Quick Bites: The Ora King Race To New Zealand Finalist Mia Li

Ora King is a sustainably raised salmon from New Zealand, whose story is almost as delicious as the fish itself. Back in early 1900, two avid fishermen somehow managed to bring live King salmon home to New Zealand from a fishing trip to California.

The salmon thrived there and the rest is Ora King history.

Ora King is only available to the restaurant trade, where it’s developed a cult following with top chefs like Thomas Keller and Emeril Lagasse, because of it’s pristine quality and flavor.

Host, Poppy Tooker served as the judge for this year’s Ora King competition travelling to Austin, Texas; Brooklyn, New York and Los Angeles, California to taste the Ora King creations of the three top finalists, Mia Li of Lenoir, Yael Peet of Karasu and Jonathan Granada of Otium. 

On this podcast, we travel to Austin, Texas to meet finalist number one – Mia Li.  A first generation American born to Asian immigrants, Mia is the chef de cuisine at Lenoir, a tiny restaurant housed in a charming cottage nestled under ancient oak trees in the trendy Bouldin Creek neighborhood of Austin. Mia discusses how she became a chef, and how her life inspired her to create the dish she called “Strips of Earth.”

To learn more about Ora King salmon, visit their website orakingsalmon.co.nz.