Cheryl Lu-Lien Tan

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January 2, 2012 By cheryl

Peaches: Comforting Southern

It’s hard to resist a challenge when you read in the papers of a Southern restaurant owner boasting that his spicy fried chicken is so hot that it “will kick you in your face and make you cry.”

Anyone who’s been to Singapore or sampled real Singaporean food knows that my people don’t shy away from spice. My mother, in fact, has been observed eating the tiniest, spiciest raw chilis– like candy.

So when the sister was in town recently, we immediately set off to see what all this making you cry business was all about.

With Singaporean blood coursing through us, this chicken couldn’t possibly take us. No, we would take it.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Brooklyn, New York, Restaurants Tagged With: Barbecue, Bed Stuy, Brooklyn, Fried Chicken, Gumbo, Peaches, Peaches Hothouse

June 3, 2009 By cheryl

A Tale of Six Meatballs


CIMG4598 It’s a little scary what can happen when a journalistic killer instinct is directed at something seemingly innocuous.

Like, meatballs. And the battle to be voted top meatball chef in a six-way competition.

There is the non-stop smack talk. There is the repeated invocation of maternal units. There is, even, the reflexive forming of menacing kung-fu gestures anytime the word “meatball” is mentioned.

And we haven’t even gotten to things that my fellow competitors did.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Contests, Meat, Recipes Tagged With: Adobo, Alfama, Arizona, Barbecue, Brooklyn Heights, Cafe Asean, Chili, Chorizo, Cotija Cheese, Curries Without Worries, Dates, Dauyew Bak, Filipino, French toast, Indian, Italian, Jack Daniels, Kung Fu, Le Cordon Bleu, Meatballs, Mooch, New York Times, Phoenix, Portuguese, Scallops, Simpson Wong, Soy sauce, Sudha Koul, Teochew, West Village

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