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fried-chicken-bao-with-4-garlic-mayo

I recently hit ONE MILLION followers on Instagram. I never expected this when I first started making cooking videos. I’ve never quite told you the story of my crazy cooking journey, so let me take you back. To my roots. I come from a Persian-Jewish family, which growing up meant sharing abundant, delicious meals with friends and family. Food is in my DNA . My parents raised 5 shekamoo kids–farsi for someone who loves to eat. They’re both AMAZING cooks, but it’s my dad who I really got the passion from. His love for food spread to my 4 siblings and I. But especially to me, the youngest. At 5, I had already mastered my mom’s signature scrambled eggs with saffron and turmeric. By middle school, I was making full blown meals for my family, and in high school I was recreating dishes from the chefs my dad and I would watch on tv. I studied computer science in college, and going into my senior year I was rejected from every single software engineering internship I applied to. This stung, but proved to be the greatest thing that ever happened to me. I got the wild idea to create a summer business out of my home where I’d sell meal kids and creative sauces that sold by the hundreds. These fried chicken bao were the first item I sold. What took them over the top was the 4-garlic mayo: garlic confit, its oil, raw garlic, and black garlic. Everything, I made was completely from scratch. 9 hours a day standing on my feet cooking, packing everything and delivered it to each customer. I basically put myself through culinary school. That summer, something shifted–my hobby blossomed into a passion, and I was ready to share my love for cooking in the world. Inspired by all the food content I’ve been binging, I began making cooking videos. Fast forward to college graduation, and my passion had become a career. That little shekoamoo kid grew up, and now I get to share my love for food with millions. And that still blows my mind.

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