Cheryl Lu-Lien Tan

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March 8, 2010 By cheryl

Pineapple Tarts: The Start Of The Journey


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In the beginning, there were pineapple tarts.

These buttery, crumbly, bite-sized marvels bewitched me as a child in Singapore. My paternal grandmother made the best ones, of course — every Chinese new year, she would hit the kitchen to churn out her tarts, pushing me to eat as many as I wanted as we sat in her living room, unhurriedly passing time.

I never learned to make my grandmother’s tarts as a child, unfortunately.

When I was 11, she died. And the chance for her to teach me anything suddenly vanished.

After many years of mourning this lost opportunity, I traveled back to Singapore in early 2009 to learn how to make these tarts from my aunts. My grandmother had taught them how to bake the tarts when she was alive and they were now the keepers of her prized recipe, which I’ve included below.

The experience was enlightening — but it also generated a spark. I now knew how to make the tarts of my grandmother, a legendary cook in our family and to all she knew.

But still, I wanted more.

Thus began a journey of discovery — one that would take place in the kitchens of my Singapore family. Over the next lunar calendar year, the women of my family would gather over hot stoves to laugh, tell stories, shake our heads and, above all else, cook.

The story of my journey will be shared very soon. (Hyperion’s Voice is publishing “A Tiger In The Kitchen” in January 2011.)

But first, it must be written — and so I must bow out of this blog for a while. Seven weeks, to be exact. (Special thanks to Yaddo, the artists’ colony, for generously offering me a nook in the woods to think and create.)

I hope you’ll forgive this absence, but you must admit, it’s for a rather good reason. 

When I return in late April, I’ll be looking for all of you. My year of cooking in Singapore is over but the journey continues here. And I hope you’ll be coming along with me.

Until then, buon appetito and enjoy …

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Baking, Cookies, Dessert, Holidays, Recipes, Singapore, Singaporean, So Good It Must Be Bad For You, Sweets, Tales From the Road Tagged With: Baking, Buon appetito, Butter, Chinese new year, Cinnamon, Grandmother, Jam, Lunar calendar year, Pandan leaves, Pineapple Tarts, Singapore, Sugar, Wall Street Journal

March 5, 2010 By cheryl

Kitchen-Sink Stir-Fry: Spring Cleaning Your Fridge


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It’s hard to think about spring when there’s still snow on the ground in New York. But one must be optimistic — which we are over here in the Let’s Lunch crowd.

Fresh off our breathless postings on aphrodisiac-laced dishes in February, our thoughts immediately turned to warmer times as we debated what to make next for our monthly virtual lunch date.

How about “spring cleaning (the fridge?)” Stephanie over at The Cosmic Cowgirl suggested.

And so, kitchen-sink recipes to help you springclean your fridge it was.

Now, since I have several solid grocers (and one neat butcher) within a 2-minute walk of my Brooklyn apartment, I tend to buy as I cook. (I’ve never really been one to stock up my fridge like there’s no tomorrow, anyhow.)

Nonetheless, there are a few basics that I must always have in my fridge: Bacon, tofu and some sort of ground meat, usually pork or beef.

Bacon is a wonder that must be consumed on its own, in my book. (Or, in a bacon explosion. Or a BLT. Or … I digress.)

But what to do with tofu and ground pork? The possibilities are endless …

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Let's Lunch, Meat, Recipes, Singapore, Singaporean, Southeast Asian Tagged With: Aphrodisiac, Bacon, Bacon explosion, Brooklyn, Cornstarch, Erlinda, Fridge, Ground beef, Ground Pork, Kitchen sink, Let's Lunch, Mushrooms, New York, Oyster sauce, Pork, Recipe, Scallions, Singapore, Snow, Soy sauce, Spring, Spring cleaning, Stir fry, Tofu

February 28, 2010 By cheryl

Iggy's: Nailing A Compulsory


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There is, I recently told my friend Willin, a gaping hole in my Singapore dining repertoire.

Together, Willin, my eating partner, and I had savored saccharine Japanese tomatoes paired with fiery horseradish granita at Fifty Three, nibbled on parmesan and squid ink breadsticks at Jaan and demolished slabs of foie gras encrusted with crumbled candied almonds at Gunther’s Modern French Cuisine. And one afternoon when I dared to cheat on Willin by lunching with another, I’d gotten a clandestine rush from a decadent chocolate dessert at Les Amis that had been inspired by after-dinner mints.

In my bid to become comprehensively schooled in Singapore fine dining, however, one name was still missing from the list: Iggy’s, a little place in the Regent hotel that is regarded by some as the best restaurant in the country. (Its regulars include the wife of Singapore’s prime minister — enough said.)

It’s time, I said to Willin. 

And soon enough, we found ourselves bellying up to the gleaming bar at Iggy’s …

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Restaurants, Singapore, Tales From the Road

February 21, 2010 By cheryl

Nam Seng Noodle House: Old School Wonton Mee


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It may sound shallow, but the name of a hawker in Singapore can sometimes be an easy way to tell how good its food is.

If the place is known by or bears the name of a locale that’s nowhere near its actual location, that’s often a sign that you should just drop everything, get in line and order something. Once a hawker stall has made its name somewhere, after all, its faithful will want to follow, wherever it ends up.

The much-beloved Hill Street Char Kway Teow, for example, is currently parked in Singapore’s Bedok area, nowhere near Hill Street. And one of the best places in my parents’ neighborhood for ta meepok, a dish of spicy tagliatelle-like noodles tossed with fishballs and pork, is named Jalan Tua Kong even though, frankly, I have absolutely no idea where Jalan Tua Kong is.

So when I started hearing about the “Old National Library” wonton mee shop — now situated near Singapore’s financial district, far from the former central library — I knew it was a must.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Cantonese, Chinese, Hawkers, Singapore, Singaporean, Southeast Asian, Tales From the Road Tagged With: Al dente, Black vinegar, Chia Boon Pin, Chili, Far East Organization, Far East Square, Fried rice, Goh Chok Tong, Hawker, Hill Street Char Kway Teow, Jalan Tua Kong, Ketchup, Madam Leong, Nam Seng Noodle House, National Library, Pork lard, Roast pork, Sesame oil, Ta Meepok, Venison, Wantan mee, Wanton mee

February 18, 2010 By cheryl

Prosperity Cakes (Fatt Gou): Ushering In A Rich Tiger Year


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You will have to excuse the radio silence on this blog. 

Between stuffing myself with pineapple tarts and cooking up a storm in Singapore, there simply hasn’t been a spare moment since the Chinese year of the Tiger began on Sunday to sit down and pen an intelligible sentence.

Amid the bacchanalia, however, some lessons have been learned. The deeper ones — about family, love and the enduring power of ancestral lore — I won’t go into. (You’ll just have to buy the book.) 

But the Chinese new year recipes — usually designed to conjure success, prosperity or love — now those, those I’m more than happy to share.

Over the last few days, I’ve had the good fortune of spending quality time in the kitchen with Auntie Hon Tim, the Colorado-based mother of my dear Auntie Donna in Singapore. Now, Auntie Hon Tim used to own and run a Chinese restaurant in Lakewood, Colo. — so she’s got some serious cooking chops. 

Besides teaching me the quickest way to skim fat off a pot of stew and how to rapidly chop carrots without slicing off my fingernails, Auntie Hon Tim has been showing me how to make some of her favorite lunar new year recipes.

On her must list every year is fatt gou, or prosperity cakes — cupcake-sized desserts that she makes to send friends wishes of riches and sweetness in the new year. 

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Cake, Cantonese, Chinese, Dessert, Holidays, Recipes, Singapore, Southeast Asian, Sweets, Tales From the Road Tagged With: All-purpose flour, Auntie Hon Tim, Brown sugar, Cake, Chinese new year, Chinese restaurant, City, Colorado, Cupcake, Dessert, Dragon, Fatt Gou, Good fortune, Lakewood, Luck, Lunar new year, Pancake mix, Pineapple Tarts, Prosperity, Red dates, Singapore, Steam, Sweet, Tiger, Water, Year

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