Cooking with Lisa Fernandes

Top Chef viewers have called Lisa Fernandes everything from a virus (“there’s nothing you can do to kill her”) to a monkfish stuffed with durian (“horrible both on the inside and outside”). It’d be easy to pin the armchair fury on ratings-chasing producers, but there’s no denying the Mai House co-chef’s arms-crossed cantankerousness. With New Yorkers hatin’ hard, TONY offered Fernandes a chance to redeem herself: Create a meal that our readers can make at home for less than $20. Having raided Hong Kong Supermarket (8202 45th Ave at 82nd St, Elmhurst, Queens; 718-651-3838), Fernandes impresses us with five courses for $19.41. And though the “she-beast” slips out once—when a shipment of chef coats arrives at Mai House and hers is too small, she stomps her clogs and growls, “Those stupid fucking motherfuckers”—the cheftestant everyone loves to hate turns out to be pretty darn likable.

Get recipes for all five dishes and watch Lisa whip up some dumplings.