Think you know dumplings? Dumpling Daddies surprises with Malaysian flavours wrapped differently now serving at a pop-up near you

Dumpling Daddies pairs Jonathan Ooi's (left) creative mind and Victor Yap's (right) experience in F&B industry. — Picture by Choo Choy May

By Lee Khang Yi

First Published: Wednesday, 21 Oct 2026 8:46 AM MYT

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 21 — Every culture (and perhaps nation) has its own dumplings, whether it’s Shanghai’s calling card of xiao long bao, tortellinis made by Italian nonnas, Japanese gyoza and the list goes on. 

Each fold tells a story of flavour, tradition and love in every bite.

Dumpling Daddies by Jonathan Ooi and Victor Yap is what happens when you start with a familiar flavour, pull apart everything — the wrapper, filling and even accompaniments like sauce and pickles — then build it all back again to create a truly unique dumpling.

Their eye-catching Ipoh Mali Chicken Gnocchi is a prime example.

It features mini chickens shaped from chewy taro swimming in a delicious bowl of chicken stock laced with prawn oil, shredded chicken, and, of course, stubby crunchy bean sprouts. 

Ipoh Mali Chicken Gnocchi (left) reimagines 'kai si hor fun' with mini chicken-shaped taro dumplings. Teba-Gyoza (right) isn't your ordinary grilled chicken wing as it's stuffed with Thai 'haw mok'. — Pictures by Ryonn Leong

Yes, the chicken dumplings take the place of noodles in this iconic dish paying homage to Ipoh’s kai si hor fun.

Everything with Malaysian flavours is fair game for the duo but they have one thing they hold sacred: it must be a proper meal, not gimmicky. 

“Anything that can be wrapped — not necessarily with flour — it could be translucent or even a rice dumpling wrapped in a leaf, we just want it to be fun.”

The seed for Dumpling Daddies was planted in a Tokyo cafe one evening last year. Yap was on holiday there with friends and Ooi was at that time working in the mega city.

They coincidentally discovered a shared dream of opening a dumpling shop envisioned as a neighbourhood place people would keep returning to. 

Laksa Lemak Prawn Ravioli (left) uses a 'jiaozi' wrapper to encase prawns in a rich laksa broth. Sweet & Sticky Beef 'Epok-Epok' (right) is a crispy vessel for a filling of Daging Masak Hitam Sarawak that uses raisins. — Pictures by Ryonn Leong

This dream took off when Ooi returned to Kuala Lumpur this year, as he is on a micro retirement from a two-decade-long career in beauty, luxury and creative brand development that started in Kuala Lumpur and expanded to Singapore, Hong Kong, Shanghai and Tokyo.

Of the two, Yap, a trained civil and structural engineer, is the one with an extensive F&B background having co-founded the now-closed Tray Cafe, Fittie Sense, Peaches & Cream and apricot by Peaches and Cream.

Together they wanted to explore food through an Asian lens with Dumpling Daddies.   

They are like two sides of a coin: Ooi’s creative mind comes out with the unique dumplings and the branding while Yap keeps him grounded with the techniques and real life F&B experience. 

And in case you are wondering, neither are real-life daddies but they occupy an awkward age bracket: too young to be “uncles” and too old to be “bros”; hence, “daddies” was chosen.

“The interesting thing about it is when dad takes over a kitchen, it’s chaotic and experimental like a fun concept,” Ooi explained.

They debuted their dumplings at a collaborative food party themed “Campur-Campur” at Dou Dou Bake in Petaling Jaya in September.

It was a collaboration with two friends: Chef Piyanat “Gugs” Yowabut of Homm House No. 8 and Melanie Kang of Mel’s Memory Kitchen. 

Gugs hosts his Thai supper club in PJ Section 17 while Kang does private lunches featuring Hakka and Peranakan dishes beloved by her own family. 

The Malaysian-style pop-up puts the best offerings on a table, allowing diners to feast on all kinds of food from different cultures and flavours that celebrate our diversity. 

Crispy Puri Bombs with Snapper Umai (left) offered the perfect one-bite combination of crunch and freshness. Cheers to Dumpling Daddies (right) for a fun party of dumplings, salads and grilled items.— Pictures by Dou Dou Bake and Ryonn Leong

As Dumpling Daddies worked on the dumplings, Gugs and Kang came up with platters of grilled meat, seafood and side dishes like Nyonya acar and Gai Yang skewers while Dou Dou Bake provided the desserts and drinks. 

Diners sampled the Laksa Lemak Prawn Ravioli, which originally started as a Teochew fish skin dumpling but changed into a prawn jiaozi in ravioli form, sitting in a creamy laksa sauce with fresh herbs and relish

Sweet & Sticky Beef Epok-Epok took many trials to get the crispy pastry right, until it was strong enough to hold the sweet sticky Daging Masak Hitam Sarawak. 

A permanent home for Dumpling Daddies is still in the works but in the meantime, the duo plans to cook and collaborate more with others to learn what diners want. 

“Ultimately we want to have fun with it,” Yap said.

Look out for the Encore edition of 'Campur-Campur' to be held from November 7 to 9, featuring (from left to right) Chef Gugs of Homm House No. 8, Victor Yap, Melanie Kang of Mel's Memory Kitchen and Jonathan Ooi. — Picture courtesy of Dumpling Daddies.

For those who missed out on the last party, an encore of “Campur-Campur” will take place from November 7 to 9, at In the Muments (IG:@inthemument), an event space next to Air Day Coffee (IG:@airday_coffee). 

Tweaks have been made to the menu, following feedback and observations from the first “Campur-Campur”. 

Their Edition 01 menu will be a six-course sharing experience featuring 11 dishes, with adjusted portions and a format allowing everyone to try the full menu. 

Reservations will go online at Air Day Coffee and Dumpling Daddies Instagram starting October 24 so secure your spot quickly. The first three-night party at Dou Dou was fully booked in 24 hours, so don’t say we didn’t warn you.