, bring to heat, add 1 tsp of garlic, eschalot until fragrant. Add the fish and cook each side for 2 minutes. Then leave aside.

3. In a medium pot, add 2 tbsp oil. Once hot, add garlic and stir fry in a pot until it turns golden brown. Scoop out the garlic and set aside in a small bowl for garnish. Add 1/2 the amount of tomato in the pot, and stir fry until very tender. Slowly add in chicken stock or water and bring it to a boil.

4. Reduce heat to medium. Add in the remaining 1/2 of tomatoes, pineapple, okra, and cook for 3 minutes until almost soft.

5. Add in basa fillets. Season to taste with tamarind, sugar, fish sauce. Simmer until Basa is cooked through for 3 minutes. 

6. Add in bean sprout, taro stem and cook for another minute then remove from heat. 

7. Serving method: Put veggies first and then place the fish, herb, chilli and fried garlic.

8. Serve with steamed rice.

1. Slice off the bottom root of the lemongrass stalk and peel off any dried-out leaves and layers. Then cut 4 of the lemongrass into 12cm batons, smashing it under the side of a cleaver or knife to release the flavour. For easy removal from a pot of hot liquid, tie the stalks into a knot and set aside.  

2. Peel and cut carrots and white radish into 2cm chunks. Thinly slice onions. Slice shallot and coriander for garnish and set aside.

3. Cut beef into large 3cm chunks

4. In a large bowl, combine the beef with 2 tsp of garlic, 1 tsp ginger, 1 tsp eschalot, 2 tbsp fish sauce, 1 teapoon salt and white or raw sugar until each piece is evenly coated. Marinate for at least 1 hour.

5. In a large pot on medium high heat, add oil and remaining garlic, eschalot, ginger. Fry until fragrant then add tomato paste, beef spices to pot.

6. Add marinated beef to the pot and then stir fry. Add water, coconut juice, remaining fish sauce and rock sugar. Bring to boil, reduce the heat to medium low, cover pot with a lid and simmer for 1 hour. Season with salt and beef or chicken seasoning powder.

7. Add carrots, white radish and simmer for another 30-40 minutes until beef is tender. 

8. Mix lime, salt and pepper together for the dipping sauce.

9. Place beef stew into a bowl and sprinkle the top with shallots, coriander, sliced onion and some pepper.

10. Serve with bread.

1. Slice off the bottom root of the lemongrass stalk and peel off any dried-out leaves and layers. Then cut 4 of the lemongrass into 12cm batons, smashing it under the side of a cleaver or knife to release the flavour. For easy removal from a pot of hot liquid, tie the stalks into a knot and set aside. Cut the remaining lemongrass thinly and place in food processor machine to be grated.               

2. Finely chop garlic, eschalot. Peel ginger and cut into 2cm medallions and smash it to release its flavour. Peel and cut carrots, potatoes, sweet potato into 1 inch chunks. Thinly slice onions and set aside.

3. Cut chicken into large 3cm chunks. 

4. In a large bowl, add chicken, 1 tsp lemongrass grated, 1 tsp of eschalot, 1 tsp garlic, 1 tsp salt, 1 tbsp fish sauce and 1 tbsp curry powder. Let it marinade for at least 1 hour.

5. In a large pot on medium high heat, add oil and remaining garlic, lemongrass grated and eschalot . Fry until fragrant. Add curry paste and stir for 20 seconds. 

6. Add the marinated chicken to the pot and combine well. Add ginger, lemongrass, water, coconut juice, sugar, curry leaves and the remaining fish sauce. Bring to boil then reduce the heat to medium low, cover pot with a lid and simmer for 1/2 hour. Season with salt and chicken seasoning powder.

7. Add carrots first then add potatoes and sweet potatoes in the soup. Continue to simmer until potatoes are cooked.  

8. Add coconut cream and sliced onion into the soup and turn off the heat. 

9. Serve with bread.