While the Adelaide public comes to OzAsia's Lucky Dumpling Market for the food and performances on offer, for vendors like Gang Gang the event is a thrilling trial by fire and an opportunity to be part of a culinary community.

Adelaide is always eager to return to Elder Park for the Lucky Dumpling Market, but for the activation’s vendors, a lot of work goes into getting to open day.

New and old vendors alike have had Thursday, 19 October circled in their diaries for months.

This was the case for Lucky Dumpling Market veterans Gang Gang, who are making their third appearance at the market. Co-owners Nina Hadinata and Morgen Wynn welcome the stress and fun that comes from events such as these.

“This is how we started, we started on a food cart actually. We love the hustle, we love the pressure and we love how busy it gets,” Nina says. “Being at a festival with thousands and thousands of people lining up for your food, it really does push you to refine your food and the business.”

This business model appears to have worked for Gang Gang, moving forward from their early 2018 food truck days to open two brick-and-mortar stores with a third opening in late October of 2022.

While this may have spelled the end of their food truck days, Gang Gang continue to pop up at events such as Gluttony, Illuminate, Tasting Australia, and Lucky Dumpling Market, while also making themselves available for catering.

It’s the community that builds around the events that drives Nina and Morgen to keep active in the scene.

“It makes the events that much more enjoyable for us, being able to have that community back-of-house as well as front-of-house,” Morgen says.

“On top of that, at all the events we do there is an awesome atmosphere. We love it.”

Morgen and Nina with the Gang Gang van. This picture: Supplied

The fun comes at a price, though. Nina, Morgen and their kitchen staff spend weeks preparing for the Lucky Dumpling Market, knowing that the at the end of the process they still have to actually run the stall.

“There’s a lot of organising from our end, making sure everyone has a prep list, everyone knows what they’re doing on the day and making sure we’re getting the best out of our team,” Morgen says

“It’s a pretty big five weeks, so even just the mental preparing you’ve got to get into it.”

“To be quite honest the prepping is probably the easiest part,” adds Nina. “It’s the cooking part [that’s hardest]. Kudos to the cooking team, especially on weekends when it’s lunch and dinner service.”

While the crew at Gang Gang is familiar with the challenge, Lucky Dumpling Market also offers a unique display of culture and heritage that the whole team is be able to enjoy.

“We’re lucky, they’ve got all us foodies wrapped around Elder Park, so we have a really beautiful view of the stage so we get to enjoy it as well, which is awesome,” Morgen says.

“Our rule is that everyone on their break needs to go enjoy and eat something different. Eat outside in the sun and enjoy the music.”

The Lucky Dumpling Market showcases the best of Asian cuisine in Adelaide, and it’s the wide range of culinary arts on show that originally attracted Gang Gang to the event.

“We’re not just your regular burger joint, we really did start with our Asian influence, so the Lucky Dumpling Market was a natural progression for us,” Nina says.

“We get to do fun stuff like cheeseburger dumplings, kimchi dumplings, things that we have done in house for a while and it’s a nice way to showcase that.”

Order the cheeseburger dumplings. This picture: Helen Page

No matter the stress the Gang Gang crew may encounter during the event, Nina and Morgen acknowledge the benefits that come from it.

“Brick-and-mortars are super easy now. If you can survive a festival, you can survive a lunch service at a brick-and-mortar,” Nina laughs.

“You’re basically spending 14 hours a day with the same people and you become pretty close. It’s fun, it’s super busy and it keeps you on your toes.”

The Lucky Dumpling Market is on in Elder park until Sunday, 13 November.

Lucky Dumpling Market. This picture: Adelaide Aerial