In the Kitchen with Dora Cheng of Yee Mama
Findlay Kitchen on Elm St. is alive with energy and smells. At its core, Findlay Kitchen is a co-working space for those whose business is really good food. In the early hours of the morning, sounds of timers beeping and phones answered with a “Yes, chef?” echo through the halls lined with kitchens – offices for food making. Assistants cart bread through the halls, and cookies bake in an oven nearby as I talked with Dora Cheng.
Dora is a recognizable face at Findlay Kitchen. Her business, Yee Mama, is quickly expanding to grocery stores and food markets around Ohio. Handmade inside the walls of Findlay Kitchen by Dora and her team, Yee Mama was a response to Dora’s want for Cincinnati to have the traditional wontons she grew up with. Born and raised in Hong Kong, Dora grew up with Cantonese flavors, so cooking with these traditional foods carries memories of her childhood. At Yee Mama’s center is the comfort of cooking at home for yourself or loved ones. By cooking your own meal with Yee Mama’s fresh wontons at home, Dora’s childhood is carried on, and new food memories are created.
Interview by Olivia Taylor. Photography by Angie Lipscomb.
Can you tell us about Yee Mama and why you started it?
I started the business in August 2020 – we launched during the pandemic, but I had this idea for two years prior. I always liked to cook, and I was looking for wontons and couldn’t find them anywhere; I couldn’t find a traditional or delicious representation. So I started making them myself, and I slowly worked on the recipe. I saw this open space in the market, and I thought people would love homemade-style wontons, so that’s how I started.
What kind of wontons does Yee Mama make?
People often confuse dumplings and wontons – think of dumpling as a category. There are so many different types of dumpling. Dim sum is a type of dumpling that is steamed or fried. In Hong Kong, the iconic type of dumpling is wonton. It’s different from what we’re used to because the wrapper is really silky and delicate. The traditional flavor is shrimp and pork. Our recipe is pretty close to what you get in Hong Kong, but we have other flavors that we develop, and we draw inspiration from traditional dishes or ingredients.
What are some of your favorite recipes that you like to make with Yee Mama's wontons?
We tell our customers they can use any store-bought ramen, and it would be delicious! If you want to be fancy, you can make your own broth. We also sell our veggie broth, which we make because we have leftover veggies. I will add a vegetable side – I like to grill it, but you don’t use a grill; you can use a cast iron pan and then put it on high heat so that it’s charred.
You mentioned in other interviews that food carries nostalgia. Can you talk more about what you mean by that?
When people think about home-cooked food, they think about what their parents, or mom, or grandma made. My mom was a working mom, so she didn’t spend time cooking for us. My aunt prepared it for all of us – always an easy but delicious meal – rustic, nothing fancy. It’s a memory – it’s not just about a flavor – it’s about the memory of watching her.
Everyone has a different interpretation, but people always like to use the word “authentic.” To me, that doesn’t really mean anything. If you didn’t grow up with the culture, what does authenticity mean? We use the word “traditional” because we have to pay respect to the culture and the original recipes. When it comes to nostalgia, it’s more like a memory for me.
What do you want people to gain from cooking with Yee Mama’s wontons at home?
We have customers who grew up in Hong Kong or Chinese households, and for people who come from my culture, it’s like, “Oh my gosh, this tastes like home.” It always makes me happy when people tell me that because that’s my goal. We also want to reach a wider audience. For a lot of people, dumplings are an appetizer in restaurants, but in my culture, we eat them as a meal. Now our customers will also eat them as a meal, and it’s quick and easy to cook with. We use good ingredients so people can make something new that’s delicious and different from what they’re used to.
Can you tell me about the Cincinnati food community?
This is my fifth year in Cincinnati. People complain that they can’t find a lot of international food here, but if you actually go look for it, you will find it. It’s a really great city to start a food business. I have heard people say it’s a good startup city because, in the food market, there’s so much wide space. In terms of international food, there are so many opportunities there.
Of course, there’s the challenge of people putting all international food in one ethnic category. When people say wonton, they think about those wonton nachos or an appetizer – an American version of a traditional wonton. So we have to do a lot of education – we have to talk to people. Overall, it’s a really welcoming city for people who want to start a business. I didn’t know anyone when I first came, but through doing pop-ups, we established relationships with other small businesses – it’s really diverse.
Has anything surprised you since starting your business?
The demand surprised me in the beginning because we launched during the pandemic. I didn’t know whether or not people wanted to take my frozen dumplings home and cook them themselves, so the idea was to do pop-ups in bars. So we actually cook the food and introduce it to people. We had already scheduled the first half of the pop-ups when the pandemic started, so we had to launch my original business idea: sell the products frozen. I did not expect there to be such a huge demand. We were selling out within five minutes.
I learned after the hype that you always have to think 10 steps ahead. In the beginning, I was in survival mode because I was just making the product, and I didn’t have time to think about what I needed to do next, but at the same time, the idea came up, “Oh, I actually want to start a business, this is more of a passion project.” Now I’m more strategic, and I have the team, so I have the mental space to think about where I want to be.
Who is an influential woman in your life?
I have two – my mom and my aunt. The business name comes from “yee ma,” which means “aunt” in Cantonese. I call my aunt “yee mama” because she’s like a mom to me. My aunt and mom instilled values in me; they are very different women. My mom is career-driven, hard-working, and has a very strong work ethic. She was ahead of her time – all my friends had stay-at-home moms. My aunt was able to spend time with me and give me that motherly love. So it’s just two very different versions, but they are both important in helping me develop as a person.
It’s important for us to recognize when a woman chooses her life. We always think the career-driven woman is the modern woman everyone should aspire to be, but everyone has their own path and wants different things. It’s a different kind of power when women have the freedom to make their life choices.
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