Food truck embraces Korean, Mexican fusion

The first day Jae Kim opened food truck Chi'Lantro BBQ, he made just $7 in sales. Three years later, Kim has grown his business to five food trucks in two cities, Austin and Houston.

Chi'Lantro serves a fusion of Korean, and Mexican cuisines. Kim's family moved from Korea to California when he was 11, and he grew up eating Mexican food. Although he is not a trained chef, Kim said his adventurous taste in food and experience in running food establishments led to the creation of Chi'Lantro.

His success has caught the attention of many Austinites, including local celebrity chef Paul Qui of food truck East Side King and Qui, the chef's newest restaurant that opened June 20.

"We've developed a relationship because we're in the same business," Kim said. "I've worked with him on a couple of occasions and like to pick his brain about success in the business."

The food truck's best-known item, kimchi fries, came about in the form of a happy accident, Kim said. He wanted to serve kimchi—Korea's national dish created from vegetables fermented with spices—but it wasn't selling well. Neither were the fries, so Kim combined them into one dish. The fries are topped with kimchi, sriracha, cilantro and Chi'Lantro's secret magic orange sauce. The kimchi is also caramelized to bring out its sweet flavor.

"It was so interesting for our customers that they kept coming back," he said.

Kim puts a lot of time into creating his dishes. Meats for the Korean-style barbecue are marinated for 24 hours in a soy-based sauce with onions, Korean peppers and garlic. Chi'Lantro's salsa, which uses Roma tomatoes, tomatillo and Asian peppers, takes four to five hours to make.

He is also planning to open a brick-and-mortar location somewhere in North Austin by early next year.

"Taking a risk is the next step in growing our company," Kim said.

Food truck stops in North Austin

• Mon., Wed. and Fri. at The Domain on Esperanza Crossing next to Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts
• Mon. at 11525 Stonehollow Blvd.
• Tue. at Riata Corporate Park, 12331 Riata Trace Parkway
• Thu. at the Google building, 9606 N. MoPac
• Fri. at Research Park Plaza, 12301 Research Blvd.

Chi'Lantro BBQ, 512-800-9098, www.chilantrobbq.com, Lunch hours: 11:15 a.m.–2 p.m., Twitter: @chilantrobbq