Mary Li Sia (August 3, 1899 – November 18, 1971) was a Chinese-American teacher and cookbook author, called "the Julia Child of Hawai'i"[1] for her long and visible career teaching and writing about Chinese food.

[8][9][10] She led her classes on trips through factories, restaurants, and markets, to understand the larger context of her recipes and techniques.

[12][13] "I have spent a lifetime in opening new culinary worlds to thousands of people, both in the East and the West," she explained in the preface to her cookbook.

[8] Mary Li married physician Richard Ho Ping Sia in 1924.

[15] Her former teaching kitchen at the YWCA in Oahu became the Patsy T. Mink Center for Business and Leadership in recent years.