Quick Panaeng prawns with soy, ginger and lime

The Panaeng curry paste originally comes from Malay cuisine (the central region of Thailand) and is quite spicy. The prawns are stir fried with olive oil and ginger, then cooked with the curry paste. Then it’s finished with coriander and a splash of lite soy and fish sauce. Ideally, it should be presented with an Asian-flavoured green salad.

Preparation time: 5 minutes
Cooking time: 6 minutes
Serves: 4

• 30ml Jingilli extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tblsps freshly grated ginger
• 20 peeled and deveined green (raw) prawns
• 2 tblsps Panaeng curry paste
• 1⁄3 cup coriander leaves
• 2 tblsps light soy
• 2 tblsps fish sauce
• ½ lime (zest and juice)
• Asian dressing
• 2 cups red oak lettuce leaves
• 2 cups green coral leaves
• 1 tblsps lime juice
• 3 tblsps Jingilli extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tsp sesame seed oil
• Salt flakes, to taste

Place a wok on to heat and add the olive oil and ginger. Stir fry gently for 30 seconds, turn up the heat then add in the prawns.

When almost cooked, add the Panaeng curry paste and combine well. When fully cooked, combine in the light soy, fish sauce and the lime zest and juice. Turn off the heat and toss in the coriander.

To make the Asian dressing, combine the lime juice, olive oil, sesame oil and the salt. Present with the lettuce greens tossed with the Asian dressing.

Red braised pork belly

This deceptively simple dish is a favourite of the family and they all get excited when they smell its bouquet. Use a good quality young pork belly and cook it nice and slowly until it’s succulent and glossy. A plain chilli rice works beautifully with the glossy rich pork

Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 3 hours
Makes: 6

• 1.2kg pork belly
• 3 tblsps lite soy
• 3 tblsps dark soy
• 1⁄3 cup Shao Xing rice wine
• 5 slices fresh ginger (5mm thick x 4, flattened)
• 1⁄3 cup Chinese yellow rock sugar
• 3 star anise
• 5 green onions (cut into 10cm pieces)
• 50ml Jingilli extra virgin olive oil

Cut the pork into six portions and plunge into boiling water. Boil rapidly for two minutes, then strain and rinse well.

Add the olive oil to a heavy-based pot and fry the ginger and green onions until fragrant. Add in all the other ingredients with the pork and cover with water. Bring to a boil, turn down to a very low simmer, cover and cook for two-and-a-half hours.

Remove the pork belly portions carefully and strain the liquid. Boil until reduced and slightly syrupy. Add in the pork pieces and reduce a little more until glossy. Serve with steamed chilli rice and bok choy.

Indonesian Gado Gado platter

This is really a meal on its own. Vegetarians and carnivores alike will love the delicious combination of cooked and raw vegetables, boiled eggs and the spicy peanut sauce.

Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 40 minutes
Serves: 6

• 1 cup blanched (par cooked) green beans cut into 5cm lengths
• 1 cup napa (Chinese) cabbage cut into 2cm squares (blanched)
• ½ cup blanched bean sprouts (pour over boiling water, then strain)
• 6 stems broccolini (blanched in boiling water for 30 seconds)
• 1 medium tomato (seeds removed and cut into wedges)
• ¼ cucumber (peeled and sliced)
• 6 stems spring onions (cut into 2cm lengths)
• 3 hard-boiled eggs (halved)
• ¼ cup peanut sauce

Peanut sauce

• 200g smooth peanut paste
• 8 tblsps kecap manis
• 2 tblsps ground coriander seed
• 2 tsp ground turmeric
• 2 tblsps sambal olek
• 2 cloves garlic crushed
• 400ml coconut milk
• 4 tblsps palm sugar
• Salt, to taste
• Lemon juice, to taste

Blanch the trimmed beans by dropping them into boiling water for 30 seconds. Remove and plunge into ice water and strain when cold. Do the same to the cabbage and broccolini.

To make the sauce, combine all the ingredients (except the lemon juice and salt) and simmer for 10 minutes. Season with the lemon juice and salt and serve warm. If the mixture is too thick, thin down with a little water.

Place all the Gado Gado ingredients onto a large platter. Place the dressing into a side dish and present at room temperature.

Grilled beef fillets with caramelised onions

Remove the steaks from the refrigerator at least 30 minutes before barbequing. Cook the onions slowly for a long time until they are almost see-through, dark and glossy. The veal glaze takes a long time to produce, but it’s absolutely lush and stores in the freezer for up to three months.

Veal jus

• 3kg veal bones (cut small)
• 50ml Jingilli extra virgin olive oil
• ½ cluster garlic
• 1kg carrots (diced)
• ½ bunch celery (diced)
• 4 brown onions (diced)
• 2 tblsps tomato paste
• 500ml red wine
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 tblsps black peppercorns
• 10lt water

Kai Yang (grilled Thai chicken)

This is a very tasty combination that can be served as part of a cocktail party, a large banquet, or as a main on its own. The chicken thigh fillets work the best as they are moist and hold the strong, spicy flavours well.

Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 10 minutes
Serves: 6

• 1kg chicken thigh fillets
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 tsp pepper
• 4 tblsps minced coriander
• 4 tblsps fish sauce
• 1 tsp sugar
• 2 tblsps Squid brand BBQ dipping sauce
• 10 bamboo skewers (soaked in water for one hour)
• 2 cups soaked rice stick noodles
• ½ cup torn coriander leaves

Remove all the skin and fat from the chicken thigh fillets and cut each into three even pieces. Combine all the ingredients together well and marinade the chicken pieces for at least an hour.

Skewer with the soaked bamboo sticks and barbeque on a hot grill until fully cooked. Present on coriander-flavoured rice stick noodles.

Barbequed coral trout with mushroom salsa

These coral reef fish have white, firm textured flesh with a deliciously sweet flavour. The salsa has an Asian flavour with shitake mushrooms adding contrast to the diced tomato.

Preparation time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 8 minutes
Serves: 6

• 30ml Jingilli extra virgin olive oil
• ½ tsp freshly cracked pepper
• ½ tsp salt flakes
• ½ lime (zest only)
• 6 x 180gm coral trout portions (skin on)

For the salsa

• 2 dried shitake mushrooms
• ½ tsp sambel olek
• ½ clove garlic (crushed)
• 1 tsp sesame seed oil
• 50ml extra virgin olive oil
• 25ml red wine vinegar
• 1 medium tomato (seeded and diced to 1cm)
• 2 stems green onions (shallots), sliced into 5mm pieces
• 2 tsp coriander (washed and chopped)
• Seasoning, to taste

Soak the dried shitake mushrooms in boiling water for 20 minutes. Drain, remove and discard the stems and chop the mushroom flesh into 1cm dice.

Combine together the olive oil, lime zest, salt and pepper. Brush this mixture all over the fish portions and hold until required. Heat a grill pan and add the fish portions, cooking the skin-side first. When it’s golden and crispy, turn and finish the other side.

Combine the salsa ingredients well and present around the fish portions.

Lemon curd pastry tart

Sweet crust “3-2-1” pastry is easy to make, and with its tangy lemon curd filling, it’s delicious. The lemon curd is easy to make, but just make sure that you do not overheat the mix when adding in the butter cubes.

For the lemon curd

• 4 egg yolks
• 125g caster sugar
• 1 lemon, rind only
• ½ cup lemon juice
• 185g unsalted butter