Visiting chef from Shanghai feeds Mason Nation

If the Chinese dishes on the menu at Southside and Ike’s on George Mason University’s Fairfax Campus taste a bit more authentic this week, it’s because chef Jin Huixing had a hand in the preparation. Jin is visiting Mason as part of food service provider Sodexo’s Global Chef program, which brings the international company’s top chefs to different countries to share cuisine and interact with students. Also, the local Sodexo staff benefits from the sharing of knowledge, techniques and recipes.

The local diners are the beneficiaries of Jin’s “Flavors of China” menus.

Mason community foodies will have a chance to interact and ask questions of Jin, via a translator, during the events listed below.

  • Jin will serve lunch at Southside from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 18. Stir-fried fish slices with rice wine, crispy fried chicken chops, oyster sauce beef and Kung Pao chicken are on the menu, along with an assortment of vegetable sides.
  • That night, Jin will serve dinner at the Globe from 5 to 7 p.m. White radish soup with pork ribs, Shanghai-style braised pork belly, teriyaki chicken, sautéed shrimp with gingko nuts, sautéed shredded beef with onion and assorted side vegetables will be served.
  • Jin will be serving lunch at Ike’s from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 19. The menu will include Yuxiang shredded pork, curry chicken and curry beef brisket, as well as assorted vegetable sides.

Jin was born in Shanghai and studied at the Bao Vocational Technical School. For nine years he was chef at the Boasteel Group Shanghai Five Steel Company before joining Sodexo Shanghai in 2004.

The last Global Chef Mason hosted was from Brazil in 2012.