Amy, left, and Julie Zhang have borrowed from their childhood to create the recipes in their cookbook. Photo / Paul Winch-Furness
"You can forget that you're in London sometimes," says Julie Zhang. "You do your daily routine and go from place to place. But sometimes you just have to stand still and go 'Oh my God, this is the most exciting place'."
With their debut cookbook published recently, life couldn't be more exciting for the 25-year-old "Chiwi" - Chinese Kiwi - and her sister, Amy Zhang. For after moving to the UK to further their studies - Amy, 29, completed a PhD at Cambridge and Julie mastered in criminology at Oxford - the pair have branched out from their chosen fields to pursue their longstanding passion for food.
Approached by their parents to take over their food stall at Christchurch's Riccarton Rotary Sunday Market, they were determined they wanted to do more. After exploring the idea of starting up "a scale-able catering business", they settled on the idea of grab-and-go dumplings, where their Dumpling Sisters monicker comes from. "Some people thought it was actually our last name," laughs Julie.
They started a food blog to help generate interest and investment and sent a proposal for a television show to several production companies, one of which requested that they should first make some YouTube videos.
The sisters came an impressive second in a competition on Jamie Oliver's FoodTube channel and that, in turn, brought them to the attention of a literary agent, who suggested they write a book.
Although their book is grounded in the recipes of their childhood, it is also influenced by the vast variety of food styles in London.
"We've realised how lucky we are to live in a place where there are so many different cuisines on our doorstep," says Amy. "You can eat somewhere different every day and you just have to walk down any high street to see representatives of so many types of food."
"Ethiopian food is my favourite right now," adds Julie. "I never thought I would be able to eat that, but I can here."
With its contemporary take on traditional Vietnamese dishes, Cay Tre in Soho is a perfect example of the diversity that London offers.
"The pho is really good," says Julie, referring to their distinctive noodle soup, which comes with meat cuts such as beef brisket, fatty flank and tripe. "Along with Chinese, Vietnamese is one of my favourite cuisines. There's so much variety and it's really fresh with sweet and tangy flavours, which I really love."
Amy recommends the ramen at Japanese diner Tonkotsu, handily located just across the road from Cay Tre.
"What I love about this trend towards Japanese and Vietnamese food is that you can taste the ingredients a lot more," she says.
"When you get a bone broth that has been bubbling away for days, you can really appreciate the meaty flavour of it. It's the kind of stuff that we grew up eating and we've tried to show that in the recipes in the book.
"You don't have to overload what you're cooking with too much flavour as it's actually about very simple flavour profiles and things that you could eat every day, which can showcase the ingredients."
The sisters built their reputation online but they advise that you sometimes have to dig a little deeper if you want to find an unexpected delight.
"It's very easy to just go to all the places that people talk about on social media but there are so many little gems about the city that you might not know about unless you live nearby," says Amy, citing as an example Reun Thai in Hammersmith.
"It's a family-run place that's not in the restaurant reviews and nobody tweets about it. The fish curry is so delicious as they steam it in a coconut leaf. There's something about it that reminds me of Phu Thai, which I used to go to in Christchurch."
Chinatown is only a short walk south of Soho but they aren't overly fond of it as it tends to appeal to tourists, with its set menus and discount prices.
"We don't eat there a huge amount," says Amy, who puts forward the slightly out-of-the-way Beijing Dumpling as a notable exception.
"Our publisher is based nearby so, after a meeting, I'll sometimes go for lunch there. Their special fried rice has lots of goodies in it, and it's cheap as well."
However, they do shop regularly at Chinatown's New Loon Moon supermarket, which also allowed them to film a video guide to buying Chinese produce on their premises.
Amy is based in South London and enjoys the stalls at Brixton market, where you can also find one of the sisters' guilty eating pleasures.
"We love burgers," laughs Julie, who lives in North London. "There's a massive burger revolution happening in London and so many burger places are popping up everywhere. We've tried a bunch of them but Honest Burgers is really good."
Along with their cookbook's recipes for everything from crispy noodle nests to spicy blistered beans, Amy also has some tips about what makes the perfect hamburger.
"I've got this philosophy about the way the burger is cooked. It's trendy to have a medium-rare burger these days but I reckon that if you order it medium-well, the burger patty will be even juicier as it's been cooked long enough that the juice from the meat will come out into the patty itself."
• Honest Burgers: Unit 12, Brixton Market, London SW9 8PR
• Reun Thai: 100 Fulham Palace Rd, London W6 9PL
• Beijing Dumpling: 23 Lisle St, London WC2H 7BA, ph +44 20 7287 6888
• New Loon Moon Supermarket: 9A Gerrard St, London W1D 5PN
• Tonkotsu Bar & Ramen: 63 Dean St, London W1D 4QG
• Cay Tre Soho, 42-43 Dean St, London W1D 4PS
These golden bite-sized morsels are our little brother Justin's absolute favourite, and also one of the most popular dim sum worldwide. The literal translation of siu mai is 'cook sell' - a nod to the practice of these juicy dumplings being rapidly made and sold as tantalising street food. It's definitely worth the extra effort to mince your own pork loin or shoulder as it makes for a much juicier bite, but pork mince will also work.
Makes 20-24
4 dried Chinese mushrooms pinch granulated sugar
400g pork loin or shoulder or pork mince
200g raw prawns, peeled and chopped into sweetcorn-sized pieces
20-24 round siu mai wrappers or square wonton wrappers
3cm piece carrot, finely diced
FOR THE MARINADE
4 tsp finely diced ginger
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp ground white pepper
¼ tsp granulated sugar
1 tbsp light soy sauce
4 tsp Shaoxing rice wine
4 tsp sesame oil
½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 tsp cornflour
TO SERVE (OPTIONAL)
2 tbsp light soy sauce chilli oil, to taste
1 Soak the Chinese mushrooms in a bowl of hot water with the sugar for 30 minutes, then drain. Remove and discard the stalks and finely dice the caps.
2 If using pork loin or shoulder, cut it into 1cm cubes, keeping the fat on. Then use a heavy knife or a cleaver to dhuk it, meaning to repeatedly chop through the pork with force until it resembles coarse mince.
3 Put the pork and all the marinade ingredients, including 1 tablespoon water, into a large bowl, then use a pair of chopsticks to vigorously stir in one direction (e.g. clockwise) until the meat binds to itself. Cover and chill for at least 30 minutes. Gently stir the mushrooms and prawns into the marinated pork.
4 If you are using wonton wrappers, use a 9cm cookie cutter to cut these into rounds. To wrap the siu mai, put 1 tablespoon of the filling into the centre of a wrapper. Use the handle of the spoon to pleat the wrapper up and around the filling.
5 Make a ring shape with your index finger and thumb. Pop the pleated dumpling into this circular cradle, then use the back of the spoon to press the filling firmly downwards so that it fills up all the nooks and crannies in the folds. This will help the dumpling keep its shape as it steams. Gently squeeze the dumpling as if you are cinching it in at the waist. Finally, nudge the base of the dumpling to create a flat, stable base.
6 Pop a few pieces of carrot on top of each dumpling then steam in a bamboo steamer (or steamer) in two batches over vigorously boiling water for 7-8 minutes per batch.
7 Stir the soy sauce and chilli oil together in a small bowl. Serve the siu mai as soon as they have finished steaming, dipping them into the soy sauce mixture if you wish.
Extract reproduced from The Dumpling Sisters Cookbook by Amy and Julie Zhang with permission from Hachette, $55.
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