Newsletter # 43 – Chinese Cuisine in Australia – Honey Prawns

There is a school of thought that dates ethnic Chinese as trading ‘partners’ with indigenous Australians, long before the arrival of British colonists. However records show that Chinese migration didn’t really happen until the 1820’s and that only came about because of the Britain’s love of tea and the fact that it was relatively convenient for ships plying the route between Britain and the fledgling Colony of New South Wales to drop in to China for a backload of the ‘mother countries’ favourite drop.

But there were only occasional Chinese visitors who chose to begin a new life ‘down under’. The Gold rushes of the 1850’s in New South Wales spurred unprecedented growth, migration and the formation of the State of Victoria in 1855. By 1861 there were an estimated 40000 ethnic Chinese living and working in the yet to be proclaimed country of Australia. Many of those worked in the goldfields, but others moved into supporting service businesses such as retail, manufacturing and later market gardens.

The Chinese had an uneasy relationship with the populations of the various colonies’ largely Anglo-Saxon population, yet they were not deterred and as the gold subsided many stayed to raise their own families.

It wasn’t until after World War 1 that Australian born people of Chinese background began to outnumber ethnic Chinese. One of my cooking school classmates could trace his family back to his great-grandfathers arrival in Australia, in the 1850’s.

Between the wars and after World War 2 Australian cafes owned by Chinese and their descendents started appearing. While I didn’t realise it at the time by the 1970’s the local Chinese restaurant was a dominate force in the Australian hospitality industry. There was a fair chance that you had a Chinese restaurant in your suburb or in the next suburb.

Chinese restaurants eagerly embraced the ‘take away’ concept to the point that ‘having Chinese tonight’ didn’t need any further explanation. Gradually, shopping centres, the club industry and some pubs began featuring dedicated outlets for Chinese cuisine. Even some of the larger international hotels had a standalone Chinese restaurant as one of their culinary offerings.

But how did Chinese cuisine evolve in Australia? Well in short it had to adapt. Resentment of the Chinese led early Chinese chefs to altering their offerings for locals – steaming and braising was out while deep-frying and sticky sweet sauces were in and there was more of an emphasis on meat and less on vegetables which has left a legacy that has greatly influenced the tastebuds of our Baby Boomer generation.

I can remember Chinese restaurants advertising both Australian and Chinese meals being available. I tended to avoid them.

After 1973, Australia’s ‘White Australia policy’ ended its 70 year reign and a greater acceptance of all peoples from all countries started. This closely followed an increase in visitor numbers year upon year.

Today, Chinese cuisine is still very popular in Australia, but for the most, the industry has a greater focus on regional Chinese cuisine, Chinese food enjoyed by the Chinese Diaspora and speciality restaurants featuring noodles, dumplings and Yum Cha. Large concentration of Chinese restaurants can be found in the Chinatown precincts of many of Australia’s mainland capital cities. The influx of Chinese tourists and the average Australians search for authenticity has generally refined the industry to cater for all tastes and bank accounts.

Chinese staples in 1970’s Australia include sweet and sour pork, beef and black bean and of course deep-fried ice cream.

Today’s recipe was adapted from a Hong Kong chef’s culinary invention in the 1970’s. He devised it to appeal to Americans at a celebratory dinner and it quickly became popular. The combination of deep fried prawns, candied walnuts, mayonnaise and condensed milk was generally even too much for Australian tastes.  We call it honey prawns.