Judging by corporate chef Chun-Mui Kwok’s quiet demeanor, it’s hard to imagine many things would upset this 19-year veteran of the American kitchen. Born in Fujian Province, China, and later a resident of Hong Kong, Kwok has long held a singular desire: to cook, and preferably, to cook in the United States. Kwok (through interpreter/restaurant owner Christiana Chiang of Ping by Charlie Chiang’s in Arlington) told how his uncle tried to help him.

 

“My uncle was working in Singapore,” he said, “and my uncle said to a connection in the United States, ‘My nephew is interested in the restaurant business. He is very shy, but he has potential’ … I trained as a busboy and a waiter, but he told his connection I wanted to be a chef.”

Fortunately for Kwok, the contact agreed to take him on, offering to train him in all the kitchen basics: chopping, deep-frying, wok-frying, expediting, everything. The connection described Kwok as eager to learn, “like a sponge,” Chiang said.