6 minute read
What’s On Our Counter
Chop Chop
Advertisement
by EMILY TREADWAY
Eugene Lin and Steve Har, founders of the Austin-based company Chop Chop, want to redesign America’s instant ramen experience. “Having both grown up in traditional Asian immigrant households, our childhoods revolved around instant noodles,” Lin says. But these were not the bland, dry, packaged noodles sold in supermarkets: Lin and Har want to introduce people to the true flavors inspired by the street food of Asia. “Our flavors are bold and uncensored, our ingredients wholesome and clean, and our noodle bowls as convenient to make as they were when we were kids,” Lin says.
Chop Chop produces homemade, fresh-frozen noodle soup bowls that are sold in the freezer sections of select local independent grocers and national market chains in Austin. For the noodle fanatic, Chop Chop’s Club Mian delivers noodle bowls directly to customers’ doors. Members get to mix and match noodle cups and have their orders delivered at the beginning of every month. Chop Chop also delivers individual orders for nonclub members, too. Chop Chop is Lin and Har’s third venture together, and it is their most personal one. “It’s a labor of love,” Lin states. The friends first met at an innovation and design company where both worked to help corporations and startups create new, healthier and more sustainable food brands. Then they worked together with a specialty coffee chain in Shanghai, and after spending more than a decade in Asia, they returned to an America where Asian products at grocery stores were often the cheap commodity choice. These choices represented “neither the Asian experience nor our Asian American experience,” Lin notes.
In response, Lin and Har decided to make their own healthy, plantbased street noodles with no artificial flavors or additives, while still providing the expected convenience of instant noodle bowls. “No need to watch over a stovetop for hours on end,” Har says.
photo by SARA RYAN
Compared to the conventional flavors of supermarket ramen, Chop Chop offers Tom Yum, Kimchi Udon, Tokyo Curry and Penang Curry. Lin and Har call Chop Chop’s kitchen the “funk lab” because they’re not afraid to come up with tastes that may be unfamiliar to the average American. According to Har, there’s soul, harmony and a ton of umami that make up the flavor of each bowl of Chop Chop’s noodles.
“We use agave to introduce caramel-like sweetness that adds depth,” Har explains, “but there’s also parsnip as a topping so that when you taste sweetness, you’re doing so in layers. In our Tokyo Curry, we make a curry roux by hand, so you get all the complex flavor from turmeric contrasting with the spiciness of cinnamon.”
Chop Chop makes a cold brew kombu dashi — their vegetarian broth base — which combines mushrooms, alliums, miso, gochujang and tomatoes. Many of these ingredients have gone through a fermentation process that brings out the deep savory flavors usually found in traditional meat and bone-based broths, but “in a way that is healthier for you and more sustainable for the planet,” Lin says.
The typical grocery store product focuses on simplicity over complexity of taste for cost reasons. And while Lin admits there are lots of exciting, up-and-coming Asian food brands, he and Har never want finances to hinder their creation of complex flavors or great taste.
Each dish is inspired by an authentic, personal experience, Har says. “Our noodle bowls are moments that we treasure and, in a way, are frozen snippets of time we want the people of Texas to get a taste of.” For future flavors, they want to create nostalgic, yet innovative dishes based on not only the experiences of their youth but also on their knowledge of Asian street food blended with the best of Texas.
“We felt it was time to create an elegant take on an iconic product like instant ramen,” Lin says. “And what better place to do that than from Austin, Texas, where comfort food is treated with respect and craft?”
To experience authentic Asian noodles in your home, place orders online at chopchop.cc.
Farmers Market Fun
Pedernales Farmers Market
by YOLANDA NAGY
Imagine sipping a pineapple hibiscus mimosa with live music playing in the background, an outdoor yoga class happening on your right, and all the fresh items on your grocery list at the farmers market set up right before your eyes! After a year of quarantine, the Texas Farmers Markets are making a strong comeback with new amenities for everyone to enjoy. So grab your yoga mat and a basket or a cooler and join me on a Sunday adventure in Central Texas.
Take a short drive beyond the Austin city limits to get to the Pedernales Farmers Market in Spicewood. Drive up to plenty of parking and head straight to the 10 a.m. flow class with Casie Hall, founder of Nectar Flow Yoga. (Tip: Make a reservation on her website beforehand because her classes fill up fast.) After cooling down, take a stroll over to the market, which is just the right size and filled with a variety of vendors. Karina MacKow, one of the founders, started the market with her sister and brother-in-law from Terra Purezza Regenerative Farm. I found out about them last year when COVID-19 hit Texas hard, and inspired my personal mission to help bring awareness to these outdoor markets. I met MacKow through Instagram and was intrigued by one of her posts, which read: "25 Amazing Local Vendors!” Seeing someone that gets as excited about a partnership as I do put a huge smile on my face. I say partnership because vendors are not employees of the markets; they are small business entrepreneurs, and I’ve learned that a market is only as strong as the people who work together to create it. MacKow has taken much pride in building this market family from 25 to now 50 vendors, and you can find certain beloved vendors only at her market, like Gary and Mary Wood's locally grown produce, St. G Kitchens, Hat & Heart, and some of the best grass-fed beef at the Brangus Best Cattle Co. booth. (Tip: vendors have the best knowledge on how to store and prepare their items, so just ask). Remember there is no middleman, you are buying straight from these farmers and vendors.
I don’t mess with the Texas heat, so after I’m done chatting and buying almost everything on site, I take my goods back to the car to pack in my trusty cooler. Now, I’m nosey, so afterward I walk over to Pizzeria Sorellina too, for a bit of eatin’ and sippin’. Ahhh yes, farmers market shopping is the life for me!
My favorite things to bring with me on this adventure include a yoga mat, lawn chairs to listen to the jams, a cooler and some reusable bags. (Tip: I like to freeze a bag of ice along with a few 16 ounce water bottles for the cooler. This is perfect for meat and fresh items, and when you get thirsty, you can grab a bottle to stay hydrated in the Texas heat.) I check out a different market each week and share tips and tricks on how to enjoy each market, because no two are alike!
Find Yolanda on IG: @eatin_and _sippin_locally and Facebook: Eatin’ and Sippin Locally.
Yolanda Nagy photos by MICHAEL MALY
The edible austin farmers’ market guide
is brought to you by
sustainably grown food from LAKELINE local farmers & ranchers saturdays 9a - 1p @ Lakeline sundays 10a - 2p @ Mueller
for locations, vendor lists & more info visit texasfarmersmarket.org
