Talking Shop with Fly By Jing founder Jing Gao
Talking Shop is our series where we talk to interesting people about their most interesting buys.
When Jing Gao founded Fly By Jing in 2018, she had one goal: help people bring their favorite Asian flavors home. Prior to starting her company, she ran an underground supper club with a similar intention, and after developing a handful of sauce bases for recipes, she started bottling them to sell. One of those sauces might be in your refrigerator or pantry right now — I practically add Fly By Jing's Sichuan Chili Crisp to anything savory I eat, and use its Sichuan Gold chili oil when I really want to amp up a dish.
Of course, Fly By Jing's products are staples in her kitchen, but Gao relies on many others when hosting or cooking dinner for her family. I talked to her about the kitchen essentials she can't live without, plus the food item she used to stuff her suitcase with before flying home from Singapore.
'Zojirushi is the Rolls Royce of rice cookers,' says Gao. 'I use it pretty much every day in my kitchen, and I have a small one because it's just me, my partner and my baby. You just press a button and it makes perfect rice every single time.' Beyond using it for rice, Gao also cooks congee in it.
When she's using a wok to boil, steam, stir fry or braise ingredients, Gao's utensil of choice is long wood or bamboo cooking chopsticks. 'They give you more precision when you want to pick things up, and they're really good for separate noodles,' she says. 'Since they're so long, it prevents you from getting your hand all up in the steam and oil that might be splattering.'
'I have a lot of hot pot at home, and whenever I host, I love making it because it's the most simple yet impressive food that just looks beautiful,' says Gao. 'It's such a communal, wonderful experience where you're cooking and eating with friends, and it goes on for hours. It's a huge spread, but all you really did was wash some vegetables, chop some tofu and lay out pre-sliced meats from H-Mart or 99 Ranch.'
'With hot pot, you basically need some kind of a stove on your table,' says Gao. 'I love the Iwatani because you don't need to mess with cords since it runs off gas. You can put it in the middle of your table with your hot pot over it, and it's great for camping, too.'
Diaspora Co. Aranya Black Pepper
'I swear by and only use Dispora's black pepper,' says Gao. 'It's the best black pepper and it will make you feel like every black pepper you've had in the past is awful. It's that good.' She also uses the brand's other single-origin, ethically-sourced spices, all of which are 'beautifully packaged' so Gao recommends gifting them to the home cook in your life.
Toiro Donabe Steamer Mushi Nabe
'You can make hot pot in any type of pot, but I prefer a donabe, which is a Japanese clay vessel,' she says. 'They've been using it for thousands of years in China and Japan, and there's something about the clay that really holds the heat when you're cooking and amplifies the flavor.'
Gao's favorite donabe is from Toiro, a Los Angeles-based brand. 'Toiro's artisan-crafted clay pots are just incredible and their donabe is such a versatile vessel. I cook hot pot in it, but I also use it to cook rice, steam vegetables and make Japanese curries.' Gao has this large donabe from Toiro that comes with a steamer attachment. She often makes soup or rice on the bottom, and salmon and vegetables on top in the steamer. 'It's all about convenience,' says Gao.
'I love making fresh rice, but sometimes, I just do not have the time,' says Gao. 'Having ready-to-eat rice in a bag that you just microwave for a minute is so easy.' She often uses Lundberg's 90-second rice to make fried rice, and adds vegetables and eggs to it.
Irvins Salted Egg Salmon Skin Chip Crisps
'The most popular snack brand from Asia is Irvins, which is based in Singapore. I would literally go to Singapore and stop at the airport just to grab these chips,' says Gao. 'They're most famous for their salmon skin chips. Somehow, the way they fry it makes it super crispy and delicious, and they coat it in all kinds of flavors, like salted duck egg.'
Why trust NBC Select?
I'm a reporter at NBC Select who covers topics like health, fitness, home and kitchen. I interviewed Jing Gao, founder of Fly By Jing and cookbook author, about her favorite products to cook with at home.
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Wales Online
2 days ago
- Wales Online
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'We want to be closer to European customers to respond quickly to demand and receive more consistent feedback on our products,' said McInerney in the press release. The Minas Gerais-based women's footwear and accessories brand Luiza Barcelos constantly invests in machinery and, at the end of 2023, inaugurated a production unit in Rio Grande do Sul, from where 80 percent of its production originates. 'Today, exports represent two percent of turnover, a figure we want to double in 2025. For this, we are intensifying participation in international trade fairs,' said company director Luiz Barcelos. Boaonda, a producer of injected footwear from Rio Grande do Sul, invested more than two million reais in 2024 in expanding its EVA lines and acquiring new machinery. For 2025, given a surprisingly positive first quarter with 30 percent sales growth, Boaonda was obliged to expand its headquarters, in a project that will cost more than five million reais to meet domestic and international market demands. According to brand manager Cássio Romani, the new building should be ready by the end of the year, directly employing more than 50 people. There is the possibility of tripling this number to 150 in the short term, depending on the company's continued growth. For the year, although optimistic, the company forecasts sales growth of around 15 percent. 'Brazil has structural problems such as high taxes, unfair competition—including within our own market—and difficulty in finding labour. Despite this, Boaonda remains confident and is betting on our country,' said Romani. Overview of the footwear industry with high technology employed Credits: courtesy of the Brazilian Footwear Association In summary The Brazilian footwear sector plans to invest 1.7 billion reais, a seven percent increase compared to the previous year, focusing on machinery and technology to improve productivity. Companies such as Andacco, Tip Toey, and Luiza Barcelos are investing in equipment, distribution centres, and expanding their facilities to increase production and meet domestic and international demand. Despite challenges such as high production costs, Asian competition, and structural problems in Brazil, footwear companies are optimistic and confident in their growth, seeking opportunities in the global market. This article was translated to English using an AI tool. FashionUnited uses AI language tools to speed up translating (news) articles and proofread the translations to improve the end result. This saves our human journalists time they can spend doing research and writing original articles. Articles translated with the help of AI are checked and edited by a human desk editor prior to going online. If you have questions or comments about this process email us at info@
