Chinese dim sum gets an upgrade, hits the road

On first impression, Alex Chu appears to be a stereotypical Trojan. A Northern California native, Chu is young and carefree. But to his employees and customers, he is more than just a college graduate — he is the proud and dedicated owner of the newly launched Dim Sum Truck and a budding entrepreneur.

Get some · USC graduate Alex Chu started his Dim Sum Truck last month. It can be found parked near campus most Thursday afternoons. - Sophia Lee | Daily Trojan

Chu struck the food truck business while the iron was hot and — at only 22 — is currently one of the youngest food truck owners in the city. A 2009 graduate who majored in international relations and entrepreneurship, his wood-colored truck first rolled onto the streets of Los Angeles on Feb. 21, and business has been booming.

The concept is deceptively simple.

Dim sum is a popular Chinese cuisine that is often served on the wheels of a food trolley. However, good, authentic dim sum is not easily accessible for dumpling lovers in Los Angeles. Ordinarily served only during lunch hours, good dim sum is nearly impossible to find without trekking all the way to San Gabriel Valley, so Chu decided to break free from the constraints of time and location and get his dim sum onto the much bigger and mobile wheels of a truck.

“I just one day realized that there are no dim sum food trucks around, so I decided, why not open one?” Chu said.

If you think owning a food truck business is just about driving a brightly colored truck with customers trailing after it like with the ice cream man, think again. The time and energy needed to implement his concept was much more complicated than just buying a mobile kitchen.

“[A food truck] is a small business, but it’s the same as a big business,” Chu said. “You’ve got marketing, customer service, human resources, management, merchandising and so on.”

And from harnessing his business team to the finer details of designing his logo — which looks like a Chinese seal — Chu had to tackle all the responsibilities by himself.

“I do everything,” Chu said. “I market my truck, I market my product, I market my whole brand. I oversee the day-to-day operations, and I manage the accounting. I am doing basically everything besides physically making the food.”

Chu admits he is a business owner and not a chef. Even so, he is reluctant to call himself a true businessman because he says there is still much to learn. Chu is fresh out of college, with little business experience except for serving dim sum at a San Jose Asian fusion restaurant, doing a management internship with BLT Steak partner Brad Johnson and working with the opening team for Hollywood diner Kitchen 24. But what he lacks in age, savings and experience, Chu makes up for with what every college student surreptitiously does during lectures — social networking.

Dim yum · Alex Chu’s mobile food operation, Dim Sum Truck, serves steamed and fried chinese dumplings along with unique desserts. - Daily Trojan | Sophia Lee

“If you know how to use Twitter and new media really well, that really helps,” Chu said.

For example, when Chu arrived at the intersection between Jefferson Boulevard and Hoover Street one Thursday afternoon, there was already a group of hungry customers waiting for him.

“[That Thursday] was a good day because I sent out an invitation to everyone through Facebook, so lots of people knew I was going to be there,” Chu said. “Then people make plans to come and try our food. It’s all about the new media now.”

Another key ingredient for his current success is his ability to pitch himself to the public.

“I actively searched out food blogs and journalists. I contacted them and sent them an information package. Because the combination of my pitching and my product worked, they responded well to it,” Chu said.

So far, major blogs like LA Weekly’s Squid Ink, Eater L.A., Grub Street Los Angeles, Deep End Dining and Food GPS have all given Chu favorable press. In addition, Chu made sure to advertise his products at the recent mobile food event, the L.A. Street Food Fest. Though his truck was not ready in time, he contacted the organizers asking for involvement and was granted a spot in the VIP Lounge to showcase samples of his food.

“I think that really helped get me more fans,” Chu said. “It was a great introduction to the food community.”

Chu was also lucky to find experienced cooks.

“I thought it would be hard, but it kind of happened that somebody I knew also knew somebody else, and so on,” Chu said. “It’s all about network connections. For example, when I was starting out, one of my helpers contacted me asking to help out. Everything just kind of happened.”

As for professional dim sum chefs who would need years of experience and training, Chu’s family friends helped him find them through recommendations.

With the essential elements in place, it is now up to the food to keep the business thriving. The menu is divided into two sections: a regular menu the traditional dim sum favorites like siu mai (a shrimp and pork mixture encircled by a wonton wrapper), har gow (a tapioca-wheat wrapped dumpling filled with shrimp and bamboo shoots), char siew bao (baked BBQ pork bun) and zong zi (steamed sticky rice filled with salted pork chunks, sweet Chinese sausage, dried shrimp and Chinese mushroom wrapped in lotus leaf). Dessert-type dim sum is also available, with egg custard tarts and deep-fried sesame seed-studded rice balls filled with lotus seed paste.

The second menu includes the specials, where Chu strays from tradition and creates his own native cuisine with fusions like the Peking duck taco and the spicy tofu mulita. Additions to this menu will be made frequently depending on Chu’s inspiration and whatever ingredients are available. He has recently featured a banana-red bean puff pastry, a buttery pie filled with the traditional red bean paste and gooey banana.

All items are made fresh each morning before service and steamed or fried before serving. The distinctive feature of the Dim Sum Truck, besides the innovative menu, is its special sauce that comes with the dim sum. It is Chu’s own secret sauce: a salty, sweet and spicy blend of oyster sauce, garlic, chili and other ingredients, which Chu will not reveal.

Christina Chen, a junior majoring in occupational therapy, braved the lines to get her dim sum fix after hearing about the truck from her friends.

“I haven’t had dim sum in such a long time,” she said. “I’m just so happy about the fact that I can have real, authentic dim sum come to me in this area. But I wish he served chicken feet.”

Though Chu himself is not fond of chicken feet — a ubiquitous dim sum dish of steamed chicken feet doused in black bean sauce — he plans to include it in his specials menu after receiving similar requests from several customers. If there was one thing he learned from his business venture, it is that passion flows both ways.

“You have to believe in what you sell, believe in your product,” Chu said. “But you also need the excitement of the customers to keep you going.”

Luckily for dim sum fans, Chu plans to keep up with his food truck business for at least a few years. He plans to eventually open his own restaurant one day, though he is still not certain about what kind of restaurant he wants.

“I’m just going with the flow right now, and see where life takes me,” Chu said.

For now, life will be taking him around the streets of Los Angeles in the Dim Sum Truck, touching the hearts and bellies of dim sum lovers with delicious dumplings, buns, tarts and, possibly, feet.