2016 May 25
by Lisa Herbertson
MasterChef star Kumar Pereira brings hoppers to Sydney markets with their stall Hopper Kadé
“Forget the Whopper, have a hopper next time you’re struggling after a big night out.”
This could be the best marketing slogan to come out of 2016, but owners at Hopper Kadé, Kumar Pereira and Ruvanie de Zoysa, are sticking by it.
A newcomer to the Sydney food-scene — the hopper — is selling like hot cakes at the pair’s Saturday morning market stall at Orangegrove markets in Lilyfield, in Sydney’s inner west.
Sydney’s street food-savvy crowd has quickly embraced the hoppers, and Mr Pereira and Ms de Zoysa say the only major hurdle they’ve had so far is trying to keep up with demand.
“Every weekend, we increase the number of hoppers we serve, yet every Saturday, we sell out well before the markets close,” Ms de Zoysa said.
The pair, who both have a Sri Lankan background, said for a long time they had not been able to find a good hopper in Sydney, and so they made it their mission to rework the contemporary Sri Lankan street dish and bring it to the markets.
Mr Pereira, who is a MasterChef alumni, said it took him four years to master the recipe, and Ms de Zoysa said she was blown away by how successful their venture had been.
“Kumar and I both have roots in Sri Lanka and love hoppers, but struggled to find them in Sydney so we decided to start making them ourselves,” Ms de Zoysa said.
“We also gave the traditional dish a delectable and nutritious revamp.”
“There was just nothing around like it, and we kept saying to ourselves why hasn’t this been done here?”
While traditionally the hopper is made with a base of white wheat flour, Ms de Zoysa said the Hopper Kadé pancake bowls are made of coconut water, spices and naturally fermented red rice flour.
“The ingredients make the hopper not only nutritious (and gluten, dairy-free, and refined sugar free) but the fermentation process removes phytic acid from the rice,” she said.
“The acid is found in most grains, and can reduce the body’s mineral and vitamin absorption.
“Our goal was to produce fast food with wholefood values.”
The Hopper Kadé accompaniments are seasonally sourced where possible and range from the Sri Lankan and Australian breakfast fusion: Bacon and Egg hopper (poached free range egg with caramelised bacon crumb with roasted chilli tomatoes) to the Vegetarian Hopper (poached free range egg, green vegetable mallung, lentil curry, coconut sambal, with a refreshing fennel and cucumber pickle), which is a completely alkaline food sensation.
“I would describe our hoppers as contemporary and more nutritious versions of a traditional Sri Lankan staple,” Ms de Zoysa said.
“We want to offer people food that is nutritious, locally sourced, tasty and easy enough to be eaten on the go.”
GET A HOPPER
● Hopper Kadé has permanent residence trading at Orange Grove Organic markets in Lilyfield on Saturdays
● Follow Hopper Kadé on Instagram @hopperkade; on Facebook at facebook.com/hopperkade or on the website hopperkade.com.au
NEED TO KNOW
● Hopper Kadé is the creation of Kumar Pereira (MasterChef — season 3) and Ruvanie De Zoysa.
● Hopper Kadé specialise in both sweet and savoury hoppers, and are made with red rice flour instead of white rice. With it’s crispy lace like hopper bowl, to the spongy hopper base the Hopper has been described as a hybrid of the crumpet and the crepe.
This article was first published on The Daily Telegraph
Photos courtesy: Craig Wilson
