How did the year 2020 and COVID-19 change things for you, personally and professionally?įor Fly By Jing, the pandemic really amplified our business as more people were cooking from home and looking for new ways to add flavor to their favorite dishes (a strange positive in a year full of negatives). Take up space! Don’t change who you are or try to minimize where you come from for the sake of “blending in.” What would you tell your past self from 10 years ago if you could speak to her now? And this is why Fly By Jing is so personal - it’s not just a company, it’s totally entwined with my story. Reclaiming my name was a natural step in this journey of stepping into my own power. And a couple of years into Fly By Jing, I made the decision to step forward more as the voice and face of the brand - because it is my own highly personal expression of Sichuan cuisine, and no one else’s. And as I started to get more vocal about the flavors that make this food so special, I started to get more vocal about my own heritage as well. I changed my name to Jenny when I was growing up in Europe, because the kids there couldn’t pronounce “Jing.” As I started to dive deeper into the food of Chengdu and my heritage, I realized that I’d been making myself smaller my whole life to try to fit into Western society. What led you to that decision and what does the name change mean to you? Tell us more about the decision to change your name back to your given name, Jing. Food became a universal language for me to relate to people, including my family. When I got to China, it was such a revelation: I was both similar to, and very different from, the people there. I visited family in Chengdu often when I was growing up, and when I was old enough to travel on my own, I felt the pull to explore where I came from. What sparked your desire to go back to Chengdu? Can you talk about what inspired you to engage more deeply with your heritage? Get Ready to Travel to Central China From the Comfort of Home → And then, I felt really compelled to share everything I discovered, and still do as I keep learning. So food played a dual role in my rediscovery of my personal roots, as well as the roots of Sichuan cuisine. Food also became a way to connect with my family in Chengdu, who I didn’t know very well until I returned. Returning to Chengdu as a young adult and experiencing how complex and nuanced the flavors of Sichuan cuisine are - and realizing how little the Western world knows about it! - made me want to really dive in to this 5,000 year-old tradition and learn all that I could. I was born in Chengdu, but spent much of my young life moving every year. I’m not the first person to make chili crisp, but the recipe is 100% my expression of the sauce, and Fly By Jing’s version is the first all-natural chili crisp made in China and I think that’s a pretty big deal.īacking up a little bit, what would you say was the turning point for you, in discovering what you wanted to do with your career? I realized I wanted to make it as a retail food product because it became a conversation starter with diners, and I saw an opportunity to produce it in my hometown of Chengdu. What’s now the Sichuan Chili Crisp sauce was a recipe I developed as a base for many of the dishes I’d cook. It started as an underground dinner series, where I’d cook all over the world and introduce diners to the layers of flavor in Sichuan cuisine. “ I’m not the first person to make chili crisp, but the recipe is 100% my expression of the sauce.”Ĭould you briefly share what led you to creating Fly By Jing? What did you feel like was missing in the space, and what did you want to accomplish?į ly By Jing has gone through a few iterations.
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