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With her Soupbelly Chinese pop-up concept, Candy Hom has never exactly stayed in the lane of traditional Chinese cooking nor has she found herself limited by the boundaries of the pop-up concept with her frequent frozen dumpling drops.
The Chinese new year’s dinner at @smoqn_hot_grill at @thecollectiveatcoda on Jan. 22 is a perfect example with its eschewing of the traditional Chinese banquet style in favor of a 7-course prix fixe meal while still giving diners all the flavors of a new year’s dinner.
I caught up with Candy recently to learn more about her Soupbelly concept, the upcoming dinner and plans for the future.
How long have you been popping up in and around Atlanta? What inspired you to start?
I started popping up in Atlanta in 2019 upon encouragement of friends and fellow pop-up vendors. After volunteering for Kamayan ATL a few times, I eventually decided to try my hand in the pop-up world. I was inspired when I surrounded myself with others who radiated that energy and ambition, which gave me the confidence to start.
How would you describe your style/approach to Chinese food? How does your approach represent who you are as a chef?
My food is a blend of my culture and lived experiences. I am first gen Chinese American, and my parents are Chinese immigrants. We blended our cantonese food with American food for years. Not for the sake of being creative, but more out of necessity with what was available to us. We celebrated Thanksgiving with a roast turkey and sticky rice on the side. Fourth of July with spring rolls and cheeseburgers. When we barbecued, we used our own Chinese marinades. The dishes represent both of these worlds, I wouldn’t call it Americanized (like Chinese takeout), nor traditional. I do offer many traditional dumplings at my pop-ups, but I also love to get creative and throw in specialty dumplings such as bacon cheeseburger dumplings, or buffalo chicken dumplings (I went to college close to Buffalo so this is basically part of my culture too).
What inspired you to do the CNY dinner on the 22nd?
I’ve always wanted to do a Chinese New Year pop-up feast since I started my pop-ups years ago. Because of difficulty finding a venue who could host such an event, I wasn’t able to throw one until now. I used to post photos of my CNY spreads I would cook for my family for years, and customers/followers would ask if I could offer it one day.
Can you share some highlights of some of the dishes? What are you most excited for folks to try?
I’m excited to share my har gow since I normally don’t offer these at pop-ups. They are a bit more finicky than regular dumplings, and better suited for a kitchen rather than under a tent at a standard pop-up. I also can’t wait to share my naw mai fan because I asked my mom to use her lap yuk (cured pork belly) for the dish. I have encouraged her to cook at pop-ups with me (and offer some of her specialties) but she was never able to do it. So this will be the first time I use an ingredient from her. Lastly, I am excited for everyone to try my walnut shrimp. We’ve made this recipe for years and I am proud of it.
Anything you can share with us about the near (and far) future activities of Soupbelly?
I am starting to take on more catering gigs and slowing down to one pop-up a month. I will still be offering frozen dumpling preorders during these monthly pop-ups but am excited to branch out and do some different things like the Chinese New Year dinner with Soupbelly.
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