Did you know in the 1890s
one in every three chefs in Australia was Chinese?
Since then, Chinese cuisine has been playing
a significant role in hospitality,
food and culture
in our communities.
One of the very first Chinese restaurants on record
could be traced back to 1854.
Back in the Gold Rush period,
the owner was a Chinese man called John Alloo.
We are now at the Sovereign Hill museum
in Ballarat
where you can see this recreation of
John Alloo’s restaurant.
John first came to Australia
as an indentured labourer
from Guangdong, China.
His restaurant mainly served roasts and puddings
and of course, other Chinese food.
It’s fair to say that
where there were Chinese miners,
there would be Chinese cookshops,
for example, the well-known goldfields in Victoria
and the regional area in Queensland
along the Northern Palmer River.
We're now in Canberra
at the National Museum of Australia
to look at some pottery shards
found at Palmer River.
So were these shards part of some bowls
that's used by the Chinese miners back then?
That's exactly right, Cotton.
These were rice bowls.
They were found at an archaeological site
in north Queensland in the Palmer River area.
There had been a big gold rush
in that area in the 1870s
and these were found at a site called Ah Toy’s Garden,
named after the man
who owned that property for about 50 years.
And the Palmer River Gold Rush
had a very different characteristics
than other gold rushes in Australia
because by the end of the 1870s
the vast majority of the miners in the area
were Chinese.
There were 18,000 Chinese miners
and about 1,500 European miners.
There were specific foods
that were imported from China,
from Guangdong,
but they were more specialised,
you know, there was salted fish, salted eggs,
and then there were condiments
that you might have added in small doses
to your foods, like
shark fin and shrimp and caviar.
And those were imported
by Chinese merchants in Cooktown
and then sold on to the miners.
Speaking of Chinese Australian food,
Chinatown is a must see.
Here we are at the oldest one
in the Southern Hemisphere,
Melbourne Chinatown.
Back then in Melbourne,
one in ten restaurants was a Chinese restaurant.
However, the prosperity of Chinatown
hasn’t always been easy.
In 1901, the White Australia policy was imposed,
which made it very difficult
for Chinese people to migrate to Australia.
It was not until the 1930s
the Chinese chefs and restaurant staff
got exemptions to come here,
thereby solving the shortage of
chefs and other workers in Chinese restaurants.
The clients were primarily business people
who worked in the CBD area.
University students
and other European migrants
who had just arrived.
Patrons would bring their own saucepans
for takeaway food,
as it was before takeaway boxes became common.
Chicken fried rice and sweet and sour pork
were some of the most popular Chinese dishes
among Australians.
The menu also started to evolve
from poultry and fish based food
to one that favoured more beef dishes,
making Chinese food
more accessible in Aussie households.
This building used to be Chung Wah café,
which is possibly the longest continuously operated
Chinese restaurant in Victoria.
Over 100 years later,
the new place is now
a contemporary restaurant
inspired by Singaporean cuisine
and it's run by two Malaysians, Chek and Raymond.
This building used to be
a famous Chinese restaurant
called Chung Wah Café
I am aware of that
So are you interested
in finding out what
the menu of Chung Wah Café
looked like more than 100 years ago?
- Of course, I'm keen - Of course
Let's check out this menu
from the past
Is there any dishes that look familiar to you?
Egg Foo Yung I guess
This is a dish we often had when we were little
Mum might have used shrimp
char siew and onion
and stir fry them
Then add an egg and pan-fry everything
I heard that during the early days
when Chung Wah Café was still in business
Australian customers actually preferred
Chinese food which tasted sweet and sour
What do you think people like now?
Have Australians’ tastes evolved?
I think in terms of taste
the old preference remains
But in terms of choices
there is a lot more
There have been new immigrants
coming over the past few decades
and they’ve brought their cuisine with them
For locals
there are so many to choose from
Now if you talk about sweet and sour
there is Thai food
Lots of delicious dishes brought here
from mainland China too
The Australian food culture is really amazing
All this food talk makes me so hungry
Shall we sample a popular dish from the restaurant?
Can I please order a plate of Hainanese chicken rice?
I am actually from Hainan China
Of course
This Melbourne version of Hainanese chicken has no bones
That’s right we removed the bones
because we found that a lot of locals
don't like to eat anything with bones
Ah I can't wait
I am going to tuck in!
So good, sometimes you can't help
but just feel a bit nostalgic when you have a taste of home.
What's your favourite Chinese dish?