Time to woo your friends with honing MasterChef’s Brendan Pang’s mouthwatering wonton recipe.

Perth’s ‘Dumping King’ Brendan Pang continues to make us salivate with his flavour-packed, golden nugget creations currently seen wooing judges on Channel 10’s MasterChef Back to Win. But if drooling when watching him perform his dumpling mastery on TV becomes too great, Brendan has made it easy for you to get your chopsticks around his flavour pow wow cuisines. (Avid MasterChef fans – take note.)

Since appearing on MasterChef Season 10 in 2018, Brendan has turned the heat up in the kitchen, opening his Chinese-Mauritian inspired Bumplings in Fremantle’s most hip eatery venue, The Sunshine Harvester Works. Brendan has also found time out of the kitchen to put his hands to other uses, releasing his cookbook, ‘This Is A Book About Dumplings‘ to the delight of dumpling devotees. Not only does he know how to set tastebuds on fire, but his time management (nevermind the ticking MasterChef clocks) to achieve all of this is nothing short of remarkable for Australia’s rising kitchen talent.

Brendon revealed So Where Next how life has been post-filming the latest MasterChef series in Melbourne. “Re-opening Bumplings has been awesome! I’ve brought back some recipes from MasterChef and focusing more on my Mauritian Chinese heritage. I’m so grateful from the response from West Australians out there.”

In an exclusive Brendan shares one of his easy wonton recipe with So Where Next readers.

“Everyone loves crispy fried wontons, and this version is a special family recipe handed down from my Grandmere,”

“If you’ve had these before at yum cha, you might expect them served with mayonnaise, but I’ve added a twist with a slight kick of Korean chilli paste to elevate the dish.”

Brendan Pang’s Wonton Recipe

Ingredients

*Makes 30 wontons

30 wonton wrappers
Vegetable oil, to fry filling
300g pork mince
20ml light soy sauce
30g oyster sauce
1 tbsp finely chopped coriander leaves
1 tsp finely grated ginger
5ml sesame oil
5ml shaoxing cooking wine
1⁄4 tsp ground white pepper
Pinch of salt
Spicy Korean mayonnaise
1/3 cup Kewpie mayonnaise
1 tbsp Gochujang (Korean chilli paste)

Instructions

To make the wonton filling, place all ingredients in a mixing bowl and mix vigorously in one direction until the mixture binds. Cover and leave to rest in the fridge for 30 minutes.

Working with one wonton wrapper at a time, place 1 heaped teaspoon of filling in the centre. Brush two adjoining edges of the square with water. Fold the wet edges over (in half) to make a triangular shape and enclose the filling. Brush one of the corners with water and fold inward to overlap with the other corner. Press to seal. Place onto a tray lined with baking paper, cover loosely with a tea towel and repeat process to form remaining dumplings.

To make the Spicy Korean Mayonnaise place all ingredients in a small mixing bowl and stir until well combined. Set aside in the fridge until required.

When ready to cook the wontons, fill a pot with vegetable oil to about two-thirds of the way up and heat to 180C. Test by dipping a wooden chopstick into the oil. It will sizzle when ready. Gently lowering wontons in batches into the oil and cook until golden brown, about 3-5 minutes.

Drain on a plate lined with paper towels and serve immediately with Spicy Korean Mayonnaise.

Want to take your wonton training to the next level? Brendan reveals his hot tips in how to become a dumplings master:

• Incorporate an egg into your filling to help create a light and silky texture.
• If the filling is dry it will be dry after you cook it so ensure there is some juiciness by
using a fattier protein. Alternatively, you can beat a little liquid into the filling such a
stock.
• Choose the right dumpling wrapper for your intended cooking method. For example,
wonton wrappers work best when boiling and deep frying and gow gee wrappers are
best when steaming or pan-frying.
• Don’t overfill your dumplings. There is a fine line between overfilling and underfilling. The best way to overcome this is to make as many as you can so you get a
good feel for filling to wrapper ratio.
• If you are making a vegetarian filling, cook it down first to avoid excess moisture.
• Always use fresh ingredients where possible, especially aromats such as spring onion
and ginger.
• Dumplings are best served immediately once cooked however, can be frozen and
cooked straight from the freezer.

The details

Bumplings – The Sunshine Harvester Works – 1 James Street (Corner Beach Street), Fremantle WA 6160

Buy the book: This Is A Book About Dumplings – out now

Follow: @brendan_pang & @bumplingsperth

Feature image: Brendan Pang

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