Galway Food Stories; One Normal, Dumpling-Making Anthropologist with Yifan Wang

In the final edition of Galway Food Stories for 2024, Head Chef Jess Murphy chats with Yifan Wang about dumplings, their shared experiences of being married to Irish men and their new series 'The Spoken Canteen'. Read all about it here......

Things I didn’t know until I met Yifan Wang from Xi’an; 1. Yifan’s name in Chinese means ‘one normal.’ 2. She is a big BIG Liverpool-supporting, dumpling-making, firecracker who has a PHD in Anthropology. The scientific study of human beings and their ancestors through time and culture. 3. Yifan comes from Northern China, where she was born and raised. Her mother is a retired engineering lecturer, and her father ran a restaurant in her hometown. 4. Xi’an in China has the same name as our cult status favourite for an auld spice bag on Quay Street. (Fun fact: in China there is no such thing as a spice bag. We just made up this delicious weird mix ourselves through cultural connections with Chinese immigrants. Did you know the dish was first created in 2010 by the Sunflower Chinese takeaway in Templeogue, Dublin? I mean, this alone is modern Irish culinary anthropology in a nutshell…)

Yifan and I first met when I advertised for help with a project called ‘The Spoken Canteen,’ where we would speak to refugees about what they miss back home and what they really love about Ireland. We then did what all random Kiwi/Chinese pals do; we got talking about our cultures and being married to Irish men with very traditional pallets. I taught her what the pigs in a blanket dish is in Ireland and Yifan taught me what it was in Northern China. Before we knew it, we were talking about dumplings, about how in Northern China they are seen as a celebration, and that we should absolutely have a dumpling night in Shantalla (where Yifan currently lives). Side note: food in Xi’an in Northern China is very carb heavy, and I am totally down for that!

There are strict rules for making dumplings in Xi’an so I’m really really happy that Yifan’s mam won’t see this and tell us off for using the wrong ingredients. Like with all mams worldwide - you know how scary they can be! To get started on making these dumplings, we use Lunasa organic pork mix from County Clare, and some amazing local prawns and scallops from Galway Bay Seafoods. As we cook, we start chatting about her day-to-day favourites; like where she likes to go on a day off, and I learnt that her favourite coffee spot is Little Lane Coffee. She also loves the Bierhaus and is into Land & Labour in a massive way. Also, she loves stopping by Ard Bia and Kappa Ya for some lunch.

I truly adore Galway for creating these amazing connections between people and places. So, if you want to hear more from Yifan, look out for our upcoming project ‘The Spoken Canteen’ with the amazing Heavy Man Films. We can’t wait to share it with you all.

Words by Jess Murphy.
Photos by Ciarán MacChoncarraige.