The Amazing Aromas and Flavours of South East Asia

Cooking with SBA’s Kitchen

The next session is scheduled for:

Date: Thursday 23 October 2025
Time: 10:00 am to 2:00 pm
Venue: Briagolong Community House
Cost: $55.00 per person (Cost includes recipes and all ingredients, plus a light lunch on the day.)
Bookings: Follow this link, or phone Briagolong Community House (03) 5145 5425
Max Participants: 6 participants
(All food will be gluten free)

Sample Menu

Tom Yam Goon (Prawns in a Fragrant Broth)
Som Tam Salad (Green Pawpaw/Mango Salad)
Murtabak
Gado Gado
Nasi Goreng
Singapore Noodles
Pad Thai
Malaysian Chicken Curry
Khao Niaow Mamuang (Sweet Sticky Rice with Fresh Mango)
(All food will be gluten free)

Malaysia, Bali, Singapore and Thailand, I must admit that I absolutely love the flavours and aromas that waft around the kitchen when cooking up a feast of dishes from this region – fresh, fragrant, vibrant, and absolutely delicious! The recipes that I share with you in this session are family favourites, dishes that I have been taught, or dishes that I had to replicate after trying something amazing during my travels through these amazing countries.

Discover the balance of sweet, sour, savoury, and how to tweak the ingredients, as I was taught, to get the perfect balance, and I cannot wait to share my Malaysian chicken Curry Recipe with you, too! Working together with others who attend on the day, you will prepare a vibrant, delicious feast to share as we sit, relax, eat, chat and maybe share stories from our travels, to finish the session.

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A little more detail…

On the day:
※ Participants will be provided with ingredients, instructions and guidance as they prepare the various delicious dishes on the day.
※ We will finish the session enjoying the aromatic, delicious meal prepared on the day, as we sit, eat, chat and relax.
※ All food will be gluten free.

What you will take home:
※ Notes and recipes for the dishes made on the day.
※ A share of any leftovers from the lunch (containers provided).
※ Maybe a new friendship with other’s who attend on the day.

Session Duration:
The session will run for approximately 4 hours.

More Information:
I prefer not to call this a cooking class, but more of a hands-on cooking and knowledge sharing session, where those attending learn and share from my experience. I am not a trained chef, just taught and guided by my experiences, and driven by my love of cooking, sharing, and celebrating with food.

Health and Safety
※ If you have any dietary restrictions, please contact me prior to booking as I like to make sure that everyone can enjoy the food prepared on the day.
※ Closed shoes must be worn on the day.

Learn ||| Cook ||| Eat ||| Chat

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me using the form below.

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Thank you for your response. ✨

Sweet & Sour Anything

Sweet and Sour Veg is a great little recipe for using up bits and pieces from the vegie drawer of the fridge, you can even add leftover cooked meat as well (see notes below)! I know that it has sugar in it, but a little sugar now and then, and you can reduce it to suit your taste, so the flexibility is there. The great thing that I like about this recipe is that it gets family members who are not normally great veggie and rice eaters, to clean their plate! So it’s a win for me.

Sweet & Sour Anything

This is the best recipe for using up all the bits and pieces from the vegie crisper! You can make it with veg only, or add prawns, fish, chicken, pork fillet, or serve with crumbed fish, crumbed prawns, even chicken or pork schnitzel!

Category: Main

Style: Aisan, Thai

Keyword: Vegetarian Option

Quantity: 4

Author: sbaskitchen

Ingredients

1 tbsp cooking oil
½ onion peeled and cut into thin slices or wedges
1 carrot peeled and cut into thin strips or slices
½ red capsicum cut into thin strips or large dice
½ cucumber cut into half moons
100 g snow peas cut cut in half

FOR THE SAUCE

2 tsp cornflour
½ cup water
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp tomato sauce
2 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp vinegar

GARNISH

2 spring onions thinly sliced

Instructions

Heat oil in a wok or large frying pan.
Add the carrot and onion, stir-fry for 3 minutes, then add the capsicum and cucumber, stir-fry for 2 minutes and then add the snow peas.
Blend the cornflour, water, soy sauce, tomato sauce, sugar and vinegar together, add to the vegetables and stir until the mixture boils and thickens.
Serve with Jasmine rice garnished with the spring onions.

Notes

This is such a flexible recipe that can be cooked up in no time!

The veg in the recipe can be swapped out, or used as a base - you could also add:
- baby corn
- bean shoots
- beans
- broccoli florets
- cauliflower florets
- cabbage
- tomato wedges
- zucchini
Add a protein
- chicken
  - stir fry your veg and remove from the pan and set aside while you then stir fry diced chicken, return the veg to the pan, add the sauce ingredients and continue.
  - alternatively, add leftover cooked chicken after the sauce has thickened, cook in the sauce until heated through.
  - try the sweet and sour veg as an alternative side for crumbed chicken schnitzel - delicious!
- fish
  - add after the sauce mixture and continue to cook until the fish is just done, alternatively, cook the fish separately and serve on top of the sweet and sour veg.
  - serve the sweet and sour veg alongside crumbed fish.
- prawns
  - add after the sauce mixture and continue to cook until the prawns are just done, alternatively, cook the prawns separately and serve on top of the sweet and sour veg.
  - top sweet and sour veg with cooked crumbed prawns
- pork
  - stir fry your veg and remove from the pan and set aside while you then stir fry sliced pork loin, return the veg to the pan, add the sauce ingredients and continue.
  - alternatively, add leftover cooked pork after the sauce has thickened, cook in the sauce until heated through.
  - try the sweet and sour veg as an alternative side for crumbed pork cutlets - delicious!
- tofu
  - press a block of firm tofu for an hour, to remove any excess moisture, then dice and stir fry. Add to the stir fry vegetables before adding the sauce mixture and continue.
If you have leftover steamed veg, just make up a batch of the sauce and carefully reheat the veg in the sauce.
Try a little fresh coriander as a garnish, also.
The measurements used are metric, therefore
- 1 tbsp = 4 tsps
- 1 cup = 250 ml
- 1/2 cup = 125 ml

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If you have a moment, I would love to hear your thoughts on what you see on
this page – just pop a note in the comments box below.
With many thanks and kindness,
Julie.

Green Mangos

October 10, 2021October 11, 2021 / sbaskitchen / 2 Comments

Last weekend I had to pop into the local Asian Grocery Store in nearby Sale for a few things. I love this little supermarket where Raj and his staff are always so very helpful, and the shelves are packed with all sorts of wonderful ingredients.

As I wandered through the store collecting the items I had on my list, I was excited to discover that they were now stocking some fresh produce commonly used in Asian cuisine, but generally difficult to come by in our area. What really caught my eye were the green mangoes, and there were three or four different varieties, so feeling a little confused, I asked if Raj would be able to explain what the differences were. Of course he was more than willing. We were soon joined by another lady who kindly filled me in on how to use the green mango and guided me on which variety was preferred. I selected a sour green mango, over the other sweeter varieties on her advice, and noticed that she was also selecting one or two of the same.

Green Mango

Continue reading →

Massaman Curry with Beef

April 14, 2017October 16, 2017 / sbaskitchen / Leave a comment

This is the final recipe for my Thai Banquet! Massaman Curry with Beef is a little different to the curries you may be expecting from Thailand. It is a delicious rich curry that can be used as part of a Thai Banquet, equally what we like to do, particularly during the colder months, is to cook the meat in the delicious rich spicy sauce and serve it with hot creamy mashed potato… Continue reading →

Som Tam Salad (Green Pawpaw/Mango Salad)

March 30, 2017March 30, 2017 / sbaskitchen / Leave a comment

Som Tam is Green Pawpaw salad that originated in the north-east of Thailand (although some argue that it is actually from Laos). The wonderful, refreshing combination of sweet, hot, sour, salty and bitter is amazing and leaves you reaching for more, particularly on a hot summer’s day. This salad is Thailand on a plate.

Som Tam Salad (Green Pawpaw/Mango Salad)

Servings: 6
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This recipe is based on the Thai Salad, Som Tam, a dish that originated in north-east Thailand, but is now popular throughout the country, and also abroad. Normally served with sticky rice, we enjoy it served with Tod Man Goong (Thai Prawn Cakes).

Ingredients

3 green mangoes
150 g green beans, sliced and blanched
250 g cherry tomatoes, halved
2 tbsp peanuts, roasted and crushed
Fresh coriander leaves, to serve

For the dressing:

1 1/2 tbsp palm sugar
1 tbsp fish sauce
1 clove of garlic, chopped
1 red chilli, chopped
1 golden shallot, chopped
60 ml lime juice

Directions

Peel the green mango and cut the flesh into long thin strands, if you have a mandolin, use the fine julienne or grater attachment.
Using a mortar and pestle, pound the garlic, shallots, and chillies into a paste.
Add the palm sugar, fish sauce and lime juice and carefully mix to combine. Set aside.
Combine the mango, beans and cherry tomatoes in a large bowl.
Add the dressing and, using your hands, toss gently.
Pile onto a large serving platter and sprinkle over the crushed peanuts and coriander leaves.