By Anna Lng | Sampan
Since food trucks rolled into Boston within the last few years, one of my favorites is Mei Mei Street Kitchen. Mei Mei, or Mandarin for little sister, is how older brother Andy Li refers to his sisters Margaret (who does go by Mei) and Irene. It is also how these three siblings decided to make their dream come to life in 2011. Andy’s restaurant management experience, Irene’s master’s in business administration and business savvy, and Margaret’s line cooking and farming experience all came together to create Mei Mei Food Truck.
They are the first Boston food truck to use local, humanely slaughtered and all natural, pasture-fed meat. In addition, they concentrate on using locally grown and sustainable food, as well as using mainly compostable disposable serving material Vegware and composting all their food scraps. They believe in supporting local producers and farmers, while reducing their carbon print and providing quality food. The business supports local food-related charities and organizations.
Check their Twitter/Tumbr for daily menu specials that change with the seasons and schedule. I made a point to grab dinner with my sister. We got the seasonal Fiddlehead Fern Tempura — furled fronds of young fern are rich in iron, fiber, omega-3 and omega-6 — for $2 a stick, served with miso mayo. It was cooked just right and it was a tasty way to eat your greens.
We also got the Barley Salad ($4.50) with barley in a surprisingly light miso-honey dressing, cranberries and spiced peanut brittle, topped with plenty of scallions and cilantro. Barley is a high-fiber and high-protein grain, which was delicious and the dressing worked well with the other elements.
Mei Mei’s congee ($6.50) is heartier than what my mom makes. It features braised beef and bits of fried cruller, topped lovingly with an awesome slow-poached egg, pickles, ginger and scallion oil over the creamy — not watery — rice porridge.
The Smoked Cheddar Fritters ($4) was a combination of cheddar cheese, cornmeal and scallions for four generously portioned fritters.
The accompanying Sriracha sauce gave it the necessary kick, as the fritter was dense with cornmeal, hints of scallion and cheddar cheese. I felt they were a bit over-fried, which detracted from these otherwise lovely fritters.
Instead of opting for their popular Double Awesome, I got the Fat Schnatz v2, affectionately named after their grill cook ($9). It’s not your conventional sandwich, with scallion pancakes containing house-made roast beef and potato salad, drizzled with apple hoisin sauce. The potato salad was light without too much mayo, the roast beef was delicious, and the scallion pancakes were crispy but chewy. I couldn’t really make out the apple hoisin in this messy but enjoyable sandwich.
Mei Mei’s team is currently working on a brick-and-mortar location in Brookline, which is slated for completion later this year. It started a Kickstarter campaign to be a green-certified establishment.
Aside from great food, I keep coming back for the great energy, service and enthusiastic smiles!
Mei Mei Street Kitchen
https://twitter.com/meimeifoodtruck
http://sampan.org/2013/06/a-food-aficionado-mei-mei-street-kitchen/
