From Singapore to Britain: How a non-cook built a rempah empire in London

Shu Han Lee arrived in London at 18 with no cooking skills, but a mission to learn Singaporean cuisine eventually led her to establish Rempapa Spice Co. Lee's journey began with a burnt batch of rice in her student accommodation, a far cry from her mother's skilled cooking back home.

Back in Singapore, food was a given, enjoyed through hawker staples and her mother's meals. Lee's mother, a proficient cook, viewed it as a chore, urging her daughter toward an air-conditioned office job rather than a culinary path. University life in London initially centered on pubs, with food as an afterthought for her peers.

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I don’t know how you mess up rice in a rice cooker. But somehow the bottom was burnt while the top was soggy.

As eating out became financially unsustainable and Singaporean ingredients scarce, Lee began teaching herself to cook. This personal quest evolved into a broader mission: making the complex flavors of rempah and sambal understandable and accessible to British home cooks. Seventeen years later, Lee is a recognized figure in London's food scene, with her company's products available in prominent stores and two cookbooks to her name.

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Get out of the kitchen. Go and study. We’ve sacrificed so much to send you to university so you can work in an air-conditioned office, not get your hands dirty.