Cooking for the Premier and the PM

Premier Li Keqiang and his wife, Cheng Hong, enjoy a cup of tea with Prime Minister David Cameron and his wife, Samantha, at 10 Downing Street on June 17. Later they had a meal cooked by the twin sisters. Huang Jingwen / Xinhua

 

Preparing food for Chinese Premier Li Keqiang's visit to British Prime Minister David Cameron has made stars of British twins of Chinese ancestry

The lunch served to Premier Li Keqiang and British Prime Minister David Cameron at 10 Downing Street shone a spotlight on British twins of Chinese ethnicity and their restaurant in Britain.

Lisa and Helen Tse, owners of Chinese restaurant Sweet Mandarin in Manchester, prepared the lunch for Li's visit to Cameron at his official residence in London on June 17.

"When I first saw Premier Li, I was so nervous as the whole experience was so surreal," Lisa Tse says of the event. Li was very friendly and spoke to them in English, she says.

"He was proud of us and said we were a great example of a Chinese success story and congratulated us on our excellent cooking and sauces. He hoped that we could open restaurants in China so that the Chinese people could also try our unique cuisine."

Cooking lunch for Li and Cameron was a great honor, Lisa Tse says, and adds that it was one of the proudest moments in her career. "They both really enjoyed the food and their plates came back empty, which is always a good sign."

Lisa Tse was part of a delegation that had accompanied Cameron on his visit to China in November.

"When Cameron went to China, Premier Li treated him to a sumptuous Chinese banquet," Lisa Tse says, adding that the British prime minister wanted to return the favor by giving Li "the best of Britain". That was how the twins were invited to cook for the Chinese premier.

During trial runs, the Tse twins gave Cameron three main courses and three desserts to choose from. He chose Mabel's clay pot chicken, a homemade side condiment of sriracha hot chili sauce and chili oil, five-treasures egg fried rice and mango pudding soaked in chrysanthemum tea.

"He said he wanted something unique for Premier Li," Lisa Tse says.