Mei is a cookbook author, former restaurant owner, and mother of two who loves playing around in the kitchen. Her book Double Awesome Chinese Food is about the Boston food truck and restaurant she started with her siblings and includes dishes from sweet potato dumplings to scallion pancake sandwiches. She lives in North Carolina where she is currently working on a book about cooking with the food you have, in order to cook more creatively and fight food waste.
She also opened Mei Mei in Boston in 2012 with her siblings. Check out the virtual dumpling classes that the Mei Mei team is offering right now! Use the code SLOWFOOD for 20% off Mei’s cookbook and the whole Roost Books shop, thanks to @roostbooks.
Mei and her sister, Irene, offer up some amazing tips on how to not throw out perfectly good food at FoodWasteFeast.com, and Mei is currently working on “a #foodwaste cookbook on how to cook creatively with what you have, for now, and for always.” Learn and follow the Food Waste Feast journey at @foodwastefeast.
Recipes by Margaret (Mei) Li
Ingredients for Three Sisters Dumplings:
- all-purpose flour
- water
- salt
- sweet potatoes
- frozen corn
- canned beans
- olive oil or butter
“Here’s my favorite dipping sauce – mix of 1/2 cup of soy sauce or tamari (I personally like low-sodium Kikkoman soy in the green bottle) and 1/3 cup of black vinegar (available online and often labeled Chinkiang or Zhenjiang vinegar, but you can substitute rice vinegar if you don’t have any). For flavoring, I usually toss in 2 thinly sliced scallions and a smashed clove of garlic and then stir in a teaspoon each of chili sauce (any kind you like) and toasted sesame oil. Stir together in a bowl, adjust as desired, and store in the fridge in a sealed container for a week or two. Another favorite dipping sauce – a few spoonfuls of this soy-vinegar mixture or a big squeeze/spoonful of chili sauce mixed into mayonnaise. Sounds weird I know, but give it a try and I don’t think you’ll regret it!”
