Elaine Shiang

Continuing our series “Getting to Know Our Neighbors”, we like to introduce you to Elaine Shiang who bought her Esplanade condo in 2018 and, then, moved in January 2021. For almost a year before she moved into the Esplanade, Elaine jokes that her daughter, Margaret, who lives in Cary, NC, ‘incarcerated’ her because of Covid. Once, Margaret ‘freed’ her, she left Cary to come back north!

Elaine was a doctor at MIT for 35 years and always imagined that she’d move back to the Kendall Square area after she and her husband, Frederick, “Fred,” lived and raised their children in Brookline. Fred Li died in 2015 after a lengthy illness. He was a pioneer in the field of cancer genetics and first described a condition be called the Li-Fraumeni syndrome, a genetic condition in those who “are almost sure to develop cancer.” Elaine and her husband helped to found the South Cove Community Center which is still in existence in Boston today. Fred, Elaine says, was a wonderful husband and father, a “real mensch.”

Elaine got her undergraduate degree at Wellesley College “where every good Chinese girl went” and then received her medical degree at Harvard. Her work at MIT included clinical care of patients, clinical research, and teaching. “It was a wonderful career.” Filled with energy, Elaine’s busy and remarkable life continues. She travels— one trip started with a wish to go to the Australian Open in Melbourne and continued with “going around the world two times in 2018 and 2019 after I fully retired. The trips included Bali, the Great Barrier Reef, Singapore, India, France, China, and Tanzania “where I visited health clinics and orphanages in the Rift Valley.” In addition, Elaine has a winter shitake mushroom farm on six acres in Kingston, New Hampshire. Her partner in this venture is the head of the Urban Farming Institute in Mattapan. Elaine also enjoys and teaches Ikebana; she will give an assist in an Ikebana demonstration at the Tower Hill Botanic Garden in mid-October. Additionally, Elaine plays tennis, is a member of a 40-year old book club, and also a dividend club!  

And, yes, there’s more—Elaine recently bought a bright red (see the photo) Winnebago RV in which she now travels the country! Occasionally you will see it parked on the Cambridge Parkway ready and waiting for another of Elaine’s adventures. She and her sister drove cross country this past summer, camping and “dry camping” — not plugging in but self-sustained by Big Red’s 21-gallon water tank, large generator and solar panels. “It was eye-opening, learning about the truck and motor cycle cultures and the beauty of the country.” When I asked what her favorite stop was, without hesitating she answered, “Crazy Horse Memorial” in South Dakota. “I have an affinity for Native American culture—all of whom are descendants of Asians-- so we’re related.” In fact, Elaine has volunteered at the Indian Health Services in Arizona and New Mexico.  The trip out west reminded Elaine of the stories her father would tell of his travels as a chemical engineer studying the oil fields in Wyoming when he, as a Chinese American, was not allowed into restaurants.

Elaine’s parents, originally from China, moved to Winchester in 1954 and “we were the only Chinese family there then.” In 1966, a second Chinese family arrived. Her parents, with other Chinese families, started the Greater Boston Chinese Cultural Association 50 years ago. As Elaine notes, we Chinese were “stuck” in the US— travel in and out of China was forbidden at that time-- so “we had to create a family among themselves.” Elaine is the second oldest of five children; she smiles when she says, “My mother said that she had to create her own family since she couldn’t visit her mother or sister in China.”

Elaine and Fred married in 1972. Fred had been sent to Boston to head the Epidemiology Division of the National Cancer Institute in Boston and they met here. When Fred became ill, the three siblings (Andrew, Margaret, and Irene) moved back to Boston to help with his care. They grew closer and eventually formed the first ideas behind what would become the Mei Mei food truck and, then, restaurant. “Quite by accident, I discovered my sisters were starting a food blog,” Andrew Li said. They almost called the cookbook “Family Styles” after the blog, but ultimately went with “Double Awesome Chinese Food.” https://brookline.wickedlocal.com/news/20190226/family-celebrates-togetherness

The youngest, Irene, wants to transform the restaurant world into an industry in which worker's needs and potential are taken seriously. Irene believes professionalizing and improving restaurant employment has the potential to uplift millions of workers and small business owners. She is a co-founder of Mei Mei, a restaurant-turned-dumpling-company based in Boston, Massachusetts. As a self-taught cook, she's spent the last decade drawing on her Chinese-American heritage and her love of New England ingredients to create unusual and playful food. She is a six-time James Beard Award Rising Star Chef nominee. Inspired by her peers, team members, and experiences in the industry, she now part of Visible Hands’ inaugural cohort. Her work with VH is focused on driving change in restaurants by creating tools and resources to support businesses of all sizes to thrive sustainably and equitably. https://www.ireneshiangli.com/

Andrew, the oldest, has recently opened Flora’s Wine Bar in West Newton which, by the way Elaine says with a grin, is “named after my teetotaler mother!” He also runs a beer truck called the Beer Mobile, serving craft beer on tap. Margaret, after writing Double Awesome Chinese Food, with her brother and sister, has become more involved with reducing food waste. Elaine notes that 40% of garbage is food waste. “That’s like going to the store and then just leaving one of your four bags of groceries by the side of the road every time,” says Margaret Li. Margaret has a blog, “Food Waste Feast” and a book coming out soon with the same name. Watch this to see how Margaret and Irene give tips on reducing food waste. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4FUrYJRUCGA

When I asked Elaine if her children got their cooking skills from her. She smiled and said “I love good food.” When the kids were about nine, “I said now you have to cook one dinner a week--- plan it and cook it and we’ll eat it whatever it is. And we did!  We also had live-in child care who took care of the kids and cooked over the years. They were from France, Spain, Vietnam, and China so the kids had a variety of foods from several countries. They learned how to love good food. That also came from our travels all over the world while they were growing up.”

Elaine loves living in the Esplanade and mentions three things she appreciates the most:

(1) the view; (2) the local environment including the greenery, the River, the walks; (3) the management who are responsive and nice.  The improvements Elaine suggests are: (1) we should be composting (I mentioned the drop-off compost in Cambridge https://www.cambridgema.gov/Services/curbsidecomposting/compostdropoff ) (2) a ListServ would be a great benefit to the residents and is needed; and (3) get togethers in the Tye Room when it opens. 

With her great sense of humor, energy, and broad life experiences, Elaine was a pleasure to interview. When you see her walking or even with Big Red, Say “hi”!  

--Jane Hilburt-Davis