The New Mrs Lee’s Cookbook: Volumes 1 and 2

SHERMAY LEE

THE BOOK

For home cooks of the Pioneer Generation, Mrs Lee’s

Cookbook, published in 1974, was the bible of authentic Peranakan cooking. Between its bright orange paperback covers, Mrs Lee Chin Koon, the mother of Singapore’s founding Prime Minister Lee Kwan Yew, provided easy-to-follow recipes for classics like nasi lemak, babi assam, and ayam siyow. In 2003, her granddaughter Shermay Lee reworked the book, bringing its allure into the modern day, illustrating recipes with beautiful photographs and updating information about the dishes’ origins. Recipes have also been updated for a modern audience – modifications include removing the use of MSG, and providing workarounds for tedious techniques of yore. Just in time for the recent surge in interest for cookbooks, the books were recently reprinted for the third time.

THE AUTHOR

Shermay Lee is the founder and owner of Shermay’s Singapore Fine Food, which provides food consultancy to companies like Singapore Airlines and retails bottled sauces like her popular Chilicuka (a vinegar-laced chilli sauce).

TRY THIS

A self-declared “traditionalist”, Lee has retained several time-forgotten recipes. One such example is the divisive Hati Babi Bungkus – balls of minced pork and offal encased in caul fat and deepfried. Lee also encourages the busy modern-day cook to use equipment like food processors rather than a mortar and pestle to make rempah – “pulse, instead of continuous blending to control the final texture”.

TRY THAT

To see how the recipes might turn out, Lee has collaborated with Shangri-La Hotel, Singapore, where 15 dishes based on her recipes are being served at The Line buffet restaurant until April this year. Post-meal, diners can purchase the cookbooks at Shophouse by Shangri-La.