I absolutely love Asian recipes, along with Asian flavors and ingredients in cooking. More than anything, these choices make food that much more interesting and exciting – often adding in a complexity that you wouldn’t find elsewhere. There are also so many different options to choose from, including Japanese, Chinese and Taiwanese food, each of which has their own unique characteristics.
For the most part, Asian recipes aren’t specifically designed with sous vide cooking in mind. But, that scarcely matters – as the flavors and ingredients are still perfect for sous vide and can create some truly astounding dishes.
With that in mind, these 10 recipes are all examples of Asian sous vide cooking at its finest. Some of the recipes on offer have similarities to authentic Asian dishes but most are variations that take advantage of Asian flavors. But, regardless of the approach, they are all great options to try yourself, especially if you want to expand your horizons.
And when you're done, don't forget to check out the Joule review to see what our favorite sous vide immersion circulator looks like and why we love it so much!
Sous Vide Kalbi Baby Backs with Kimchi Mashed Potatoes
When it comes to ribs, the typical smoky barbecue flavor is wonderful but it can get a little boring. These Kalbi Baby Backs with Kimchi Mashed Potatoes are a different approach, one that takes advantage of Korean food flavors. Not only does that flavor profile work extremely well but the ribs themselves simply turn out amazing.
As you can probably guess, the reason for the overall outcome is the sous vide approach. Sous vide cooking leads to ribs that are both moist and tender. But, what’s even more interesting is that they still maintain their structure and have significant chew. To me, that’s the best possible outcome and it’s easier to achieve with sous vide than with any other technique.
Sous Vide Chinese-Style Fried Chicken
This Chinese-Style Fried Chicken is another Asian variation of a dish that you’ll already be familiar with. As with the ribs, this recipe is a fun way to make the meal more interesting, especially if you have fried chicken regularly. Sous vide also makes this chicken so much better, ensuring that it stays moist in the middle while having a crispy outer crust. Perfect!
Soy-Ginger Sous Vide Bacalao Loins
Bacalao loins are a great type of fish to cook with, especially as there are so many different ways to prepare them. With this Soy-Ginger Bacalao Loins recipe, I was specifically interested in making steamed fish using a soy-ginger glaze, partly because that approach always turns out so well.
As with most similar recipes, you can easily pick a different type of fish if you want to. Any type of white-fleshed fish should work just as well with the recipe and will result in spectacular results.
Deonjang-Spiced Sous Vide Eggplant
I love meat and fish dishes but sometimes the best dishes are the simple ones, like this Deonjang-Spiced Sous Vide Eggplant. This recipe shows how you can make some amazing vegetables using the sous vide, getting much more flavor in them than you could otherwise. I also love the way that these stand out visually, especially because they have such a rich color.
The recipe itself would be a perfect choice for a dinner side or even an entrée. Either way, they’re bound to impress. For that matter, this remains the best recipe I’ve found for cooking eggplant.
Sous Vide Pork Belly Adobo
Pork Belly Adobo is a particular favorite of mine, one that I often make without the sous vide. However, this recipe came from my curiosity about whether the sous vide could make it any better. To be honest, I wasn’t that confident beforehand, as the dish always ends up amazing regardless.
However, sous vide does offer more control, which means a greater consistency of results. At the same time, the adobo was actually better than other versions. The key advantage was that the pork belly cubes kept their structure and size, while still being tender. That result is tough to obtain with other techniques and you certainly wouldn’t get it every time.
Red Curry Crusted Sous Vide Beef Prime Rib
This Red Curry Crusted Beef Prime Rib isn’t a complex dish, especially as most of the work goes into the accompanying raita rather than the steaks. However, the recipe is still a fantastic one, especially if you want ribs that taste a little different. The inclusion of red curry simply works well here and the beef naturally pairs with all of the Thai flavors going on.
And, as always, the sous vide technique ensures that your steak ends up the perfect level of doneness every time.
Sous Vide Chili-Butter Cobbler
With this Chili-Butter Cobbler, I was interested in making a fish dish that was simple to prepare but still had a depth of flavor. To do so, the recipe takes advantage of a compound butter that you make yourself. The process is easy and you can tweak the ingredients to include whatever flavors you would like. As a result, you can use the same processes to make countless different recipes.
Sous Vide Chinese Pork Belly
Without a doubt, this Sous Vide Chinese Pork Belly is one of the best approaches I’ve found for pork belly. The recipe itself makes use of significant Chinese flavors, which all work perfectly with the fattiness and meatiness of the pork belly.
While I love the flavor of the pork belly, my favorite thing about this recipe has to be its flexibility. In particular, you could serve the pork belly in countless different ways. The recipe offers information for making Bao buns, which are in the image as well. Alternatively, you could serve the dish over rice or even in a conventional sandwich.
Sous Vide Chili-Garlic Tofu
There aren’t many tofu recipes out there for sous vide cooking, which is a pity because the idea works surprisingly well. This Chili-Garlic Tofu recipe is a perfect example of what you can expect. For one thing, the recipe uses some strong flavors, which the tofu absorbs effectively. As a result, you basically get ‘juicy’ tofu, where the flavored sauce actually comes out as you take a bite. The tofu itself also ends up with a chewy crust and a smooth inside.
To be honest, it’s hard to explain how this tofu ends up like, simply because it is so different than many other recipes. The best thing that I can say is that this is one of the most appealing tofu recipes that I’ve tried – and sous vide really does wonders for cooking tofu.
Sous Vide Black Pepper and Mint Sous Vide Pineapples
To finish off this list, let’s focus on something sweet – these Black Pepper and Mint Sous Vide Pineapples. Sous vide cooking tends to work well for most types of firm fruit, providing a way to increase their natural taste and to infuse other flavors along the way.
The combination of ingredients here works surprisingly well and you get a dessert that’s a bit different than simply eating pineapple. The recipe would also be a great way to finish off a dinner and a nice change from more processed desserts.
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