We are very excited to announce that our first chefs at Si Fang Cai, our new dining club, will be the fabulous Rangoon Sisters. You may have already seen their delicious dishes on our Instagram and social media feeds as they are stalwarts of our pot luck club.
The Rangoon Sisters are doctors Emily and Amy Chung who were born and bred in London. They started the Rangoon Sisters Burmese Supper Club as part of the “E17Popup” series in Walthamstow in February 2013. Since then, they have gone from strength to strength. They have appeared in The Evening Standard, Observer Food Monthly, BBC Radio 4, Olive Magazine, BBC Good Food, Esquire and Foodism. Their first cookbook, published by Ebury Press, is set to come out in July 2020.
Their Burmese dishes celebrate home cooking, and the incredible flavours that are found throughout Myanmar. We are so excited to have them show off their amazing culinary skills for our opening date! They have raised over £10,000 for a variety of charities through supper clubbing. We are ever grateful that the proceeds for this dinner club will go towards helping us regenerate the Old Community Bath House. We are looking to renovate this as a centre for the East and Southeast Asian community in the UK.
If you haven’t heard about Si Fang Cai, it is our new dining club that will take place every few months in Hackney Chinese Community Services. Si Fang Cai (私房菜) literally means ‘private room dish’. It is the Chinese version of a speakeasy supper club and its origin dates back to the Ming Dynasty.
In addition to Rangoon Sisters, we will be featuring a variety of foods from chefs from diverse backgrounds and experiences. Fixed priced set menus will feature home-style cooking, enjoyed at circular tables in the tradition of Chinese family-style dining. Expect to see off-menu items and unexpected cross-cultural collaborations.
Si Fang Cai is hosted by the wonderful Jenny Lau, a Chinese Londoner who explores cultural identity and community building through food. She is the host of the #ChineseFoodiesofIG potluck meet-up and a volunteer at Hackney Chinese.
The first dining club takes place on Saturday 21st March, hosted by Rangoon Sisters. Grab your ticket now!