Australian Chinese cuisine

Its roots can be traced to indentured Chinese who were brought to work as cooks in country pubs and sheep stations.

Most early Chinese migrants were from Guangdong province, and so Cantonese cuisine became the chief influence, using locally available vegetables and more meat than was usual in traditional recipes.

Later Chinese immigration, as well as increasingly adventurous domestic palates, have led to restaurants with more authentic dishes from a wider selection of provinces.

The gold rushes drew thousands of Chinese people, mostly from villages in Southern China - especially the Pearl River delta.

[5] During the first Gold Rush period, Chinese labourers were found working their second job at small food stores which were referred to as "cookhouses" to serve their own people.

In an interview with News.com.au, Chan said that back in the 70's, Australian customers are not yet familiar with dishes such as "chicken chop suey, san choy bow and beef and black bean".

For example, with 'san choy bow', understanding that Australian people were not familiar with pigeon meat, Chan decided to change the main protein to pork and beef mince.

Tofu was discovered over 2000 years ago by the action of curdling soymilk and pressing those curds into blocks with different textures such as soft, firm and extra-firm.

This dish was developed by Matthew Chan during a business trip to America "I got the idea from the Hilton's San Francisco Grill where they had mustard on roast beef.

That being said, there are many items on the menu such as chicken liver, ox tongue, pig uteri and other dishes that can 'frighten' the Western customers.

This has included a significant boom in Hong Kong(/Macau) Style Cafes, often serving mixed Cantonese-western dishes with HK-style coffee or tea.

Here, the dishes are normally prepared to cater for recent Asian immigrants and tourists, as well as Western people with a larger variety of cuisine; including Anhui, Cantonese, Fujian, Shandong, Sichuan and others.

For instance, former United States president, George W. Bush has been spotted eating Peking Duck; or well-known celebrities such as Rihanna and Lady Gaga have also been seen enjoying seafood at the restaurant.

[19] The restaurant offers a customised menu with the utilisation of many foreign ingredients has changed Australian people's perspective on Chinese cuisine.

[20] Indeed, xiaolongbao, a type of Chinese steamed bun which usually has a minced pork filling has now been swapped with lobster and scallop.

Furthermore, Mr Wong also offers a modern drinks menu with cocktails and house-made ginger beer clearly suggests its effort to change the customers' views on Chinese cuisine.