Vegan food in London gets a Cantonese twist: say hello to dumplings made by former graphic designer and her Hong Kong chef father

Chubby Dumpling began as a side project for Chantel Yeung, who had been working as a graphic designer in the fashion industry, but soon became a full-time job

The food van sells noodles and dumplings, including vegan ones. When the pair launched their first bricks-and-mortar pop-up, tickets sold out in minutes

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Chubby Dumpling customers tuck into
a serving of dumplings in London. Its menu includes vegan dumplings, which former graphic designer Chantel Yeung and her Hong Kong-born chef father came up with to satisfy the palates of the many Londoners who follow plant-based diets. Photo: Chubby Dumpling

Published: 12:45pm, 31 Jan 2024Updated: 12:01pm, 1 Feb 2024

Chinese food is difficult to make vegan – much of the cuisine depends on animal products such as bone broth, chicken powder, fish sauce and minced pork to enhance its flavour and fragrance profile.

But difficult does not mean impossible. In London, a travelling food van serving mostly meat-based Cantonese dumplings has adapted its recipes to cater to one of the world’s most vegan-friendly cities. It is also launching its first restaurant pop-up ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday, for which tickets sold out within 10 minutes.

Initially a side project, Chubby Dumpling began with Chantel Yeung, who had been working as a graphic designer in the fashion industry but could not find enjoyment in her day job.

“I prefer being outside on my feet, moving around and talking to people and found it really hard to be sitting down on a computer all the time,” she says, “I wanted to leave and go into hospitality, which I grew up in and is much more interesting to me.”

Chantel Yeung, founder of Chubby Dumpling, and her father, Joseph Yeung Wai-hung, in their converted fire engine. Photo: Chubby Dumpling

Yeung spent much of her youth in the Chinese restaurant her Hong Kong-born father owned in Salisbury, southern England.