Seaweed Pesto

Ingredients

1. Seaweed, 40g
2. Nuts (eg pine nuts), 25g
3. Oil, 3 tbsp
4. Garlic, 1
5. Black pepper, to season

Instructions

1. Toast nuts.
2. Mince garlic.
3. Grind seaweed, nuts, oil and garlic into a paste using a food processor/blender/mortar and pestle.
4. Season with black pepper.

Japanese Tea Rice

Adapted from Saveur.

Ingredients

1. Steeped tea leaves, 2tbsp
2. Vinegar, 3/4 tsp
3. Soy sauce, 1/2 tsp
4. Sesame oil, 1/4 tsp
5. Cooked white rice
6. Toasted sesame seeds, to garnish

Instructions

1. In a bowl, toss tea leaves, vinegar, soy sauce and sesame oil until well combined.
2. Serve over rice and garnish with sesame seeds.

Salted Egg Tamago Kake Gohan

Ingredients

1. Salted egg, 1
2. Cooked rice, 1 bowl

Instructions

1. Cook rice and transfer to a bowl.
2. Top with salted egg.
3. Serve hot.

Soy Sauce Marinated Egg Yolk Tamago Kake Gohan

Adapted from here.

Ingredients

1. Soy sauce marinated egg yolk, 1
2. Cooked rice, 1 bowl

Instructions

1. Cook rice and transfer to a bowl.
2. Top with soy sauce marinated egg yolk.
3. Serve hot.

Tamago Kake Gohan (Japanese Cooked Rice with Raw Egg)

Variations

1. Meringue Tamago Kake Gohan Version 1
2. Meringue Tamago Kake Gohan Version 2
3. Soy-Sauce Marinated Egg Yolk Tamago Kake Gohan
4. Salted Egg Tamago Kake Gohan

Meringue Tamago Kake Gohan Version 2 (Japanese Cooked Rice with Raw Egg)

Adapted from here.

Ingredients

1. Egg, 1
2. Cooked rice, 1 bowl
3. Soy sauce, for taste

Instructions

1. Separate egg white from egg yolk in two bowls. 
2. In a bowl, whip egg whites with a mixer until fluffy.
3. Cook the rice and transfer to a bowl. 
4. Pour whipped egg whites onto rice, then add the egg yolk on top.
5. Drizzle with soy sauce and serve hot.

Meringue Tamago Kake Gohan Version 1 (Japanese Cooked Rice with Raw Egg)

Adapted from here.

Ingredients

1. Egg, 1
2. Cooked rice, 1/2 bowl
3. Soy sauce, for taste

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 100C.
2. Separate egg white from egg yolk in two bowls. 
3. In a bowl, mix rice with egg white.
4. Spread rice mixture at bottom of a bowl. Using your fingers, press a small dent in the middle of the rice to create a small "crater".
5. Bake the rice meringue for 7 min.
6. Place egg yolk into "crater" of the rice meringue. 
7. Drizzle with soy sauce and serve.

Dashi Chantilly (Whipped Cream)

Adapted from Octaphilosophy by André Chiang. 

Ingredients

1. Cream, 100ml
2. Dashi, 10ml

Instructions

1. Whip cream and dashi to soft peaks.

Mushroom Floss

Adapted from Octaphilosophy by André Chiang.

Ingredients

1. Water, 1l
2. Kombu, 80h
3. Dashi, 20ml
4. King oyster mushrooms, 500g

Instructions

1. In a saucepan, combine water, kombu and dashi.
2. Halve the mushrooms and add to the saucepan.
3. Simmer for 7 min, then remove mushrooms and cool to room temp.
4. Cut mushrooms lengthwise into thin slices and pull into pieces.

Burnt Miso Puree

Adapted from Octaphilosophy by André Chiang.

Ingredients

1. Burnt butter, 50ml
2. Miso, 150g
3. Mirin, 20ml
4. Sake, 20ml
5. Caster sugar

Instructions

1. Spread miso onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, and bake at 150C for 15 min until brown.
2. In a pan, add mirin, sake and baked miso, and heat gently. 
3. In a blender, add burnt butter and add in hot miso mixture slowly to emulsify.
4. Add sugar to taste.

Tempura Lychee Stuffed With Curried Crabmeat

Adapted from Sensations, by Sam Leong.

Ingredients

1. Oil, for deep-frying
2. Crabmeat, 40g
3. Lychees (fresh/canned), peeled and seeded, 4
4. Cornflour/cornstarch, 20g
5. Onion, peeled and finely julienned, 20g
6. Carrot, peeled and finely julienned, 20g
7. Enokitate mushrooms, 20g
8. Asparagus, finely julienned, 12 spears

Seasoning

1. Chicken stock, 4 tbsp
2. Seafood curry powder, 1/4 tsp
3. Salt, 1/2 tsp
4. Sugar 1/4 tsp
5. Cornflour/cornstarch, 1/4 tsp mixed with water

Batter

1. Plain/all-purpose flour, 60g
2. Wheat flour (high gluten), 15g
3. Baking powder, 10g
4. Custard powder, 3g
5. Water, 30ml
6. Oil, 20ml

Instructions

1. In a pan/wok, heat 1 tbsp oil. 
2. Add crabmeat and seasoning ingredients except cornflour, and mix well.
3. When heated through, stir in cornflour mixture to thicken. 
4. Remove from heat and set aside to cool.
5. When cool, refrigerate for 1h until cold.
6. When the crabmeat is chilled, dust the insides of the lychees with cornflour.
7. Stuff them with the chilled crabmeat.
8. Combine ingredients for the batter.
9. Add onion, carrot, mushrooms and asparagus and mix well.
10. Divide the mixture into 4 portions.
11. Heat the oil for deep-frying.
12. Wrap each lychee with a portion of the batter-covered ingredients and deep-fry immediately, until crisp and golden brown.
13. Drain well and serve hot.

Shira Ae (Japanese Creamy Tofu Salad)

Adapted from Just Hungry.

Ingredients

1. 100g firm tofu
2. 1 tsp sesame paste (nerigoma or tahini)
3. 1 tbsp white sesame seeds
4. 1 tsp sugar
5. 1 tsp white miso
6. Pinch of salt
7. Vegetables

Instructions

1. In a frying pan, toast sesame seeds until light brown. Let cool.
2. Drain tofu by pressing between several layers of paper towels and weighing down with a heavy object. Leave for about 20 min.
3. Using a food processor/mortar and pestle, grind the sesame seeds to a powder.
4. Crumble the drained tofu.
5. Add the tofu, sesame paste, miso, salt and sugar to the sesame seeds powder and mash until smooth and combined.
6. In a bowl, combine the tofu mixture with vegetables of your choice (eg carrots, konnyaku, broccoli).
7. Serve immediately.

Cherry Tomato Salad with Tofu and Shiso

From Momofuku Cookbook. Momofuku's riff on the classic Italian caprese salad (mozzarella, tomato, green basil, seasoned with olive oil and salt).

Ingredients

1. 12 ounce silken tofu, drained
2. 2 pints mixed cherry tomatoes
3. 1/4 cup sherry vinegar
4. 1 tbsp light soy sauce
5. 1 tsp sesame oil
6. 1/2 cup oil
7. Salt
8. Black pepper
9. 6 shiso leaves, sliced

Instructions

1. Using a ring mold, cut the silken tofu to obtain 8 rounds of tofu.
2. In a large saucepan, add water and salt and bring to a boil.
3. In a large mixing bowl, prepare an ice bath.
4. Cut a tiny X in the bottom of about 2/3 of the tomatoes.
5. Drop the tomatoes into the boiling water in batches, and after 10s, remove them and transfer to the ice bath.
6. Remove the skins from the tomatoes and place the tomatoes in a bowl, and refrigerate for 10 min.
7. Cut the remaining 1/3 of the tomatoes in half. 
8. In a mixing bowl, combine the vinegar, soy sauce, sesame oil and oil and stir. 
9. Add in the halved tomatoes and toss to coat.
10. To serve, place 2 pieces of tofu in each bowl. Top each portion with tomatoes, and season with salt, black pepper and shiso leaves.

Toasted Rice

Inspired by Momofuku's Roasted Rice Cakes, and Japanese yakimochi (grilled mochi), yaki-onigiri (grilled rice balls) and gohei mochi (grilled rice cakes). 

Ingredients

1. Glutinuous rice/regular steamed white rice/sushi rice/mochi/rice cakes
2. Oil
3. Miso paste
4. Soy sauce

Instructions

1. In a bowl, mix miso paste and soy sauce until combined.
2. Shape/cut the rice cake into desired size.
3. Heat a pan on medium-high heat until hot. Add oil and let is heat up until just about to sizzle.
4. Place the rice cakes onto the pan and sear for about 2-3 min on each side, while brushing the rice cakes with the miso mixture. Grill until the rice cakes are golden-brown and crisp.

Bacon Dashi

From Momofuku Cookbook. Makes 2 quarts.

Ingredients

1. 2 pieces konbu
2. 8 cups water
3. 1/3 pound smoky bacon

Instructions

1. Rinse konbu under running water.
2. In a medium saucepan, simmer konbu with water over medium heat, then turn off the stove and let steep for 10 min.
3. Remove konbu from pot and add bacon. Bring to a boil, then turn down heat to a gentle simmer. Simmer for 30 min.
4. Strain bacon from dashi, and chill the broth until the fat separates and hardens into a solid cap on top. Remove and discard the fat. 
5. The dashi will keep, covered, for a few days in the refrigerator.

Japanese Fish and Chips (Panko fish fillet, baked sweet potato furikake fries, kewpie aioli and mushy edamame peas)

Panko fish fillet, baked sweet potato furikake fries, kewpie aioli and mushy edamame peas. 

Panko Fish Fillet

Adapted from Maldon and Fiona's Japanese Cooking.

Ingredients

1. Fish fillet
2. 2 tbsp rice wine vinegar
3. 100g plain white flour
4. 2 eggs, beaten
5. 250g Panko breadcrumbs
6. Oil, for frying
7. Pepper and salt, to taste

Instructions

1. In a bowl, coat the fish in rice wine, pepper and salt.
2. Dredge the fillet in the flour, dip it in the beaten egg and coat it in the breadcrumbs.
3. In a pan, heat the oil to about 175C. If you do not have a thermometer, check by dropping a piece of breadcrumb into the oil; if the breadcrumb sizzles, colours and floats to the surface, the oil is ready.
4. Fry the fish in the oil for about 3 minutes until crisp and golden. 
5. Remove the fillet from the oil and place onto kitchen towels to drain excess oil.

Baked Sweet Potato Furikake Fries

Adapted from Cookie and Kate.

Ingredients

1. Sweet potatoes
2. 1 tbsp furikake seasoning
3. Sesame oil, for coating

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 218C. 
2. Peel sweet potatoes and cut into chunks.
3. In a bowl, drizzle the sweet potato with sesame oil, then add the furikake seasoning. Mix well to coat the fries evenly.
4. On a baking pan lined with parchment paper, lay out the fries.
5. Bake for 15 min, then turn over the fries, and continue baking for 10-15 min until the fries are evenly baked, crisp and golden.

Kewpie Aioli

Adapted from Lisa G Cooks and Cooking Channel TV. Makes about 1 cup.

Ingredients

1. 1/4 tsp sesame oil
2. 2 tbsp rice wine vinegar
3. 1 tbsp soy sauce
4. 1/2 cup Kewpie mayonnaise
5. Black pepper, to taste

Instructions

1. In a bowl, combine the oil, vinegar, soy sauce and mayonnaise together. Mix well.
2. Season with black pepper.
3. Cover and put in the refrigerator until ready to use.

Mushy Edamame Peas

Adapted from Food Network.

Ingredients

1. 3 cups frozen edamame, shelled
2. 1/4 cup olive oil
3. Salt, to taste

Instructions

1. In a pan, boil edamame in heavily salted water for about 20 min until edamame is soft.
2. Reserve 1 cup of cooking liquid and drain edamame.
3. In a blender, puree the edamame, 1/2 cup cooking liquid and olive oil until smooth. Add more water if necessary.
4. Season with salt to taste.

Cream Cheese Marinated in Soy Sauce

Adapted from Kikkoman.

Ingredients

1. 1/2 cup soy sauce
2. 8oz cream cheese

Instructions

1. In a container, pour soy sauce over the block of cream cheese until fully immersed.
2. Refrigerate 2h, turning over the cream cheese often.
3. Remove from the soy sauce marinade. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Tiramisu Three-Ways: Classic, Tea-ramisu, and Tiramiso

Classic Tiramisu 

Adapted from Kitchen Joy Blog.

Ingredients

1. 4 eggs, room temperature
2. ¼ cup granulated sugar
3. 1 cup mascarpone
4. 2 tbsp Marsala 
5. 12 sponge fingers (or as many as you need to fit your baking pan)
6. 1.5 cups water
7. 3 tbsp instant coffee powder
8. 1 tbsp white sugar
9. ¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder

Instructions

1. Brew coffee with coffee powder, water and 1 tbsp of white sugar. Let cool to room temperature.
2. Separate the egg yolks from the egg whites.
3. In a bowl, whisk egg yolks and 1/8 cup of sugar until pale. Whisk in mascarpone, a little at a time.
4. In another bowl, beat egg whites and remaining 1/8 cup of sugar until stiff, glossy peaks form.
5. Fold egg whites into mascarpone mixture.
6. Add Marsala to the coffee.
7. Dip the sponge fingers into the coffee completely (but do not soak) and line them out at the bottom of a pan/tray.
8. Spread half of the mascarpone mixture on top.
9. Repeat Step 6, adding another layer of sponge fingers on top.
10. Repeat Step 7.
11. Refrigerate the tiramisu at least 2 hours, or overnight. 
12. Dust the top of the tiramisu with cocoa powder before serving.

Tea-ramisu

Ingredients

1. 4 eggs, room temperature
2. ¼ cup brown sugar
3. ¾ cup heavy cream
4. ¼ cup condensed milk
5. 2 tbsp brandy/rum
6. 10 rich tea biscuits (or as many as you need to fit your baking pan)
7. 1.5 cups water
8. 3 tbsp chai tea powder (see below)
9. For topping: ¼ cup chai tea powder

Instructions

1. Brew tea with 3 tbsp of chai tea powder and water. Let cool to room temperature.
2. In a bowl, mix heavy cream and condensed milk together, just until incorporated.
3. Separate the egg yolks from the egg whites.
4. In a separate bowl, whisk egg yolks and 1/8 cup of sugar until pale. Whisk in cream mixture, a little at a time.
5. In a separate bowl, beat egg whites and remaining 1/8 cup of sugar until stiff, glossy peaks form.
6. Fold egg whites into cream mixture.
7. Add brandy/rum to the coffee.
8. Dip the tea biscuits into the tea completely (but do not soak) and line them out at the bottom of a pan/tray.
9. Spread half of the cream mixture on top.
10. Repeat Step 8, adding another layer of sponge fingers on top.
11. Repeat Step 9.
12. Refrigerate the tiramisu at least 2 hours, or overnight. 
13. Dust the top of the tiramisu with chai tea powder before serving

Chai Tea Powder

Makes about 1 ½ cups. 

(You may have extra, which you can add to hot water and make chai tea!)

Adapted from Food Retro.

Ingredients

1. 1 tsp ground cardamom 
2. 1 tsp ground black pepper 
3. 1 tsp ground ginger 
4. 1 tsp ground clove 
5. 1 tsp ground cinnamon 
6. 1 tsp ground nutmeg
7. 1.5 cup granulated sugar
8. 2 cups instant tea powder

Instructions

1. Mix all ingredients together evenly.
2. Store in a dry, sealed container/bag and set aside.

Tiramiso

Ingredients 

1. 1 cup tofu miso cream cheese (see below)
2. 1 tbsp mirin 
3. 1 Castella sponge cake (you can use store-bought or make your own from the recipe below)
4. Coffee jelly (optional) (see below)
5. 1.5 cups water
6. 3 tbsp coffee powder
7. 1 tbsp white sugar
8. ¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder

Instructions

1. Brew coffee with coffee powder, water and 1 tbsp of white sugar. Let cool to room temperature.
2. Add mirin to the coffee.
3. Cut the Castella sponge cake into the size of the pan/tray you are using for your tiramisu, then slice the cake diagonally to about ½ to ¾ inch thick. Lay into the bottom of the pan.
4. Sprinkle coffee onto the sponge cake (but do not soak).
5. (Optional) Prepare the coffee jelly and pour over the sponge cake. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours to set.
6. Spread half of the tofu cream cheese on top.
7. Add another layer of sponge cake on top of the tofu miso cream cheese layer.
8. Repeat Step 6.
9. Refrigerate the tiramisu at least 2 hours, or overnight. 
10. Dust the top of the tiramisu with cocoa powder before serving.

Tofu Miso Cream Cheese

Makes 1 cup

Adapted from Peta2.

Ingredients

1. 396g firm silken tofu
2. 2-3 tbsp white miso paste
3. 1-2 tbsp unsweetened soy milk
4. ¼ cup granulated sugar/agave syrup
5. ½ tsp vanilla extract
6. 1 tsp salt
7. 1 tsp lemon juice  

Instructions

1. Using a blender/food processor, blend all ingredients until smooth.
2. Cover and refrigerate for two hours to thicken.

Castella Sponge Cake

Adapted from Just One Cookbook, Japanese Cooking 101, Roti n Rice, Nasi Lemak Lover, and Guai Shu Shu. 

Ingredients

1. 4 eggs, room temperature
2. 75g caster sugar
3. 2.5 tbsp warm water
4. 120g bread flour, sifted twice
5. 1 tbsp mirin

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 175°C. 
2. Line your cake pan (use a cake pan with length and breadth that is equal to or larger than the size of the pan you intend to use for your tiramisu, so that the sponge cake will be big enough) with parchment paper.
3. Beat eggs until frothy. Add sugar in 3 increments and continue whisking at high speed for about 5 minutes, until thick and pale.
4. Add in mirin and mix on low speed until just incorporated.
5. Add the bread flour in 3 increments, whisking at low speed for 15s for the first two increments, and 1 minute for the last increment. 
6. Pour the batter into the cake pan from a height (to minimize air bubbles), filling about 80% of the pan. 
7. To remove air bubbles, run a skewer through the batter in a zig-zag motion, then drop the pan flat on the counter for several times. Finally, smooth the top with a spatula.
8. Bake at 175°C for 10 minutes, then lower the temperature to 140°C to bake for another 40 minutes. Cover the top of the cake with aluminium foil if it turns too brown.
9. Immediately drop the cake from a height of about 20cm flat onto the counter to release the air and prevent the cake from collapsing.
10. Remove the cake from the pan, with the top facing down, and remove the parchment paper. Wrap in cling film and refrigerate for at least 12 hours.
11. When ready to use, remove from refrigerator. When room temperature, slice off the sides of the cake.

Coffee Jelly

Adapted from Just One Cookbook. 

*You can substitute agar powder with gelatine, like in this recipe.

Ingredients

1. 300ml water
2. ¾ tsp agar powder*
3. 2.5 tbsp granulated sugar
4. 1 tbsp instant coffee powder

Instructions

1. In a saucepan, mix water and agar powder. Heat the mixture on high heat, until boiling, then reduce the heat.
2. Add sugar and coffee powder, stirring occasionally. Simmer for about 2 minutes.
3. Remove from heat and let cool for about 5 minutes.
4. Pour onto tiramisu layer.
5. Refrigerate at least 4 hours to set.