New Supply Chains

Five years ago, the Wollongong area's concept of Asian food and ingredients was seen to be caught in a time warp, with anything labelled short and long soups, sweet and sour or satay sauced expounded as the representatives of something Oriental. East Asian or South-east Asian parents of overseas graduands at the nearby University did not stay around after the ceremonies to partake in Wollongong cuisine - they rushed off north to Hurstville, Cabramatta or Sydney's Chinatown, to have their seven to ten dishes in celebratory banquets, which may reflect their unfounded fears of non-Asian food or just reinforces their gusto for food from back home.

The so-called Chinatown Street in Wollongong Central - Keira Street - has several outlets of Vietnamese, Cambodian, Thai and Malay origin - but they do supplement these offerings with a sampling of southern Chinese dishes. Asian food is accepted in Wollongong as noodles, peanut butter laden sauces and small mouth bite pieces of meat or vegetables marinated with lemon grass and chilli pastes. Some go brave and provide upmarket surroundings in furniture and decor. Some practical places charge at reasonable prices but can review their food taste strategies. Attempts at yum cha resulted in a limited variety of choice. It can be confusing to other Australians - but it only takes to realise that many South-east Asian dishes are prepared by ethnic Chinese.

In the past 12 months, there has been a change of scene and slight improvement in offerings of Asian cuisine. I can now get duck cuts with egg noodles in a refreshingly hot soup in Corrimal. Chinese-styled barbeque meats (whether in chicken, pork or duck) are now seen hanging in a small shop window along Keira Street. The night strip along Corrimal Street in downtown Wollongong also has a new Chinese restaurant to compete with the Spanish, Greek and Italian fare. With all the fresh produce from the ocean and farms in the Illawarra and South Coast regions, I long for an Asian restaurant to come up with a refreshing cuisine utilising such local produce and inspiration.