Out and About at WRAL.com

By Renee Chou, WRAL anchor/reporter

Raleigh, N.C. — MOFU Shoppe proudly takes cultural components and creates distinctive cuisine that its operator, Sunny Lin, likes to phone “authentically untraditional.”

One of their signature things is a mac and cheese made of Korean rice cakes known as tteokbokki, baked in a spicy Thai paste.

Also on the menu: steamed mussels in a environmentally friendly curry sauce served with Chinese “yo tiao” or fried dough sticks. These are just a few of the innovative creations you may locate at MOFU.

The name comes from the Chinese term for fortune, “fu.” Lin explained MOFU stands for “more enjoyment, much more fortune, additional foodstuff.”

The restaurant first commenced in 2014 from a food items truck that served dumplings and pho.

Lin stated her pal Sophia Woo arrived up with the plan and questioned her to sign up for immediately after graduating from NC Point out.

“I felt it was a great way to marry all the things I liked — my culture, small business and food,” she mentioned.

The two made the “Pho Nomenal Dumpling Truck” with resources elevated from a Kickstarter marketing campaign.

After a challenging first 12 months, their food stuff truck received national consideration in 2015 from the Foods Network.

Lin and Woo received — the 1st all-feminine group to acquire the foodstuff truck competitors — and utilized their prize winnings and momentum from the exposure to start MOFU Shoppe at 321 South Blount Avenue in Raleigh.

Even as a result of all the improvements — dumplings stayed on the menu

“You have a dumpling in just about every culture,” Lin claimed. “You’ve got received perogies, you’ve got got ravioli… any society has some variety of meat wrapped in a dumpling.”

Lin claimed the dumplings are an simple conversation starter.

“It allows invite people even if you are not common with any Asian delicacies,” she said. “It is really however this kind of an approachable dish that individuals can occur alongside one another and share.”

The recipe for the dumplings was encouraged by dumplings they ate in their childhood, but modernized and re-imagined. In fact, MOFU’s complete menu is catered all-around creativeness.

“It’s really just what we grew up eating,” states Darany Samountry, who started off out aiding to make dumplings and is now the existing basic manager. “We just like to carry those people fun and exceptional flavors to the masses in a way which is pleasurable and accessible, but at the exact same time however lends to the authenticity of what Asian meals is.”

Samountry was born and elevated in Raleigh by her Laotian mom and Thai father.

“Increasing up in the South, as an Asian American, my identity was really… I struggled with that,” she mentioned.

But in excess of the earlier 10 to 15 decades, it truly is been much easier to settle for who she is. Her dad and mom had owned a cafe, and showed her that foodstuff is a excellent way to introduce items to people today and bring people today alongside one another.

“It enables us to be equipped to even now be reliable and be who we are and introduce these new points to new individuals,” Samountry said.

Lin arrived to Raleigh as an undergrad at NC Condition in 2006. She claims she’s equipped to do what she enjoys, thanks to the help and sacrifices of her Taiwanese mothers and fathers.

“I’m residing the American aspiration. When my mother and father came below, we have been pretty much conserving quarters that my mom designed as guidelines from becoming a waitress,” Lin said. “It’s a special posture to be a 2nd technology American, and loving both of those cultures equally, and staying advocates for the two.”

Lin’s authentic cafe lover, Sophia Woo, left MOFU in 2020 to pursue her enthusiasm in nonprofit work.

Substances to MOFU’s accomplishment also include co-proprietor Matt Kenner, and government chef Matt Greiner. Lin reported the menu is generally shifting, as a reflection of the loved ones they have developed at the restaurant.

“That was type of our inspiration, to keep inviting persons,” Lin claimed. “No matter who you are, you have a position at the desk to share these discussions and foods.”