Bowen Li

 

“

You guys have to vote, Red Team!

”

Hometown	Tianjin, China (Season 9) West Lafayette, IN (Season 12)
Age	24 (Season 9) 29 (Season 12)
Occupation	Pilot (Season 9) Restaurateur (Season 12)
Statistics
Mystery Box(es) Won	2 (Season 9) 0 (Season 12)
Skills Test(s) Won	1 (Season 9)
Elimination Test(s) Won	0 (Season 9) 0 (Season 12)
Team Challenge(s) Won	4 (Season 9) 2 (Season 12)
Pressure Test(s) Survived	2 (Season 9)
Top Entries	2 (Season 9) 2 (Season 12)
Bottom Entries	4 (Season 9) 2 (Season 12)
Placement	5th (Season 9) 9th (Season 12)
Episode Eliminated	Battle of the Beef (Season 9) Winners Mystery Box - Gerron Hurt (Season 12)

Bowen Li was a contestant on Seasons 9 and 12 of MasterChef. On Season 9, he was mentored by Gordon Ramsay and ranked in 5th place, and on Season 12, he ranked in 9th place.

Personality

Bowen had a considerate, determined, and light personality. In the kitchen, he started out as one of the strongest cooks in the first half of the competition, but slowly entered into a downward in the second half. While he showed an exceptional amount of raw talent individually, he tended to get reclusive regarding communication, as he didn't feel comfortable working with others and was usually pushed around by everybody. During his downward spiral, he struggled with adapting to other cooking techniques, most prominently sticking to his Chinese cooking techniques to contradict the judges' advice. Despite being very passionate, kind, and getting along with most of the other cooks, he later on had a short temper, often attributing to being timid, flustered, and explosive when it came to team challenges by yelling at his teammates for little to no reason whenever things go out of control. He had a rivalry with Cesar and did not like his overbearing personality and disliked Mark due to the latter's know-it-all attitude. However, he made a strong friendship with Shanika, and was the only contestant in the season to ever get along with her and know her personality.

Competition History

Week 4	In/Immune
Week 5	High/Immune
Week 6	Win
Week 7	High/Low
Week 8	In
Week 9	Win/Immune
Week 10	In/Immune
Week 11	Pressure Test
Week 12	In/In
Week 13	In/In
Week 14	Win
Week 15	In/Win
Week 16	Low
Week 17	In/In
Week 18	Win
Week 19	Win/In
Week 20	Low/Low/Eliminated

Season 12

Episode 1

He did not audition in this episode.

Episode 2

Bowen, along with Stephen, Brien, and Newton were the sixth group to battle to return in MasterChef, he was the third contestant of the group to have their dish judged, He served his Filet Mignon Pot Stickers with a Thai Chile Finger Lime Vinegar Sauce.

The judges start to taste his dish, Gordon says the pot stickers are delicious and really good, Aaron says that the sauce is action-packed and really beautiful a salt of flavor in good way, Gordon gives Stephen and Bowen their aprons and are now reinstated.

Episode 3

Bowen was seen cheering for the final groups.

Episode 4

After the judges showed the contestants a video memory lane for their elimination in their seasons, The judges tell the contestants they have to recreate the dish that sent them home, they all have 60 minutes to recreate their dish.

Bowen had to recreate his Filet Mignon that sent him home in the Season 9 quarterfinals, he was not called up in the Top or Bottom 3.

Competition History

Week 4	In
Week 5	In
Week 6	Lose
Week 7	High
Week 8	Low
Week 9	In
Week 10	Win
Week 11	In
Week 12	Win
Week 13	Immune
Week 14	High
Week 15	Eliminated

Post MasterChef

• After his first appearance, Bowen taught private cookery classes. He later became the Head Chef at Bowen Bistro in November 2019. In December 2019, he opened the restaurant Bowen Bistro, owned by his husband, David Li.
• After his second appearance, Bowen returned to his restaurant, which closed in 2023.

Trivia

• He is the first contestant to reside outside of the U.S. at the time of filming.

Season 9

• With 6 challenge wins, Bowen holds the record for highest win count of any 5th place quarterfinalist in the American series.
• He is one of the only contestants ever to win an Individual Challenge without having their dish for said challenge shown, being him having the second-best crab in the Crab Skills Test according to Aarón.
• Originally born and raised in Tianjin, China, he is the first foreign-born Chinese contestant to participate in the American competition.
• In 2007 at age 13, Bowen immigrated to the U.S., arriving in New York. He attended Western Michigan Christian High School in Muskegon, Michigan in the U.S. and college at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana from Aug 22, 2012 to May 10, 2016, studying aviation and Professional Flight.
• Following Farhan, he was the second eliminated contestant in his season to open a restaurant after competing on the show.

Season 12

• Bowen is the only contestant in Back to Win whose hometown is not in the United States.
• He picked the tiramisu trifle to recreate in the Top 15 dessert baking challenge.
• Although Bowen placed ninth in "Back To Win", he made it very far in the all-stars competition by reaching the Top 9 individual mystery box elimination challenge based on his improvement in skills. Gordon told him that he has a bright, exciting future.
• He the only one to this date who won the tag team challenge and was eliminated because of a savory protein dish both times in two different seasons.
• He is the fifth contestant who received lesser bottom entries during their second run on the show, Following Samantha, Shayne, Bri and Gabriel (All from Season 12).
• Despite making it very far in the competition and being eliminated only three episodes (The Wall, Restaurant Takeover & semifinals) before the finale, Bowen (like Gabriel) was absent from the Back to Win Finale.

Quotes

Season 9

• "My father...he is [essentially] a Chinese version of Gordon Ramsay [because] he's always [angrily] yelling [whenever he's cooking] in the kitchen."
• "I GOT AN APRON FROM GORDON!!!"
• (After choosing Shanika as his partner) "I want to work with Shanika because she has lots of knowledge about food and she always tells the truth, she's not sugar coating. I think that most of the people, they don't like it.
• (About Mark) "Mark. He think he know everything. He done learning. And then you know your parents have a diner...doesn't mean you know everything. This is wrong."
• (To Cesar) "I don't like you."
• "Sorry, I'm not your friend."
• Cesar: "I hate you Bowen." Bowen: "I love you Cesar."
• "I hate to say goodbye, but I have to say goodbye."
• (After being eliminated) "I'm feeling not so well, but I'm definitely proud of myself and I feel like I made Gordon proud. MasterChef teach me how to build up my confidence, to be more knowledgeable, and to become a more better Bowen. I'm born to be a chef, so Bowen is a big star in the future."

Season 12

• (After being eliminated) "I’m proud of myself, because I’m taking risks. In the competition, I’ve been up, I’ve been down, it’s just like rollercoaster. I think MasterChef gave me the explosion to set me up for success. So, I will go back to home, be humble, be loved."

Gallery

Season 9

Bowen's Confessional

Bowen's Audition Dish

Bowen receiving his Apron from Gordon Ramsay

Bowen in the Red Team

Bowen in the Blue Team

Bowen in a Black Apron

Bowen's Walnut Mystery Box Dish

Bowen, Samantha, and Cesar in the Walnut Mystery Box Top 3

Bowen's Churros

Shanika, Bowen, Alecia, and Samantha in the Churros Bottom 4

Bowen's Cajun Seafood Mystery Box Dish

Bowen, Cesar, Samantha, Ralph, Mark, and Ryan in the Cajun Seafood Mystery Box Top 6

Bowen and Shanika's Five Ingredient Dish

Bowen's Pressure Test Cupcakes

Bowen's Skills Test Halibut

Bowen and Cesar's Tag-Team Mediterranean Platter

Bowen's Pressure Test Pappardelle

Bowen's Pressure Test Mezzalune

Bowen's Pressure Test Garganelli

Shanika and Bowen in the Pasta Pressure Test Bottom 2

Bowen's Whole Ingredients Dish

Bowen with his Husband

Bowen's Loved Ones Mystery Box Dish

Bowen's Heart Dish

Bowen's Pressure Skills Test Beef Kebabs

Bowen's Pressure Skills Test Meatballs

Bowen and Samantha in the Beef Pressure Skills Test Bottom 2

Bowen's Pressure Skills Test Filet Mignon

Bowen Eliminated

Season 12

Bowen's Confessional

Bowen's Audition Dish

Bowen Reinstated

Bowen in the Red Team

Bowen in the Green Team

Bowen’s Vegan Dish

Derrick, Amanda, and Bowen in the Vegan Top 3

Bowen's Failed Fusion Dish

Bowen, Shayne, and Bri in the Fusion Bottom 3

Bowen and Shanika's Tag-Team Trio Plater

Michael, Derrick, Shanika, and Bowen in the Tag-Team Trio Plater Top 4

Bowen’s Gas Station Dish

Bowen, Christian, and Shanika in the Gas Station Top 3

Bowen's Gerron Mystery Box Dish

Bowen and Derrick in the Gerron Mystery Box Bottom 2

Bowen Eliminated (2nd Time)

External links

• Bowen Li on Twitter
• Bowen Li on Instagram