Cheryl Lu-Lien Tan

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November 12, 2010 By cheryl

Winter Melon Soup: Comfort, Simple & Clear


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Among the many Cantonese-style soups of my Singaporean girlhood, the one I find myself craving once temperatures start heading south in fall is a simple one: Winter melon soup.

This broth, dotted with cubes of soft winter melon and bits of mushroom and pork, isn't an elaborate or fussy soup — it's what the Chinese call "cheng," or clear. The flavor is subtle; the experience is all about warmth and comfort.

So, when my Let's Lunch friends suggested doing a fall soup for November, I immediately started badgering my mother for her recipe …

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Filed Under: Asian, Cantonese, Chinese, Let's Lunch, Recipes, Singaporean, Soup Tagged With: Acorn, Baked, Cantonese, Carrot, Dong cai, Fall, Habanero, Minced pork, Mushroom, Oven, Pans, Pork, Potimarron, Pots, Recipe, Roasted tomato, Singaporean, Soup, Soy sauce, Squash, Vegetable oil, Water, White pepper, Winter melon

July 10, 2010 By cheryl

Pfeffernüsse: Victory Sweets

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My mother called the other day, saying she’d been thinking it was time for a change.

Time, specifically, to take down the massive German flag that’s been hanging in my girlhood bedroom in Singapore since the 1990 World Cup. (And the discovery of the wonder that is Jurgen Klinsmann.)

There were protestations, of course — the Germans were doing well in this year’s World Cup. They might win it all again! Why jinx things by folding up my precious flag?

That point, of course, is moot right now. After getting trounced by the Spanish earlier this week, the Germans take to the field today — not to fight for the World Cup. Instead, third place is theirs — if they’re lucky.

Now, when I’m stressed or depressed, I tend to storm the kitchen. So, what to make for this occasion?

“Time to write about some octopus recipes!” my friend Kevin suggested. (Given that I don’t sanction the rallying cry to grill Paul the Psychic Octopus, who predicted, to his German aquarium’s dismay, that Spain would knock Germany out of the semi-finals, I decided to ignore this.)

Something more humane, perhaps. Cookies, for example, seemed harmless enough.

And Martha Stewart had just the recipe …

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Filed Under: Baking, Cookies, German, Holidays Tagged With: 1990 World Cup, Aquarium, Black pepper, Ceylon, Christmas, Cookie, Danish, Dutch, Flag, Football, German, Germany, Ground pepper, Jurgen Klinsmann, Martha Stewart, Nuts, Paul the Octopus, Pebernødder, Pfeffernusse, Psychic, Singapore, Soccer, Sweets, Tea, Uruguay, White pepper, World Cup

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