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For chef Shuai Wang, heritage cooking has always been a journey. “I was never a great student, so I kind of just fell into the culinary world,” he says. His family immigrated from Beijing to Queens, in New York, when he was nine, and though traditional Chinese food was central to his home life, it took many years before he embraced it as a career. Instead, in his early twenties, the chef transitioned from architecture classes at the Art Institute of New York City to the school’s culinary program, and went on to cut his teeth in restaurants across the city. His focus, however, was never the Chinese cuisine of his childhood; instead, Wang worked to master the styles of other traditions, eventually landing a gig as chef de cuisine at Chez Sardine, a Japanese izakaya where he met his now-wife, Corrie, a young adult novelist and fellow veteran of the restaurant industry.

by RACHEL HAHN video by MIKA ALTSKAN AND MATVEY FIKS

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At Jackrabbit Filly, chef Shuai Wang celebrates his Chinese heritage by way of Southern ingredients—and a healthy dose of Duke’s mayo

Where Two Traditions Meet

In 2014, the couple moved to Charleston, South Carolina, to work for a friend’s budding restaurant venture, but when those plans fell through, they agreed they were ready to launch a project of their own. While searching for a restaurant space, a friend suggested they try the food truck route, and soon, Short Grain was born. The roving truck specialized in “untraditional” Japanese fare, serving rice bowls and karaage (Japanese fried chicken) to ever-growing crowds. To Wang and Corrie’s surprise, Short Grain was a hit not only among their neighbors, but on the national food scene. In 2017, Shuai was nominated for one of the most prestigious honors in the business: the James Beard Rising Star Chef of the Year.

Throughout the Short Grain years, the duo never stopped looking for a permanent home, and when a former pool hall in North Charleston’s Park Circle neighborhood became available, they knew the time was right. “We’ll be the first to admit that spending every day in a hot, sixteen-foot truck had its challenges,” Corrie says with a laugh. In winter of 2019, the couple finally opened their long-dreamed-of restaurant, Jackrabbit Filly—a play on the couple’s Chinese zodiac signs of hare and horse. Today, the neighborhood joint warmly embraces Wang’s own traditions, alongside those of his new Southern hometown. “We want to really celebrate the South, so we utilize a ton of local ingredients to cook food inspired by my mom and grandma,” he says. “We call it heritage-driven, new Chinese-American.” The project was something of a homecoming for Wang, and the result is entirely singular. “No one else can cook Shuai’s food,” Corrie explains. “It’s all about where he’s from, and where he grew up, and where he is now.”

The beauty of Jackrabbit Filly is that it doesn’t take itself too seriously. While the menu has roots in traditional Chinese cuisine (and whatever inspires Wang on a given day), the dishes often incorporate nontraditional ingredients—namely, staples of the typical Southern pantry. This is especially true of the restaurant’s use of mayo. “When we were developing the menu, it became a running joke that every time we tested a dish, we would ask ourselves, ‘What does this need?’ And the answer always seemed to be Duke's mayo,” Wang recalls. “It’s not very common to Chinese cuisine, but we go through ten to twelve gallons a week.” For the chef, using Duke’s was a no-brainer. “It has that perfect balance of tangy and thick,” he says. Anyone who knows Wang knows how devoted he is to the brand—so much so that he recently had a jar of Duke’s tattooed on his forearm.

“It has that perfect balance of tangy and thick”

—SHUAI WANG, JACKRABBIT FILLY

It’s no coincidence, then, that some of the restaurant’s most popular dishes feature Duke’s front and center. For instance, “We sell an aggressive amount of karaage each week,” Wang says of the best-selling item. “It’s this delicious Japanese fried chicken tossed in a lemon mayo that’s sweetened with condensed milk.” The O.G. Chirashi Rice Bowl, too, has something of a cult following. “We like to say this is the house the O.G. Bowl built,” Wang jokes. A hallmark of the Short Grain days, the dish still stars on Jackrabbit’s lunch and brunch menus, and features local sashimi, masago (a smelt roe), pickles, ponzu sauce, furikake seasoning, and a drizzle of a spicy Duke’s mayo mixture. And during dinner service, the restaurant’s play on traditional Singapore fried rice is also one of the most frequently ordered plates. “It’s something I grew up eating as a kid,” Wang says. “So I wanted to recreate it and share it with people here. Our version features a Duke’s buttermilk ranch, seasoned with curry powder.” At the end of the day, Wang finds that Chinese and Southern cuisines are more similar than they are different: Both are deeply rooted in tradition. “Southern cooking has so much history behind it, with recipes being passed down from generation to generation,” he says. “I find that to be true in Chinese cooking, too.”

“Southern cooking has so much history behind it, with recipes being passed down from generation to generation, and I find that to be true in Chinese cooking, too.”

—SHUAI WANG, JACKRABBIT FILLY

It’s no coincidence, then, that some of the restaurant’s most popular dishes feature Duke’s front and center. For instance, “We sell an aggressive amount of karaage each week,” Wang says of the best-selling item. “It’s this delicious Japanese fried chicken tossed in a lemon mayo that’s sweetened with condensed milk.” The O.G. Rice Bowl, too, has something of a cult following. “We like to say this is the house the O.G. Bowl built,” Wang jokes. A hallmark of the Short Grain days, the dish still stars on Jackrabbit’s lunch and brunch menus, and features local sashimi, masago (a smelt roe), pickles, ponzu sauce, furikake seasoning, and a drizzle of a spicy Duke’s mayo mixture. And during dinner service, the restaurant’s play on traditional Singapore fried rice is also one of the most frequently ordered plates. “It’s something I grew up eating as a kid,” Wang says. “So I wanted to recreate it and share it with people here. Our version features a Duke’s buttermilk ranch, seasoned with curry powder.” At the end of the day, Wang finds that Chinese and Southern cuisines are more similar than they are different: Both are deeply rooted in tradition. “Southern cooking has so much history behind it, with recipes being passed down from generation to generation, and I find that to be true in Chinese cooking, too,” he says. “Food is the great equalizer. It brings people together, and we just want to build more of that.”

Find more Duke’s stories—and recipes—at DukesMayo.com