Queen of Dumplings Dr. Chong Kin-wo
Known as the “Queen of Dumplings,” Dr. Chong Kin-wo is the creator of a local brand of dumplings, Wanchi Ferry, which went from being peddled on a street cart to starting an international franchise, winning her the World Outstanding Chinese Award. Dr. Chong received an honorary degree from Armstrong University in California earlier this year.
HK Magazine: Where are you from, and how long have you been making dumplings?
Chong Kin-wo: I’m from Shandong, Qingdao, and I have been making dumplings for 28 years. I started out at the Wan Chai ferry pier, selling cooked dumplings on a cart for $1 for six. Now it’s a little more than $10 for a box of 10 frozen dumplings – but it’s frozen.
HK: Do you have loyal customers who will only eat the dumplings rolled by your hands?
CK: My customers are my friends. Some old timers say, “We’ll find you wherever you go,” and they do. They appear at my doorstep out of nowhere, to buy dumplings. They say that whenever they have dumplings they think of me.
HK: Do you think about food all day?
CK: I think about food all day. When I go shopping, I don’t think fashion, I think food — I love to go to fish markets. It’s an old habit of mine to constantly think of new ingredients for my dumplings. There is no schedule for cooking — it can happen anytime. When I see a cooking show, I get motivated and start working in the kitchen right away. I’ve got three refrigerators in my kitchen for storing various ingredients.
HK: What’s the strangest flavor in your dumplings?
CK: The most outlandish ingredient is anise, a favorite vegetable in Beijing and Tianjin that looks like carrot sprouts. I tried it on some friends, and they had no idea what it was. I said it was a cockroach, and they were all stunned. My team and I spent over a year developing this flavor, looking for the best anise in China. The plant’s only good in Beijing, where the winter’s cold enough.
HK: Why are you concentrating on vegetarian dumplings right now?
CK: People have become health-conscious - less meat and more veggies. In the old times plagued by war, food was scarce and people would salivate when they hear the word “meat.” Now ladies who like to eat meat are afraid to eat it, so I make tasty vegetarian dumplings. It’s a real challenge to make vegetables taste as good as meat. Right now, we’re experimenting with watercress.
HK: So, dumplings. Did you ever think your life would end up like this?
CK: I never dreamed that I would make a living with dumplings. I was once at a huge banquet for women entrepreneurs. My introduction was: “I am a woman that sells dumplings.” But everyone had already heard of me. I aspired to become a great doctor, but since I got into this business by divine will, I made the best out of it. It brings out happiness for both my customers and me. If the food tastes good, the customers are happy, and I’ll feel it. It’s the mutual satisfaction that matters. If I could have named my little business at the Wan Chai pier back in those days, I would have called it “Open-hearted Dumplings.”