During the recent circuit breaker, a lot of bored Singaporeans started cooking at home. Young lawyer, Liow Xuan Rong, 25, was one of them. She was called to the Bar last August, and had been working full-time in corporate law when Covid-19 hit. “We were working from home every day during the circuit breaker, and I started to experiment [with cooking] on weekends since there was nothing to do,” says Xuan Rong, a self-professed avid home cook. “I was making a lot of food and posting them on Instagram. My friends said, ‘Oh, I’d love to try this’,” she recalls.
1of6
Started food biz as a hobby
The enthusiastic responses gave Xuan Rong the idea to start a food business as a hobby. “There were other lawyers who went into F&B while in practice, like [Lyn Lee of] Awfully Chocolate. Since I had time during the CB, I thought of exploring my area of interest,” she reckons. She decided on making pink dumpling wrappers, and Instagrammed them to gauge the market demand. “The response was not bad. My friends were very encouraging,” she laughs.
2of6
There’s nothing dizzy about these dumplings
After a two-month period of R&D, she launched the Instagram order-only Dizzy Dumplings on June 30. It offers pre-made dumplings that customers can buy to pan-fry, steam or boil at home. “There’s no story behind the name. I just wanted something that sounds very catchy,” she laughs.The brand’s cutesy cartoon dumpling logo was also something Xuan Rong “drew on Microsoft Powerpoint”. She says, “It was done on the fly, really. I didn’t give much thought to it. My business was born out of curiosity and a sense of adventure, ’cos I was bored during the circuit breaker.”
3of6
Pink dumplings
She creates pink dumpling skin by colouring it with natural juice from dragon fruit. “Initially I used beetroot, but the colour oxidises and changes while the dough is resting. So I stopped using it. Dragon fruit is good. The black specks from the seeds give the skin a bit of a ‘galaxy’ feel,” she explains.
4of6
You’ll need to wait for these babies
There’s a waiting time of one to two weeks for her orders. Xuan Rong preps the skin on weekdays after work, and stuffs the dumplings on weekends before sending them out to customers on Sunday. “The dough needs to rest for one or two days before being rolled out. I make them as and when I get the orders,” she says. Delivery fee costs a flat $5 (while Xuan Rong was initially doing her own delivery runs, she has since engaged a courier company to deliver her orders). There’s also a free pickup option “anywhere in the north” of Singapore.
5of6
Truffle flavour coming soon
Currently, she has one dumpling flavour, Pork & Chive ($13.90 for 20 pieces). Other than minced pork and chopped chives, each dumpling is also loaded with a cube of chicken broth jelly, which melts into soup when the dumpling is cooked. She reveals, “I wanted the dumplings to be juicier, and was inspired by xiao long baos. I also make this sauce — I blend spring onions, ginger and garlic into a paste and pour heated oil over it to make a sauce. I mix it with the meat filling before I add any seasonings.”
She will soon be selling a new flavour, Truffle ($20 for 12 pieces), which has pork filling mixed with truffle paste. “I’m at the experimentation stage now, for the filling and colour of the skin,” she shares. It will be launched “no later than end-July”.
6of6
Started making dumplings out of homesickness
Xuan Rong started making dumplings while studying in London for her law degree. She recounts, “I lived there for three years. When I was there, my Singaporean friends and I craved Asian food a lot. We didn’t get to go out to restaurants often, and there weren't a lot of things I wanted to eat there, so we made dumplings."
While she intends to remain in law for the foreseeable future (“it would depend on how far I can take this biz”), she plans to eventually make Dizzy Dumplings into “an income-generating business”. She adds, “My long-term plan is to create a social enterprise. I plan to work with intellectually disabled children and adults, and teach them to make dumplings to help them become more self-sufficient. It’s very hard for them to find jobs as adults, because of the way they were born. (Sighs) I want to work with government agencies and see how we can equip them with skills.”
I consent to the use of my personal data by Mediacorp and the Mediacorp group of companies (collectively “Mediacorp”) to send me notices, information, promotions and updates including marketing and advertising materials in relation to Mediacorp’s goods and services and those of third party organisations selected by Mediacorp, and for research and analysis, including surveys and polls.
This hawker offers FREE-FLOW chye poh with his chee cheong fun! He also serves comforting bowls of porridge cooked with nourishing pork bone broth 🙌 #8dayseathawker #8dayseat #hawker #singapore
Steaming chee cheong fun is the best skincare routine one can have, if you ask babyfaced hawker Kulathorn. The former healthcare worker set up a stall selling silky rice rolls made from scratch, with rice grains ground in a stone mill! #8dayseathawker #8dayseat #hawkerfood #sgfood #cheecheongfun #traditionalfood #tiktoksg #fyp #singapore
Former SGAG writer Siraj and his wife Nasyirah started a burger joint inspired by her father’s tandoori chicken. The couple recently moved their eatery, taking over a whole 3-storey space in front of Sultan Mosque, as Siraj says: “We’re Muslims. It’s Arab Street, and we didn’t want people drinking alcohol in front of the mosque.” #8dayseatrestaurant #8dayseat #muslimowned #burger #tandoori #halalfood #tiktoksg #fyp #singapore
Going cafe-hopping this long weekend? There’s a new spot to check out — Danish furniture brand Hay has opened a pop-up cafe at Grafunkt! #8dayseatcafe #8dayseat #cafes #sgcafe #matcha #hay #haycafe #tiktoksg #fyp #singapore
Ian was not just cultivating his yeast starter as a home-based sourdough baker — he also impressed his customer Jingwen so much that those feelings grew into a relationship! The couple now run their own cafe selling everything sourdough ❤️ #8dayseatcafe #8dayseat #cafes #sourdough #bread #tiktoksg #fyp #singapore
Hokkien mee is a popular Singaporean hawker dish, but these young hawkers are dishing it to the Gen Z crowd the 'carbonara' style! #8dayseathawker #8dayseat #hawker #hokkienmee #wheretoeat #tiktoksg #fyp #singapore
We found KOSONG Hokkien mee for $3.50 at this stall run by young hawkers! According to them, it doesn't come with any prawns or squid but the WOK HEI is still robust! #8dayseathawker #8dayseat #hawker #hokkienmee #wheretoeat #tiktoksg #fyp #singapore
Vietnamese hawker Klim, who married a Singaporean husband, now works at their stall serving local delights like popiah, rojak, muah chee and kueh pie tee. But why is her kueh pie tee served 'toppled' on their sides?! 😦 #8dayseathawker #8dayseat #hawker #localfood #tiktoksg #fyp
Vietnamese hawker Klim, who married a Singaporean husband, now works at their stall serving local delights like popiah, rojak, muah chee and kueh pie tee. But why is her kueh pie tee served 'toppled' on their sides?! 😦 #8dayseathawker #8dayseat #hawker #localfood #tiktoksg #fyp
Found! This super hot Chagee barista who has customers asking to take photos with him 🥵😆 #8dayseattrending #8dayseat #chagee #tea #singapore #tiktoksg #fyp
Is this why the queue at Chagee is always super long?! We found this cute barista there who is turning heads for his K-pop idol looks! Oh, and he can also guide you on what’s good to order there 🫶 #8dayseattrending #8dayseat #chagee #tea #singapore #tiktoksg #fyp
You May Also Like
Content is loading...
This browser is no longer supported
We know it's a hassle to switch browsers but we want your experience with 8 Days to be fast, secure and the best it can possibly be.