Dumplings are much more than food to chef
Vancouver chef Matthew Murtagh-Wu honours a cultural tradition, one tasty bite at a time
For some people, dumplings are simply a source of sustenance. For others, the pillowy pockets of dough and filling are about honouring tradition.
For Matthew Murtagh-Wu, dumplings are about these things, sure — but for the Vancouver-based chef, they’re also about self-acceptance.
“As a mixed-race Vancouverite — my father is from Hong Kong and my mother is the daughter of two British expats from Victoria — I never felt I fit in either a Chinese or Caucasian-Canadian identity,” he explains.
“There is always a bit of unsureness about who you are when you’re mixed race; at least that’s how I feel and what I’ve learned hearing from other people who are similar to me.”
As the owner and chef of The Dumpling King, a Chinatown-based business that has seen Murtagh-Wu create more than 80,000 dumplings since he started it three years ago, he has found both a stronger connection to his culture as well as a better understanding of himself, all through his food.
“My business has become a celebration of myself and how I’ve negotiated with my identities and making it mine,” he says. “I’m Chinese history, Canadian culture, fresh Nike kicks, Pacific Northwest casualness, and internet pop culture mixed into a ball with arms and legs.
“I think, at this point in my life, I feel the most comfortable in who I am. I feel like a Vancouverite, 2.0.”
And he aims to connect his hungry customers to his culture, honouring the unique traditions of Chinese cuisine and, more specifically, dumplings.
“The dumpling, in the Chinese tradition, is a staple food item that takes many forms, colours, flavours and variations based on the region of China they’re from,” he explains.
“I adore them because they’re such a straightforward, no bulls--- food item. They can be made in the elegance and sophistication of a highend Hong Kong dim sum restaurant, or by your grandma on your old, wooden kitchen table. They’re modest, ingenious and universally respected by diners and cooks.
“My favourite are anchored in the regionality of mainland China and Taiwan. Each dumpling takes a theme and idea, all packaged in the form of a familiar dumpling.”
For example, MurtaghWu’s Southern Crane dumplings include locally sourced Ocean Wise shrimp that he grinds, by hand, using two cleavers. The old-fashioned way. His Taiwanese-style Guo Tie is modelled after the “common night market staple” dumplings found in Taiwan, he explains, using garlic, chives, mushroom and Taiwanese rice wine in the filling.
“These are just some of the examples I try to reflect my understanding, my reverence, for the cooking traditions of China and Taiwan,” he says. "There are as many, if not more, styles of folding dumplings as types of Italian pasta. Respect the dumpling.”
Murtagh-Wu will be sharing his top tips and tricks to cook the perfect dumpling during his Dumpling 101 seminar on the Cooking Stage at the BC Home + Garden Show on Feb. 22 at 4 p.m.
They’re modest, ingenious and universally respected by diners and cooks. Matthew Murtagh-Wu
“It’s such an honour to be invited to partake in this huge event,” he says of the appearance. “I’m going to be sharing a bit about myself, my business, but most importantly how to fold some dumplings. Nothing fancy, just some knowledge I’ve come across these past three years.”
He hopes the main takeaway for those who stop long enough to watch his demonstration is this: You, too, can cook.
“I just hope that people who take the time to watch and interact with me take a bit of info home and try it for themselves,” Murtagh-Wu says. “Cooking is such an empowering thing.”
For The Dumpling King, the full realization of the true power of food came a little later than one might expect. While he most recently worked in kitchens around the city, attended culinary school and moonlighted as a private chef for hire before starting his business, there was a time when MurtaghWu’s path took him far from food … and into finance.
“I had spent four years working in finance, most of it for a big bank and then jumped over to venture capital,” he says.
“I thought that’s what I wanted. Or what I thought I should have wanted. … I remember three months after leaving the bank and working for this startup venture capital outfit, my partner and I would muse on what we would do if we had a million dollars. I said without batting an eye, ‘I would cook.’”
Until one day, he recalls, after failing to get paid because the capital had run out, he respectfully told his partner, “You know what, man? I don’t need a million dollars to cook. I think I’m gonna do it. Good luck.”
These days, with his feet firmly in the food industry, his aim is to hone his craft and culture, as well as help boost local Chinatown businesses while he’s at it.
“I do my best to source everything, when possible and reasonable, from Vancouver’s Chinatown,” he says.
“My ingredients I often buy at retail price, for example my pork, to support these Chinatown businesses. My special pork belly blend sourced from Dollar Meats in Chinatown is my go-to filling. They are an old school Chinatown-based company that continues to serve that community for the past 40 years.”
Sourcing local, Murtagh-Wu says, is an important step to ensure more people make the shift to eat local, too.
“I think understanding the provenance of what we eat in the greater picture gives us an appreciation for the cost and context of our food in the 21st century. I’m not saying you need to go in your driveway and forage for dandelions or hit up every farmer’s market,” he says. “That’s not reasonable or financially feasible.
“I’m a pragmatist. But just making an effort to make incremental changes to the way we eat is imperative to exercising our autonomy, at least on some small level, as people and learning about what we eat and where it comes from. We take it for granted.”
So, just how many dumplings has Murtagh-Wu eaten in his lifetime?
“That’s a scary question,” he says. "Let’s just say I’m no stranger.”
When pressed for further details on the total dumpling count, he jokingly recalled his sister’s reaction to how much he could eat.
“I remember my sister said once at the dinner table, ‘Never give Matthew chopsticks — a knife and fork only slows him down,’” he says.
Needless to say, the change in cutlery didn’t do much to slow him down.
“Where there is a will there is a way.”
THREE CRAZY DUMPLING DROPS
Chef Matthew Murtagh-Wu of the Vancouver-based business The Dumpling King boldly proclaims on his website: “If you want them, I will come.”
Meaning, not only does he make his tasty creations by hand, he also delivers them in and around the city — pretty much anywhere people ask him to.
So, where’s the craziest place he’s delivered dumplings?
We asked, and he answered.
#1:ONABOAT
“Some guy ordered them to be delivered to a marina. He was stopping by downtown in Coal Harbour so I had to make my way onto the dock and pass them off to him. I kept saying to myself, ‘Is this real life?’ And you know what? If someone is making the effort to come to shore for my dumplings, damn it, I’ll be there. Just give me the time for the drop.”
#2: AT THE BUS STATION AT THE FOOT OF MAIN STREET
“A client placed the order while she was in Calgary, caught the bus to Vancouver, we communicated through text/email to coordinate the delivery. I got her the dumplings just as she was switching buses to head up to Whistler. It was fun. We highfived.”
#3: IN AN OFFICE
“Wouldn’t say craziest, but the funniest, is just offices in general. When I show up everyone in the office looks up at me with the weirdest reactions. I get a kick out of it as I used to work in one. When my client rushes — and sometimes runs — over and is so excited to be getting their order it’s such a great feeling. To me that’s crazy. How I never thought I’d be doing this for a living and having people stand behind what I do.”
Cooking is such an empowering thing.” Matthew Murtagh-Wu