ZHANG
Qian Zhang came to America in April 2015.
She grew up in a small city in the Sichuan
(Szechuan) province of China. Spicy food
plays a big role in her hometown, and it
plays a big role in Zhang's food truck, e
Dumpling Lady. Aer moving to Charlotte,
Zhang began making dishes she enjoyed
in her youth to ease her feelings of being
homesick. In February 2016, she started
selling her dumplings at local farmer's
markets. Customers loved her dumplings, but
they were concerned about cooking them at
home and whether or not they could do it.
"We didn't want to disappoint people, so we
decided to have a food truck in an effort to
control the final products and give them what
they wanted," says Zhang. With meat locally
sourced from North Carolina farms, some of
the best ingredients come all the way from
China. "I use this peppercorn that is shipped
from my hometown. People either love it or
hate it. And luckily, people in Charlotte have
been loving the peppercorn," she notes.
QIAN ZHANG
THE DUMPLING DY
48 WINTER 2016