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Asian Side of Sydney
Cheap Charlie · October 16, 2000

A columnist here in Australia made the comment that, "Sydney is ready for the Olympics and is hoping that these Games will offer the world a new picture of Sydney and Australia; however, it's too bad that all the journalists covering the Games are sports writers."

I agree. But this journalist is a travel writer and I am enchanted with Sydney. I have been through almost every corner of Europe and in most states in the United States. This city has a wonderful sense of the positive and the possible, combined with a fresh, young naïve beauty that defies simple description.

If you meet an individual Aussie you might not pick up on this sense of the possible and the pioneering spirit, but when faced with a city full of them, the spirit of Australia becomes palpable and exciting. This vibrancy when combined with natural beauty that takes one's breath away makes for a vacation that is hard to beat even for a jaded traveler.

One of the biggest surprises for me upon arriving in Sydney was the multicultural nature of the city. I had expected to find a primitive version of Britain and had unpleasant visions of spending two weeks dining on less-than-delightful British cuisine. I quickly learned that wouldn't be the case.

Even in the simple food courts, Malaysian cooking is sold side by side with Japanese sushi, hamburgers, meat pies and Szechwan combination platters. You can find a tasty meal on every corner it seems and when visiting a restaurant, the prices are phenomenal.

The Asian influences here in Sydney are growing. However, just like in the United States where we have Chinatowns in many cities, Sydney has their own Chinatown as well as a section called Cabramatta about 20 minutes outside of the city center that is a Southeast Asia city packed with Vietnamese, Thais and Laotians.

I took a trip out to this section of Sydney to get a look at a new side of the town. The markets are fascinating. Vendors are selling fresh fish and vegetables that you can't find in most other areas of town. If I didn't know I was in Sydney, I would think I was shopping and dining in Bangkok.

I was accompanied by cookbook author Carol Selva Raja, originally from Malaysia. She has been leading tours through this section of Sydney for years. When in Sydney for a good time in a different part of town or for foodies, call 9438-4362.

Over a cup of freshly squeezed sugar cane juice, Carol explained that Asian cooking is not only a combination of flavors but also a combination of textures. The main flavors are sweet, sour, salty, bitter and spicy. The texture ranges from the squishy jellyfish or transparent attap beans to the crispy cucumbers and bean sprouts.

That set up our tour and the rest of the morning. The vegetable and fruit stands were filled with colorful custard apples, mangos, guava, papaya, kiwi, kumquats, coconuts, pommelos, durian and jackfruit. On the other side of the aisle was a dozen different types of bananas laid out beside banana flowers and stalks.

Then came more unknown vegetables such as small round Asian eggplants, bakchoi, green papaya, lotus stems, taro, yambeans, choko and pandan.

The meats were also fascinating with about seven dozen ducks hanging by their necks and freshly cooked pork that was delicious with a honey soy glaze. Stands sold small spring rolls, meatballs, fishballs, rice paper rolls and other unfamiliar snacks. We tested them all.

Seafood markets were filled with tiger prawns, banana prawns, ding prawns, yabbies (crayfish), spanner crabs, swimmer crabs and mud crabs.

Then it came time to eat a full lunch. This was done progressively starting with Pho soup, a Vietnamese beef broth filled with noodles, beef and vegetables. Then came another fresh rice paper roll packed with spouts, cucumber and rice.

At the next restaurant we tried fish filets wrapped around sugar cane which gave the meal a very sweet and crispy taste. This was followed by a "salad" made of noodles, greens, prawns and porkballs. All in all it was a delightful experience.

The menu was packed with other treats you don't normally find on the Western menu-fried bean curd, salty fish stewed with prawns, fish, roast pork and eggplant, prawn and green bean cakes, caramelized catfish or blue-eyed cutlets and pork cooked and clay pots. Get ready for new experiences.

The bottom line is that there is far more to Sydney than the Opera House and the harbor. This is a multifaceted city that seems to have put it all together perfectly to be showcased for the Olympic Games.

Charlie Leocha is the Boston-based author of Travel Rights: Know the Rules of the Road and the Air Before You Go. Cheap Charlie appears every Monday on this site. E-mail him at cheapch@aol.com or access his Web site.