- Hey there, what's up?

I'm J. Chong and I am the chef and owner of J. Chong Eats.

What's up friends?

Welcome back to J. Chong Eats.

Welcome to J. Chong Eats.

And then the goodness, there friends egg drop soup, homies.

I live in Asheville, North Carolina and I've been here for a little over four and a half years, goin' strong on five and Asheville's a great little mountain town and I'm so grateful to be here.

[uplifting music] I took a risk when I quit my job as an executive sous chef for Katie Button restaurants here in Asheville, North Carolina and that was in February of this year then the global pandemic happened, and here I am determined to start my own business, and it just so happened to be when the whole world was shut down.

Hi Ginseng, this is Ginseng, my sweet little puppy.

So pretty much J. Chong Eats are frozen dumplings, farmers markets, cooking classes virtually and live, private dinners and pop-ups.

[background radio music] Hi friends, happy Wednesday, welcome to J. Chong Eats Insta-live.

I'm so happy you're here joining, I grew up in Toronto, Ontario.

Born and raised, and I am a first generation Cantonese-Canadian.

You know, I had a pretty good experience living in Toronto.

I started playing soccer at six years old, I went and watched one of my cousin's play and he was a couple of years older than me and I just remember thinking that that's what I wanted to do.

And so I just stuck with soccer I believe, that it allowed me to express myself.

[upbeat music] So, you know, being born and raised in Toronto, moving to south Mississippi on a soccer scholarship at 19, coming out when I was in college was probably the best decision I've ever made in my life.

Growin' up I always knew I was different.

I knew that there was something within me that was a little different from the rest of my friends and until goin' to college and being my own.

I came to terms with my sexuality and I don't think if I stayed in Toronto to go to school and continue education and live there that I would be able to live my best life.

Well, the day is here and we have our Dim Sum Trio pop-up reunion, myself, pun intended and pastry chef Beth Kelleher, this is Beth, pastry chef Beth right here.

- Whoo!

- [J. Chong] This is Shawty!

So all the good food that we got goin' on.

I think I've always cooked even as a teenager growing up, I changed careers at 35, I'm currently 43 but when I chose to shift and cook professionally, it just got to the point where I love cooking, you know and I was always cooking at home and I always found that I was in my happy place when I was in the kitchen, I felt safe and I felt I was in my element.

That's when I just decided to go to culinary school or still current day, you know, quite unsure of what the future holds, but I still took that risk and we're about to close up the year and I am my own business owner and I'm so grateful.

I've learned to accept these challenges in my life I wouldn't change who, I will never ever change who I am because you know being queer is such a big part of who I am.

That is it's, it's what I stand for, it's what I advocate for, it's how I live my life.

I walk through this life being a queer Asian woman and I think all of the challenges that I've had in my life being rejected.

I am who I am because of that and I'm so proud and I'm happy, I'm grateful for the challenges because of what I can offer in this lifetime, what I can offer to the world.

- [Woman] PBS American Portrait is - A platform where - People can go to in order to share their experiences.

- [Man] I took a risk when... - When I was 18 and joined The Marine Corps.

- And it's been an amazing journey ever since.

- This project can help bring us together, - To understand what it really means to be an American.

- So join in, - Go to PBS - Dot org - Slash American portrait - Join us and be a part of history.

[uplifting music]