ROUSES_Summer2024_Magazine Pages Web

Photo provided by Andrew Lu of Get Your Mom & Dim Sum.

Carling Lee Gannon and her mom, Shirley Lee, the duo behind Miss Shirley’s on Magazine Street in New Orleans. Photo by Jeffrey Johnson.

Photo provided by Chef Anh Luu of XanhNOLA.

in Chinese marinades. The FDA banned red yeast rice in the U.S. due to its statin drug-like effects on humans. “Honestly, a lot of places just use red food coloring,” Lu said. He achieves the same effect by using goji berries in his marinade. Sometimes to add a depth of flavor, he reduces a Big Shot “red drink” soda as part of the marinade. “I also incorporate the traditional flavors of honey, Chinese five-spice and white pepper,” Lu said. “MISS SHIRLEY” LEE Carling Lee describes her family’s char sui as “sweet, salty and meaty.” But for more than 40 years it was called BBQ pork on the menu at her parent’s Royal China Restaurant. “It was easier for people to understand,” she explained. “Our process has always taken

Lee’s parents, Tang and Shirley Lee, sold Royal China in 2021. Although she’s a practicing real estate attorney, Carling Lee admits she missed the restaurant so much, she encouraged her mother to come out of retirement, and Miss Shirley’s Chinese Restaurant opened on Magazine Street in uptown New Orleans in 2022. Although the big smokers were left behind in Metairie, nothing has changed with Miss Shirley’s flawless BBQ pork and BBQ ribs. “I love char sui so much,” her daughter confessed, “I even eat it scrambled with eggs in the morning for breakfast!”

three days. We marinate our pork loins for 24 hours with ginger, garlic, soy sauce, sugar, honey and peppers. We had great, big smokers there,” she remembers. “The red color of our barbecue comes from 24 hours in the marinade before two full days in the smoker. We’d string many pork loins together on big, metal hooks. They always reminded me of Chinese firecrackers,” she laughed. “That red color is so important to Chinese people. It symbolizes good luck, abundance and prosperity.” That BBQ pork caused a sensation in Royal China’s Metairie neighborhood. “We’ve always been known for our consis tency.” Lee said. “We chopped off the ends for uniformity and people were crazy for them. When they smelled the smokers, our regular customers would know to get in line to buy those lightly charred pork tips.”

26 ROUSES SUMMER 2024