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Bumplings' Brendan Pang dishes up on his go-to food faves and guilty pleasures

Jane Rocca
Jane Rocca

Brendan Pang of Bumplings restaurant in Perth is appearing at the Night Noodle Markets in Sydney and Melbourne.
Brendan Pang of Bumplings restaurant in Perth is appearing at the Night Noodle Markets in Sydney and Melbourne.Supplied

Perth-based MasterChef alumnus Brendan Pang, 29, studied architecture before he had a change of heart and became a social worker.

But it was while working in child protection in Broome that he decided to apply as a contestant on the reality TV show in 2018, and life has been one foodie adventure ever since.

"I worked as a volunteer before I became a social worker and have always liked the idea of helping others and being there for people," says Pang, who runs his Bumplings airstream kitchen in Fremantle.

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"In Mauritius, my grandmere Josephine would cook rice and soup and give it to the homeless. Everything I have done in my life stems from my family upbringing," he says.

"I felt burnt out doing child protection and wanted to tap into my creative side. Everyone on my maternal side works in hospitality. Mum [Dany] runs her own cake business, so it made sense I'd do something on my own."

The Mazda ambassador returns to the east coast of Australia for a Bumplings collaboration at the Night Noodle Market in Sydney (October 4-9) and Melbourne in November, and chimes on his Mauritian-Chinese heritage for his filling inspiration.

EATING IN

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Signature dish and what is your go-to at home?

My signature dish is Vietnamese steamed pork buns. They're filled with pork and seasoned with fish sauce and fried shallots. I also add Chinese sausage and quail egg.

I grew up inspired by my Chinese-Mauritian heritage and culture, but no one has ever made this before in my family – it was a winner at Christmas 2021 and now it's my go-to meal.

The hardest step of this process is mastering the bao dough. The texture is a little different to your usual Chinese doughs because it has yeast in it.

Sometimes I cheat and buy the bao flour from the Asian grocer, which already has the raising agents in it.

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Then all you have to do is add milk or water and a bit of sugar. For the filling it's quite easy. You season the pork mince and add flavour by cooking in Chinese dried black fungus, which you rehydrate before cooking, to give it a nice earthy flavour.

You then add fried shallots, then add all the Vietnamese seasonings – instead of soy sauce, I use fish sauce, sugar and sesame oil. You roll out a small meatball-sized amount of the mixture and place on the rolled out dumpling dough.

I then squish in a piece of Chinese sausage and one quail egg. Place one piece of shiitake mushroom on top and pinch it all together.

I shape them and let them rise a little before steaming. You cook in steamer and serve.

GUILTY PLEASURE

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My guilty pleasure is indulging in some take-out. There's a local hawker restaurant near home in Fremantle where I buy pork noodles and order entrees like fried chicken and spring rolls. Cheesy television after a big week and take-out is my weakness.

BEST KITCHEN WISDOM

A chef in Perth told me when I came off the MasterChef series that you don't need to be a trained chef to succeed. You do need to be a storyteller with your food and that is something I have always held on to.

My grandmere Josephine also tells me there are no rules in the kitchen. She likes to be creative and is inspired by what she picks up at the farmer's markets. She always taught me not to follow a recipe.

I just released a new range of dumplings at Woolworths, which she is super proud of. I spotted her cooking them by stir-frying in a wok with vegies. I have never seen her do that, but she taught me to experiment and have fun and do what works best.

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Pang is a fan of Khanh Nguyen's cooking at Aru.
Pang is a fan of Khanh Nguyen's cooking at Aru. Supplied

EATING OUT

What is your favourite place to eat in Australia, and any special food memories here you have?

My family had dinner at Aru when we travelled to Melbourne. That was quite special for us. When it comes to Vietnamese-style food, we aren't used to those flavours at home, but the way chef Khanh Nguyen delivers it is amazing.

We love going to Long Chim in Perth for its big bold Thai flavours. I am not big on heavy spice, but one of my favourite dishes is a simple one which they serve here.

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We grew up making it at home. It's a pork bone and pickled mustard and green soup. It's quite savoury and heavy, but the sourness of the pickles comes through nicely.

What's your favourite food city and why and what dishes do you love there?

Just before COVID-19 hit I went to London for work. I spent time in Chinatown and tried all restaurants in the area. It blew my mind how much culture there was.

I remember eating at Dumplings Legend restaurant in London. The guys looked after me and served yum cha.

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I went to Bun House – they specialise in steamed buns. There is a big steamer basket as you walk in, old-style Chinese paddles on the wall which you order from, and I had a really good spiced cumin lamb bun and a coconut custard.

I went to an Indian restaurant Dishoom with some mates from Perth who had moved there for work. I loved the spicy lamb ribs. Their signature naan rolls and all the curries and sauces and flavours were awesome.

Where do you stay when you're there?

I stayed in an apartment at Rathbone Place in Central London. I had my own kitchen but I was there on a work trip so didn't get to use it. I was working in a collaboration lunch with Chinatown London and did my Australian take on dim sum. I created salt and pepper squid with crocodile, and dumplings with native ingredients, using kangaroo instead of sizzling beef.

Roast meats such as duck are on Pang's list of go-to's at Queen Chow.
Roast meats such as duck are on Pang's list of go-to's at Queen Chow.Dominic Lorrimer
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Where do you love to eat in Sydney?

Poly is one of my favourite places to wine and dine in Sydney. It is elegant yet approachable. My favourite dish is their fried potato with salted egg yolk and chives – it is like a hash brown on steroids.

I absolutely love Middle Eastern flavours and Jacqui Challinor from Nomad does it so well. Normally you will catch me raving about savoury dishes when I dine out, such as the spiced fava bean hummus or the butterflied harissa spatchcock at Nomad but my favourite dish on the menu is the olive oil ice-cream sandwich with halva, pistachio and honey.

For Cantonese food, my go to is Queen Chow in Enmore. There's something nostalgic about the food here, growing up in Australia eating Chinese take-out, but also at home with Cantonese influence on my grandmere's cooking. The selection of Cantonese roast meats is on my list of go to's. I love their king prawn dish with garlic, burnt butter and mushrooms. The produce is the hero here but with clever additions like the burnt butter, which you may not see in Chinese cooking. It takes it to the next level.

Catch Brendan Pang at the Night Noodle Markets in Sydney from October 4-9.

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Jane RoccaJane Rocca is a regular contributor to Sunday Life Magazine, Executive Style, The Age EG, columnist and features writer at Domain Review, Domain Living’s Personal Space page. She is a published author of four books.

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