Why does almost every Australian town have a Chinese restaurant? It’s a question that drove writer/comedian Jennifer Wong and director/producer Lin Jie Kong to make Chopsticks or Fork?, a six-part ABC TV series about Chinese restaurants in regional Australia.

The series told the stories of 10 country Chinese restaurants and the families who run them. These have now been published as a collection, alongside some of the essential recipes that make these restaurants so memorable.

Here are four beloved recipes to try at home.

Combination fried rice

Raymond’s at Malua Bay, NSW

Ah, fried rice. The perfect side dish, and also a complete meal in its own right. Think of this recipe as a guide – you can use any combination of cooked meats, and also substitute the meat for carrot, peas and corn to make the dish vegetarian. Raymond’s version here is very close to the most famous type of fried rice – Yangzhou fried rice – which is from Jiangsu, a coastal province north of Shanghai. It’s also made with barbecued pork and prawns. Make sure that your ingredients are dry to ensure that your rice fries up nicely without excess moisture.

INGREDIENTS

• 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 egg
• 200g char siu (Chinese barbecued pork)
• 50g cooked, shredded chicken breast
• 50g ham, finely chopped
• 10 shelled, cooked prawns
• 2 cups cooked white jasmine rice
• 1 spring onion, chopped

Sauce

• 2 tbsp light soy sauce
• 1 tsp chicken powder
• 1 tsp sugar
• ½ tsp salt

METHOD

1. To make the sauce, combine the sauce ingredients in a small bowl.
2. In a wok or large pan, heat 1 tablespoon of oil and scramble the egg. Remove the egg and set aside.
3. Heat the remaining tablespoon of oil in the wok or pan and stir-fry the pork, chicken, ham and prawns. Add the rice and mix thoroughly, breaking up any large clumps.
4. Add the sauce and mix well to combine. Add the scrambled egg and toss together.
5. Add the spring onion and toss together, then serve.

Lemon chicken

Gawler Palace, South Australia

While many people think that lemon chicken must surely be a local invention, it’s actually been served in Hong Kong since the 1960s. This tangy dish is still available today in Hong Kong’s old-school diners, served with rice or even pasta. Gawler Palace’s version is renowned for being particularly crispy and tangy. The crispiness of the chicken comes from frying it twice, and the extreme lemon flavour comes from three sources of lemon goodness. So now when life gives you lemons, make lemon chicken.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 chicken breast, cut into 1cm-thick slices
• ½ tsp salt
• ½ tsp MSG
• white pepper, to taste
• a few drops of sesame oil
• 2 tbsp cornflour, for coating vegetable or canola oil, for deep-frying
• sesame seeds, to garnish
• lemon wedges, to serve

Batter

• 1 cup cornflour
• ¼ cup self-raising flour

Lemon sauce

• ¼ cup lemon juice
• ¼ cup sugar
• ⅔ cup water
• 5 tbsp white vinegar
• 1 tsp salt
• 3 fresh celery leaves
• 2 tbsp lemon essence
• ⅓ cup lemon cordial
• yellow food colouring, optional

Cornflour slurry

• 1 tbsp cornflour mixed with 1 tbsp water

METHOD

1. In a large bowl, combine chicken with salt, MSG, pepper and a few drops of sesame oil. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
2. To make the batter, combine cornflour and self-raising flour in a bowl, then slowly add water until consistency coats the back of a spoon.
3. Lightly coat the chicken in cornflour, shake off any excess, and then dip it into the batter.
4. Fill a large wok or saucepan approximately two-thirds full with oil. Slowly bring to 180C over medium-high heat. This might take up to 10 minutes. Fry the chicken until it takes on a hint of colour. Remove and set aside to cool and drain. Continue to heat the oil until it reaches 200C and then return the chicken and fry until it is golden.
5. Remove the chicken from the oil and drain on a wire rack.
6. To make the lemon sauce, combine the lemon sauce ingredients in a small saucepan and bring to the boil. Remove from heat. Remove and discard celery leaves.
7. Add cornflour slurry to the lemon sauce and mix to thicken.
8. To serve, chop the chicken into 3cm-wide pieces and top with lemon sauce. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and serve with lemon wedges.

Beef with black bean

T’s Chinese Restaurant, Sheffield, Tasmania

This is an essential Chinese restaurant dish, but what makes T’s version stand out is that they use grass-fed, highly marbled Angus beef straight from their farm. Although you might not have access to such fresh produce, T’s suggests using lean beef to make the recipe, like a rump cut. We’ve included T’s homemade black-bean sauce recipe below, which will make you a larger-than-store-bought jar of sauce. You can also use store-bought black-bean sauce.

INGREDIENTS

• ½ zucchini, halved lengthways and sliced
• 4 broccoli florets
• 1 bok choy, roughly chopped
• 3 tbsp vegetable oil
• 150g beef, sliced
• ½ red capsicum, sliced
• ½ onion, sliced
• 2 tbsp water

Black bean sauce

• 300g whole fermented black beans
• ½ onion
• ½ cup light soy sauce
• ¾ cup dark soy sauce
• 3 garlic cloves
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 1 tsp chilli powder

INGREDIENTS

1. To make the black bean sauce, blitz half the black beans with all the other ingredients in a food processor until it forms a smooth paste. Transfer to an airtight container and stir in the remaining whole black beans. Keep refrigerated and use within 3 months.
2. Bring a pot of water to the boil, add the zucchini, broccoli and bok choy and cook for around 2 minutes. Drain and set aside.
3. Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a wok on high heat, add the beef and stir-fry until almost cooked, around 2 minutes. Don’t overcook the beef in this step. Drain on a plate lined with paper towel.
4. Heat the remaining oil in the wok on high heat, add the capsicum and onion and stir to coat. Add 1½ tablespoons black bean sauce, and then the water, green vegetables and beef. Toss well for 1 minute. Remove from heat and serve.

Honey prawns

Raymond’s at Malua Bay, NSW

Is it even an Australian Chinese restaurant if honey prawns aren’t on the menu? Crisp, golden and sweet on the outside, soft and savoury on the inside – these honey prawns taste of the land and the ocean in every bite. Honey prawns are a delicious example of a Westernised style of Chinese food: cooking that has been made sweeter for the Western palate. Raymond uses honey from the nearby town of Mogo to make his honey prawns extra special.

INGREDIENTS

• 340g raw king prawns, shelled and deveined with tails removed
• 1 tsp chicken powder
• ½ tsp salt
• ½ tsp pepper
• vegetable or canola oil, for deep-frying
• 2 tsp sesame seeds

Batter

• 1 tbsp cornflour
• 3 tbsp self-raising flour
• 1 tbsp plain flour
• 1 tbsp custard powder

Honey sauce

• 1 cup honey
• ¼ cup store-bought lemon sauce
• ¼ cup sugar
• ¼ cup white vinegar

METHOD

1. Combine the prawns, chicken powder, salt and pepper in a medium bowl.
2. To make the batter, combine all batter ingredients in a large bowl and add water until the batter is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.
3. Fill a wok or large pan with oil approximately two-thirds full. Slowly bring to 180C over medium-high heat. This might take up to 10 minutes. Using tongs or wooden chopsticks, dip each prawn in the batter and drop gently into the hot oil. Deep-fry prawns until golden, then remove using a slotted spoon and drain on a plate lined with paper towel or a strainer.
4. To make the honey sauce, combine all the ingredients for sauce in a wok or large pan on high heat. Cook until bubbling, then bring it to a simmer.
5. Add deep-fried prawns. Stir-fry until the prawns are covered with sauce. Serve garnished with sesame seeds.

This is an edited extract from Chopsticks or Fork? by Jennifer Wong and Lin Jie Kong, published by Hardie Grant, RRP $42. Photography by Lin Jie Kong.