“Adulthood is the journey from being the one who comes home to eat, to being the one who comes home to cook.” —Spring Festival Gala 2026

ABC soup is one of my favorite comfort foods. It is full of tasty veggies and packed with vitamins A (carrots), B (potatoes), and C (tomatoes). It’s as easy to make as the ABCs:

1. Blanch pork ribs or bone-in chicken thighs. After boiling, drain and rinse the meat under cold water.
2. Chop and add potatoes, carrots, onions, celery, sweet corn, tomatoes, and garlic to the pot. Add water.
3. Bring to a boil, then simmer for an hour.
4. Add salt and white pepper to taste at the end.

My aunt used to cook ABC soup for my cousins and me when I lived in Singapore. I still remember my younger cousin adding white pepper (and maybe coriander) as his “magic touch” to elevate the flavor. Fun times.

Now, here I am on Chinese New Year’s Eve in Cambridge, having ABC soup with Eric and ML. We also have dumplings, smashed cucumber salad, roasted lamb chops, some fruit, a durian cake, and a bottle of wine which Kevin sent from London. Together, we watch the Spring Festival Gala, which features Harbin as one of the sub-venues.

I had the greatest childhood in Harbin and amazing student years in Singapore. My time in Cambridge has felt less eventful, with research and solitude filling long chunks of time. The blank spaces have given room to reflection and nostalgia. The heavy weight of time is starting to sink in, stripping away the child and the student within me and imposing a new sense of responsibility. I’m horrified by the inevitable deadlines I never want to think of—that silent ticking of a clock from home, which I now recognize from Tokyo Story.

I only hope I will cook many ABC soups for them.