Shermay Lee - New Mrs Lees Cookbook, The--Volume 1

The New MRS LEES COOKBOOK Volume 1 The New MRS LEES COOKBOOK Volume 1 Peranakan Cuisine Written by Mrs Lee Chin Koon Foreword by Former President Wee Kim Wee Updated by her granddaughter Shermay Lee Food Preparation: Shermay Lee Editor: Jamilah Mohd Hassan Designer: Lynn Chin Nyuk Ling Photographer: Yu Hui Ying Editor: Lydia Leong Production Co-ordinator: Nor Sidah Haron Enquiries: Shermays Singapore Fine Food www.shermay.com (order online) +65 6479 8442 Published by World Scientific Lifestyle An imprint of World Scientific Publlishing Co Pte Ltd 5 Toh Tuck Link, Singapore 596224 USA office: 27 Warren Street, Suite 401-402, Hackensack, NJ 07601 UK office: 57 Shelton Street, Covent Garden, London WC2H 9HE National Library Board, Singapore Cataloguing in Publication Data Names: Lee, Chin Koon, Mrs. | Lee, Shermay, 1975- | Wee, Kim Wee, writer of foreword. Title: The new Mrs Lees cookbook. volume 1, Peranakan cuisine / foreword by Former President the late Dr Wee Kim Wee; written by Mrs Lee Chin Koon; updated by her granddaughter Shermay Lee. Description: Singapore: WS Lifestyle, [2019] Identifiers: OCN 1117693310 | ISBN 978-981-121-262-8 (hardcover) | Previously published as: The new Mrs Lees cookbook: Nonya cuisine. Singapore: Times Editions, 2003.

Subjects: LCSH: Cooking, Peranakan. | Cooking, Singaporean. Classification: DDC 641.595957--dc23 THE NEW MRS LEES COOKBOOK: PERANAKAN CUISINE Vol. 1 Copyright 20032019 by Shermay Lee All rights reserved. ISBN 978-981-121-262-8 Printed by Tien Wah Press Pte Ltd Contents Foreword Time marches on. Even for cookbooks.

It has been 29 years since I wrote the preface to the first edition of Mrs Lees Cookbook. At the time and now, Mrs Lee Chin Koons proficiency in the kitchen is a well acknowledged fact, especially among those of us who were close enough to the cook to benefit from the proximity. My mouth still waters at the mere thought of the many intricacies coming out of her kitchen. Although time waits for no one, the flavours of Mrs Lees recipes live on. For those intrepid adventurers into the kitchen, these flavours will be more than just a memory. I am honoured to be asked again to write the foreword to this brand new edition, The New Mrs Lees Cookbook. Even so, it is an honour I accept with much trepidation.

As one who cannot boil an egg properly for breakfast or cook a pot of rice, what can I possibly say that would add to your pleasure? This new edition promises a sumptuous spread of colour images and an informed text by Shermay Lee to accompany Mrs Lees time-honoured recipes. After all, the pleasures from this particular book must surely be in the cooking! Readers will quickly recognise that Shermay is as equally proficient a writer as her grandmother was a cook. Shermays introduction whets the appetite like a delicate serving of hors doeuvre. It remains for me to have the pleasure and honour to present to you, Shermay Lee, granddaughter of the cook, herself trained at Le Cordon Bleu. To you who shall have the good fortune to hold this book in hand, I wish you many pleasurable hours. Dr Wee Kim Wee October 2003 Former President of the Republic of Singapore (19851993) This photograph captures a typical afternoon where my grandmother, aged 73 and I, aged 5, cooked in the kitchen of the house I grew up in.

The batu lesung (mortar and pestle) that my grandmother is using is the same one that is still used every day in my home. Our black-and-white amah (maid), Ah Tong, is standing in the background. Introduction My grandmother, Mrs Lee Chin Koon, first published Mrs Lees Cookbook in 1974. My mother, Pamelia Lee, assisted her by editing the cookbook. Almost three decades later, I am relaunching the famous cookbook. The idea of relaunching the cookbook had been on my mind for a while and when I embarked on the project, I was fully aware of the responsibility that updating it entailed.

My grandmother was considered an authority on Nonya cuisine and her cookbook has since become synonymous with Nonya cuisine. A whole generation has grown up with the familiar orange-coloured cookbook, and I felt it was important that the new edition remain authentic yet more accessible to a new generation of aspiring cooks. In this new edition, the recipes are written in a step-by-step format and come complete with photographs to illustrate each dish. Few adjustments have been made to the recipes, except where I felt it necessary, to cater to modern taste buds and preferences. I have also included cooking tips, some from my aunts who have shared their secrets with me, and others based on my classic culinary training. In addition, there are anecdotes about the dishes and suggestions on preparing healthier versions of these Peranakan classics.

I am a sixth-generation Peranakan and I grew up enjoying these dishes at home. More importantly, during the first five years of my life, I spent much time with my grandmother, whom I affectionately called Mak, or Mama Lee as she was known to many. She instilled in me a passion for cooking from a very young age. As a child, I would often spend the afternoon by her side while she cooked dinner or special dishes as requested by the family. My fathers favourite requests were Mee Siam, Ayam Buah Keluak and Pong Tauhu Soup. This cookbook pays homage to my grandmother and would be, I believe and hope, a fulfillment of her wish to make authentic Peranakan dishes accessible to the generations after her.

In the introduction to Mrs Lees Cookbook, she commented, it has been one of my ambitions to write a book about Straits Chinese food so that the younger generation, including my grandchildren and later their grandchildren, will have access to these recipes which were usually kept within families as guarded secrets. It will be most rewarding to see well-thumbed, dogged-eared copies of this new edition in the kitchen of young households. It will signify that my grandmothers legacy is alive and well. Shermay Lee October 2003 Acknowledgments A project such as this would not have been possible without the help and encouragement of many friends, family and professionals. The completion of this cookbook is a dream and passion. INGREDIENTS My grandmother My parents Sherlyn, Kern and Shaun Ian, Kai, Ryan and Melia Wee Kim Wee Kay Kuok Irene Ooi Tina Lee Rachel Ong Margaret Chew PREPARATION This cookbook is only possible because my grandmother had the foresight to write the original cookbook and publish it in 1974.