About the Host
Irene Li operates Mei Mei Street Kitchen and Mei Mei Restaurant in Boston, and works to drive the industry forward in ethical sourcing and fair employment practices. A Boston native and Cornell University graduate, Irene has worked on farms, taught in prisons and watched hours of YouTube videos on food and cooking. Since 2012, Mei Mei has been featured by Food & Wine, Eater Boston & National, The New York Times, Bon Appetit and more. She is an Eater Young Gun, Zagat 30 Under 30 and Forbes 30 Under 30 winner and six-time James Beard Foundation Rising Star Chef semi-finalist. Since the COVID-19 pandemic halted normal restaurant operations, Irene has pivoted Mei Mei to serve hot meals to hospital workers, to sell wholesale groceries to unemployed cooks and servers, and to raise funds to deliver culturally appropriate groceries to immigrant families in Boston's hardest hit neighborhoods - since May, this project has delivered over 90,000 meals' worth of groceries.
About the Event
Chef Li welcomed us into her home kitchen (via livestream), and taught us how to cook a multi-course Chinese-American meal showcasing a few of her favorite signature dishes (see full menu below). And, as is always the case at our events, she took plenty of questions from attendees while she cooked and participated in an extended Q&A to close out the night!
Appetizer: Scallion Pancakes
Entrée: Cashew Chicken with Red Peppers
- What does my ticket get me?
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In addition to getting unlimited viewing access to the recording of the livestream event, where Chef Li demonstrated how to cook both dishes and answered plenty of questions from attendees, you will receive access to the companion Recipe Book, which includes a complete grocery list and step-by-step cooking instructions/kitchen equipment/ingredients needed to make each dish.
- How long does this event take?
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This event runs for 1hr 32min from start to finish – 1hr 23min of cooking and 9min of additional Q&A at the end.
- What will the yield be?
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2 servings of each dish.
- What kitchen equipment, appliances, and utensils will be used?
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- Large frying pan
- Baking sheet or oven-safe plate
- Large mixing bowl
- Medium mixing bowl
- Small bowls for ingredients
- Sharp knife & cutting board
- Rolling pin
- Measuring cups & spoons
- Mixing spoon
- Spatula
- Plastic wrap
- Pastry brush (optional)
- What ingredients will be needed?
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In addition to the following kitchen staples – all purpose flour, canola oil, cornstarch, granulated sugar, kosher salt, and soy sauce – Chef Li recommends acquiring the following ingredients listed below:
- Boneless skinless chicken breasts or thighs
- Cashews
- Chicken stock
- Chili oil or hot sauce
- Chinkiang black vinegar (or substitute rice wine vinegar or balsamic vinegar)
- Garlic
- Ginger
- Oyster sauce (or substitute hoisin sauce)
- Red bell peppers
- Scallions
- Sesame oil
- Shaoxing wine (or substitute mirin, dry sherry, or sake)
- White pepper (or substitute black pepper)
*Please note, immediately after purchasing your ticket, you’ll receive access to the Recipe Book, which outlines exact quantities of each ingredient from the list above that will be needed to cook each dish.
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