I love my pork chops two ways. One, of course, is my mom’s version. Breaded and pan-fried, these lovelies turn out crisp and golden on the outside, juicy on the inside every time (that Mom makes them, that is). The second is honey-garlic pork chops, a...
As soon as my mom ascends the stairs and disappears into the guest room, I arrange the mise en place for rolling spring rolls (or lumpia as they're called in Indonesian) on the kitchen table: a stack of wrappers, a bowl of ground pork and bamboo...
“Authentic” is a loaded word, especially when it comes to food. In Singapore—where I was raised, and in my opinion, the birthplace of Asian fusion cuisine—authentic is subjective. Mee goreng, a local favorite, brings together Chinese egg noodles, Western potatoes, bottled tomato ketchup and Indian...
For this month’s Let’s Lunch challenge, we were tasked with making three-ingredient recipes. Now I've seen and attempted five-ingredient recipes but three ingredients? That's a tough one. As often happens in life, things organically fell into place. Last month, I wrote a story on building a gluten-free...
My earliest memory of eating vegetables involves my mother chasing me around the living room balancing a plateful of stir-fried spinach and rice in one hand, and desperately trying to shove dinner spoonful-by-spoonful past my uncooperative lips with the other. I must admit I’ve come a...
Have you ever been struck by an incessant food craving that just won’t go away? (No, this has nothing to do with pregnancy.) It’s kinda like an earworm (click here for more info about this wonderful new word I just learned about on NPR), a...
The Lunar New Year celebration lasts 15 days so there's still plenty of time to eat your fill of lucky and auspicious foods for a prosperous year ahead. Egg rolls (also called fried spring rolls) are a favorite all year round but they're considered an auspicious...
The snake may not be my favorite animal but I just learned a very interesting factoid about the Year of the Snake which starts this Sunday, February 10, 2013. Just as a snake sheds its skin, this is a good year for making dramatic transformations,...
Ann Mah’s debut novel, Kitchen Chinese: A Novel About Food, Family and Finding Yourself, has all the ingredients for a successful chick lit novel. It’s an easy, breezy read. It has a lovable heroine--Isabelle Lee--who has her flaws yet emerges victorious. And it offers so...
Almond tofu or almond jelly is one of the most popular desserts to come out of the Chinese restaurant. It’s almost always served at the end of a Chinese banquet, usually with canned longans in syrup and/or fruit cocktail. As a little girl in swishy pigtails,...
