Cheryl Lu-Lien Tan

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August 6, 2014 By cheryl

Vietnam House (Edinburgh): The Hunt For Pho

photo 2 (1)A few days into any visit to a city that’s not in Asia and the urge always strikes — I must have a bowl of noodles.

In Edinburgh, this proves slightly more challenging than in many other sizeable western cities — yes, the place is filled with cheap Chinese takeouts and Indian curry shops. But the Japanese, Chinese, Korean and Vietnamese noodle craze that has a firm hold in several metropolises appears to have bypassed this one altogether.

When I text this dilemma to an Asian food-loving friend in Edinburgh — the sweet and adorable Lauren of Asian Cajuns — she immediately replies: Vietnam House for pho.

Well that’s that then — pho it is …

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Asian, Comfort Food, Noodles, Scotland, Soup, Tales From the Road, Vietnamese Tagged With: Edinburgh, Noodles, Pho, Scotland, Soup, Vietnam House, Vietnamese

July 23, 2014 By cheryl

Seaweed-Bok Choy Noodle Soup With Peppery Pork Balls: A Kitchen Experiment

RamenA few years ago, I vowed to log all my random kitchen creations on this site.

Well, I’m a little embarrassed to say that other than a delicious Singapore-inspired turmeric-sambal chicken stir-fry I concocted one early spring night two years ago, this endeavor has rather fallen by the wayside.

And then this week, I whipped up a quick lunch that had me reaching for pen and paper at first bite — a garlicky seaweed and bok choy soup noodle studded with super peppery pork balls.

From the first taste, I knew this was a keeper …

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Asian, Chinese, Comfort Food, Korean, Noodles, Recipes, Soup Tagged With: Bok Choy, Chinese, Garlic, Korean, Noodle, Pork Balls, Ramen, Seaweed, Soup

February 7, 2014 By cheryl

Solyanka: Russian Beef Soup for the Olympic Soul

Tropical girl that I am, the Winter Olympics have never held much fascination for me.

Yes, there’s figure skating — which I adore — but the rest of it usually goes by in a bewildering blur for me once the games start. (Of course, all of this could change should I ever decide to get off my tush and actually go skiing for the first time.)

Olympics-inspired food, however — now that fascinated me. So when our Let’s Lunch crew decided on an Olympic spirit-themed lunch to toast the opening of the Sochi games, I was in.

What to make? A certain Russian sweet and sour beef soup seemed just the thing for snowy conditions …

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Comfort Food, Let's Lunch, Russian, Soup Tagged With: Comfort Food, Olympics, Russian, Sochi, Solyanka, Soup, Spirit

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