Là Authentic Chinese Food

ARTICLE BY VANELIS RIVERA
AND PHOTOGRAPHY BY KELLY MOORE CLARK

On September 5, 2023, a new food trailer opened its window at Heard Freighthouse Food Park in Ruston. The small, bright white trailer stands out by way of its vermillion red logo featuring the eatery’s name—Là Authentic Chinese Food.

The circular sign is decorative and symbolic, featuring a Chinese dragon and phoenix in the traditional paper-cut style. The connection between the powerful symbols is meant to represent harmony and good fortune, apt imagery for a cuisine known for its use of harmonizing flavors. Inside the snug kitchen, expect to find owner Meng Li Calhoun tossing and flipping food in a scalding wok, seasoning and mixing ingredients just like her father taught her. More than just enticing flavors and aromas, this food truck is a tribute to family, heritage, and the promise of persistence.

“I did not plan any of this,” states Meng, originally from Hebi, a city in the Henan province of the People’s Republic of China. A central-inland region, Henan is considered one of the cradles of Chinese civilization and is also the site of the famed Shaolin Temple and the Huanghe (Yellow River), the second-longest river in China and the sixth-longest on the planet. At an early age, Meng was exposed to the intricacies of her region’s cuisine as her father was a cook and owned a few restaurants. Even so, the grueling work required of being a cook and maintaining restaurants was not appealing to her. Instead, she attended college and received a degree in English education. “I was supposed to be an English teacher somewhere else, but here,” she says, as her two children play on the steps of the old warehouse. Around 2015, she was a translator in Zhengzhou, the capital of Henan. There, she met her husband Jesse Calhoun who was teaching English at Zhengzhou University. “We met and fell in love,” she states. 

Around 2019, the couple moved to Louisiana and settled in Farmerville in order to be close to Jesse’s father. Despite Meng’s English background, the move was challenging. She had to adjust to the distinct dialect of the area and learn the intricacies of another culture and different customs. With limited work skills, she made do with jobs that she did not particularly enjoy. It was in this moment of stuckness that she returned to a place of comfort—Chinese food. On a whim, she took a chance and began selling lunch plates by online order. The people of Farmerville vehemently showed up. Soon her weekly orders started selling out, indicating it was time to get serious. So when a friend mentioned a vacancy at Heard Freighthouse Food Park, the couple met with owner Desi Bourgeois who was instantly enthusiastic about the new addition to the Heard food truck family.

Even with the thumbs up from Desi, the couple had a long journey ahead. Not only was Meng learning the complexities of fashioning a menu that works for a small kitchen setting, but initially she needed to find a commissary kitchen to expedite her menu. Fortunately, Roma Italian Bistro eagerly opened their kitchen to her. “The manager said they wanted us to have our dream come true, and I’m so grateful,” says Meng. During the early stages of development, Meng also received help that showed up from across the North Pacific Ocean. Her parents, eager to crystalize their daughter’s culinary dreams, arrived in Northeast Louisiana and immediately began looking for a food truck to purchase and Meng’s father took the time to further sharpen her cooking skills by teaching her everything he learned as a cook. “That’s what Chinese parents do. We do everything for our kids,” Meng remarks. The week she opened her daughter named the food truck trailer “Rainbow Sparkly” and since then Meng has been proud of every single accomplishment that has resulted from following her intuition. 

At Là Authentic Chinese Food, Meng is not just cooking Chinese food, she is making some of her favorite foods intimately connected to her hometown. “I like spicy food,” she says, mentioning the dried peppers she uses in some of her dishes. One of the spices she gets from China is cumin, which has an intense flavor based on the region it was cultivated in. Meng also makes all sauces in-house, most using a soy sauce base. Soy sauce is a prominent condiment in many Asian countries, particularly China, Japan, Korea, and Indonesia. Each country offers a variety of light, dark, and sweet flavors. Meng uses light soy sauce when needing full flavor and dark sauce for a saltier flavor, used best for meaty dishes. The richness of the dark soy sauce is delightfully noted in Meng’s jiaozi (pork dumplings) which are pan-fried and served with a dark soy sauce and dark vinegar mix, and sprinkled with sesame seeds. 

“We eat a lot of noodles,” enthuses Meng about her preferred food item, adding, “I can eat noodles three times a day. I don’t have a problem with it.” Chinese cooking features a variety of noodles that can be made from rice flour, wheat flour, eggs, or starches (munch beans, potatoes, sweet potatoes, or tapioca). Meng’s menu features pork and vegetable stir-fried noodles using a wheat noodle similar to those used in lo mein, the Chinese dish where cooked meat and vegetables are tossed with a sauce. The other dishes on Meng’s daily menu are served with rice or stir-fried rice. A crowd favorite, the pineapple chicken features a light sauce while the spicy chicken is made with a darker, more savory sauce. “My ingredients are really simple,” says Meng who prides herself in her bold and fresh flavors, a byproduct of what she credits to “wok magic.”

Developed several thousand years ago in China, the wok was used for various cooking methods, such as stir-frying, boiling, and braising. Its characteristic concave design allows heat to be distributed evenly, allowing ingredients to cook quickly and evenly. Because the pan can reach high temperatures, only oils with high-smoke points are used such as peanut oil, vegetable oil, and avocado oil. The particulars of high-heat cooking may be lost on some, but only because there is no point of comparison. Unlike the average American stove, stoves in China generally reach higher temperatures due to higher thermal unit output. This deviation was a point of mild contention for Meng, only because she wasn’t reaching the exact level or flavor she was accustomed to back in Henan. But as far as the American palate goes, Meng and her trusty wok deliver the consistently sharp flavors for which Chinese cuisine is celebrated.

For Meng, sharing the food of her upbringing has also meant learning about Chinese American fusions. For instance, she was surprised by the number of customers asking to add stir-fried rice to their meals. In China, stir-fried rice is typically served as is, and is not accompanied by additional meat or vegetable dishes. But she acquiesced and now has a stir-fried option on her menu. Another American custom that shifted her food service was customers adding sweet and sour or soy sauce to already sauced dishes. “Why y’all need that?” She asks in jest. Though she will happily provide customers with any additional sauces, she does encourage sauce-driven diners to try just one bite of her dish before adding anything that could overpower the flavor. 

It has been over a year, and Meng still has a spirit of gratitude, particularly thinking of the generous help and support she received from her husband’s family and friends. She compares starting a business to having a baby, mentioning that “every little accomplishment” elicits joy and pride, like finally showing up on Google Maps. Her mother and father’s sacrifices contributed to her impressive drive. She was the first of their children to go to college, the first to leave China, and now she has created a business that honors her family and cultural heritage. “I am the bridge between America and China,” she says. Meng indisputably exemplifies the result of hard work, mentioning the sight of customers happily savoring her food always fills her with motivation. She is doing what she loves and what she loves makes her happy. 

Là Authentic Chinese Food is Meng’s testament to the adage, “Where there’s a will, there’s a way.” Her final thoughts fall back on her family and children. She wants them to know, “You want to do something? You keep on trying. Eventually, you will get it.”