SuffolkNews food columnist Lilian Hiw to showcase the true tastes of Asia with upcoming cookbook

A SuffolkNews food columnist who runs a highly-popular cookery school has just finished penning her first cookbook, hoping to give readers a real taste of Asia.

Lilian Hiw, who teaches her classes at her Culford home, has taken recipes and stories from her own culinary journey to produce Lilian’s Kitchen – Home Cooked Food, which is set to come out in spring next year.

The former West Suffolk College catering lecturer said she had been wanting to write a book for a while and felt this was the right moment to help those who wanted to produce more Asian food without the complications of the cuisine.

She said: “I started my cooking classes seven years ago and numerous people who come have said that I should write a book. I just turned 60 and felt that this was the right moment to do so, and I hope to help those who want to produce more Asian food without the complications of the cuisine.

“The book is targeted for very good cooks as well as novices – a lot of Asian recipes can be very confusing, long- winded with a very long ingredients list, but that is not how I cook, so this book will show people some of my tips of the trade to get those flavours we all know and love as well as producing excellent end results.”

The classically trained private chef said writing the book meant a lot of testing of her recipes, as she was so used to doing all her measurements by eye.

Lilian said: “In that way, writing this recipe book has been different for me as I have had to measure things, so I have tested all the recipes three times myself and also had a team of testers as well as friends in the catering trade producing the dishes to make sure they were all correct.”

The 148-page book, with around 50 recipes, will include dishes from 10 nations – India, China, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, Hong Kong, Korea, Japan, as well as Lilian’s home country, Singapore.

She added: “There is also a section called treats – this will include my sexy wobble panna cotta, that Thai classic mango sticky rice, and miso toffee pineapple – as well as a drink section with the likes of Singapore Sling, lemongrass mojito and mango lassi.

“I am very excited that the book is almost finished, as a lot of love and work has gone into it, and I hope everyone will love it as much as I do.”

For details on how to pre-order Lilian’s new book, go to the Lilian’s Kitchen website.