Maybe you toss a bag of frozen dumplings in your cart at your local big box grocery store. Sometimes you'll splurge and order up some heat-and-serve handmade dumplings from a Vancouver restaurant or chef. And, of course, there are steaming baskets and plates of plump, juicy dumplings to be had across Metro Vancouver, from high-end spots to no-frills food court gems.
But how often are you making your own dumplings at home? The tiny folds, the savoury filling, the small bites that, like the term "dim sum" means, are little pieces of heart, can add up to make for an intimidating home cooking project.
Local food lovers Teresa Ly and Justin Yee wanted to take some of the mystery out of dumpling-making, and find a way to make it easier for people to gather in their Metro Vancouver kitchens with friends and family to recreate traditional Asian dishes themselves. So Ly and Yee launched Kitster, a cooking "kit" available for delivery across the region that puts the fun of making juicy pork-filled dumplings or matcha mochi cookies in the hands of home cooks.
"We felt (and still feel) that in a diverse city like Vancouver, there are so many families who have that special dish which they have perfected at home and we wanted to find a way to contribute those dishes to the local food scene," Ly tells Vancouver Is Awesome in an email interview.
Naturally, the pandemic helped open the entrepreneurs' eyes to a need for a product - and experience - like Kitster, as they realized so many people were spending more time at home and cooking their own meals.
Cooking for fun has been a major switch up Ly and Yee tracked in the last couple of years. "We think before the pandemic, a lot of people including ourselves saw going out to dinner as a treat and eating at home to be more for sustenance than enjoyment," describes Ly.
"Because people couldn’t eat out as easily during the pandemic, they learned that treating yourself to good food can and should happen at home as well!" adds the Kitster co-founder. "People also became more open to the idea of ordering food for delivery and spending more time in the kitchen trying new things."
True enough, many of us were at home tending to our sourdough starters, frothing up Dalgona coffee drinks, and ordering heat-and-serve meals from our favourite local restaurants to get through the times when we were staying home more. At the same time, Ly and Yee got to work developing a plan for their Asian cooking kits, including developing a recipe for their starter savoury dish, pork dumplings and a green tea-infused cookie.
"We developed each of our recipes from scratch and it involved months of planning, sourcing, and testing," Ly says. "One thing we were very grateful for during the process was the support we received from our family and friends who taste-tested round after round of cookie and dumpling iterations and would suggest ingredients that we never would have thought of."
The most important testers, however, were Ly and Yee's grandparents: They "were truly an inspiration for why we wanted to start our business," Ly explains.
And the duo made sure the Kitster dumplings stood up to the competition - with some creative test runs.
"Funny story, Justin even blindfolded his family to have them taste test different popular dumplings from around the city alongside ours and he was only happy to release the product once they unanimously picked Kitster as their favourite," explains Ly.
Ly also had some unique insight into launching a food business, thanks to her being a Vancouver food influencer (she's on Instagram as @teelythefoodie).
"Being on the other side is definitely eye-opening," attests Ly, who says she knew Kitster needed a strong social media presence and branding and was able to get the first boxes into the hands of other food influencers to try themselves and get the word out about the fresh venture.
While the launch includes kits for dumplings and cookies, Kitster will soon expand to feature more items, like seasonal dishes and limited-edition drops.
'There’s no wrong way to fold a dumpling'
Kitster is infused with a lot of fun - and they've set it up so that making dumplings in your own kitchen doesn't seem so daunting, thanks to the video instructions you access via QR code that demonstrate several folding techniques.
"We love seeing the creative folding techniques and shapes that people have come up with," adds Ly.
Ly and Yee admit they weren't skilled dumpling folders themselves to start, but since the launch have both improved.
"There’s no wrong way to fold a dumpling and it’ll still be delicious in the end so don’t worry about it looking perfect!" encourages Ly.
Ultimately, the end result is a tasty dumpling - or cookie - you've created, and hopefully, you've enjoyed the process with friends and family.
"We want to show that making Asian dishes can be easy and accessible. In the process, we hope customers will create fun memories through cooking together."
Kitster kits are available to order online, with pick-up in Vancouver at Cambie and 49th, and delivery to Vancouver, Burnaby, Richmond, and New Westminster.
@vancouverisawesome Look at these adorable dumplings! 🥟🥟🥟#vancouverbc #vancouverfoodie #cooking #dumplings #vancouverisawesome ♬ original sound - Cara Bowen
