Influence of Asian Immigration on The Local Food and Hospitality Industries

With the White Australia policy firmly in the past, new Asian food choices have emerged on the restaurant scene. Immigrants from East and Southeast Asia have formed a major demographic in Australia for more than one hundred years. Many non-Asians families have an easy familiarity with Asian cooking as Australians under 35 have grown up with curries and stir-fry. Even school canteens sell sushi and Vietnamese rice-paper wraps.

This study wills the effect that Asian immigration is having on the food culture in Australia. Therefore the study’s main focus area is Asian immigration has changed the face of the local food and hospitality industries in South Australia.

How Has Asian Food Integrated Into Local Cuisine and Benefit Local Food Industry?

There are several advantages of Asian food for local hospitality. First, the popularity of Asian flavors in Australia is promoting the use of a much wider variety of ingredients in cooking so the introduction of Asian vegetables and sauces is encouraging local catering to become diverse. As a country with a larger proportion of immigrants, the Australian food industry must satisfy the needs of different cultures. Although Australians don’t necessarily interface at any deep level with Asian cultures they can appreciate the way a diverse society provides a ready supply of cheap tasty foods like fried rice, pho and falafel. Surely the broadening of the Australian palate is having positive effects in broadening the local national psyche to becoming more tolerant of immigrants.

Second, Asian food is also increasing the economy of the local catering industry. Due to bio-security issues, it is very difficult to import cheap fresh ingredients so a plethora of herbs and vegetables, such as coriander, curry leaves, watercress, Buk Choy and Chinese Broccoli can now be locally sourced by chefs. Hence market gardeners are benefitting by growing an increasing variety of Asian greens to meet the needs of the hospitality industry. In the really popular Chinese restaurant Shikumen located in China town, the restaurant owner Mr. Wong uses local ingredients which means the money he earns will stay in the local economy and not be flowing overseas.

Lastly, the combination of Asian food and local food is creating a fusion cooking style. Fusion cooking is playing a large part in the innovations evident in many modern restaurants cuisines. A great example is Tetsuya’s, a restaurant located in Sydney, which is owned and operated by world renowned chef Tetsuya Wakuda. Tetsuya’s cuisine is based on Australian, Japanese and French cuisine. Figure 2 is the signature dish of Tetsuya’s.

According to a research of current status of Asian food stir-fry is well on its way to joining spaghetti bolognaise as a fixture in households across the country because of its ease of preparation. Survey feedback found that Asian style food is becoming a trend in home cooking for Australians. In the survey of 25 people ranging from 15 to 66 years old or even elder, 92% have tried to make Asian food at home and Chinese food is the most popular cuisine as 84% have try to cook Chinese style food at home. The key factor for the adoption of Chinese cuisine at home by Australians is the ease with which some Chinese food can be simplified for mass consumption.

By contrast, Thai, Vietnamese, Indian are all wildly popular as options for eating out and the survey indicated that in recent years Asian restaurant are different than they used to be. Instead of waiting for half or even one hour for traditional Asian food to be prepared, more little Asian places are appearing in food plazas and are producing quick and fast food just like noodles and sushi. A quick research of trip advisor obtained current data on how many Asian restaurants there are in Adelaide which is shown below. Chinese 100 Thai 85 Japanese 168An article called A culinary revolution: reflections on Adelaide restaurants in Adelaide’s independent news stated that by the end of the 1960’s there were only a small handful of Chinese restaurants (The Dragon Inn, Emperor’s Court and Pagoda among them) and now there are 100 Chinese restaurants in Adelaide. It also stated that in 1977 there were under 200 licensed restaurants in Adelaide and in 2006 there were around 1300.

These two examples indicated the increasing influence that Asian cuisine is having on the Australian plate. Originally a Chinese dish, the dim sim has become quintessentially Australian in the span of 70 years. Sushi has become a common and accepted food item sold in suburban food courts everywhere whereas 50 years ago people were shocked at the thought of eating raw fish and seaweed.

In conclusion, Asian food has become increasingly popular and a staple part of Australian food culture. It has led to a more adventurous Australian palate and Asian style ingredients and cooking methods are now regularly finding their way onto the dinner plates of many Australian families. Many chefs, such as those on popular cooking shows are experimenting with the fusion of Australian ingredients and Asian flavors and cooking methods to create dishes that increasingly reflect Australians multicultural heritage.

Asian immigration has influenced local food culture with Asian food culture. The Australian palate has changed a lot and is getting used to Asian food. Asian food brings new and different ideas to chefs and they try to create new combinations from local food and cooking techniques so Asian food combined with Australian food is creating a fusion of cultures According to the research of focus question 1, analyses of graphs show the current status of immigration in Australia and the cultures impacting on Australian cuisine. It was found that Asian food culture, particularly Chinese, Thai, Indian, and Japanese have had a big impact on Australian diet choices with the result that Asian food has caused Australia to become a country with much greater diversification in its catering industry.

Over all, Asian immigration brings a huge change to local industries by Asian food culture. The economic has increased and more dishes were creating by the combinations of Asian food and Australian food.