An unrivalled influx of Irish migrant workers landed in Australia in 2023, with 21,525 – more than double the previous year’s 10,491. And with them they brought great craic, a thirst for Guinness (even ‘the kids’ are drinking it these days) and their curious approach to Chinese food.

Deep-fried chicken meatballs, spice bags, curry sauce, fried noodles, chips and rice are staples of the regional cuisine and the uptick in Irish-Chinese restaurants opening across Australia is a clear marker that the demand is alive.

Sydney’s Paddy Chans only opened in early 2024 and has already announced a second restaurant to come. Perth’s Kum Leng and Greenwood Garden restaurants have entire ‘Irish Favourites’ sections on their menus. Dave’s Chinese in St Kilda’s proudly slings chicken balls and munchie boxes, complete with curry sauce. Fancy a four-in-one in Fortitude Valley? Super Bowl Chinese has got you covered.

Related story: What is a spice bag? The Irish pub food that’s become a cultural icon

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by delicious. Australia (@deliciousaus)

What is Irish-Chinese food?

Irish-Chinese may sound like a deep-fried mash-up of pan-Asian dishes from China, India, Malaysia, Mongolia and beyond, but let’s be real, the Irish certainly aren’t the first culture to bastardise Chinese cuisine. General Tso’s Chicken? Honey prawns? Dim sims? Yeah, it’s best not to get high and mighty when analysing what the Irish are up to.

So what’s driving the Irish cultural revolution? TikTok, duh. And one man, in particular, has stolen the hearts of the globe as he’s earnestly and hilariously educating the rest of us about Irish food culture – singer-songwriter-creator Garron Noone. 

For this guru of gastronomy, the Irish-Chinese is all about quantity over quality.

Noonan explains, “Once you’ve all your food on your plate, it should be so heavy that it’s a two-man job to get it from the kitchen into the sitting room. You should be testing the laws of physics with the amount of Chinese you have on your plate.” 

@garron_music #fyp #xyzbca #foryoupage #irish ♬ original sound – Garron Noone

What is the history of Chinese cuisine in Ireland?

Of course, it’s hard to imagine that a country with such a small Chinese population as Ireland (0.4 percent, compared to Australia’s 5.6 percent) would be au fait with Cantonese flavours. As a necessity, Chinese immigrants began running fish and chip shops in Ireland in the 1950s. As we know, if there’s a deep-fryer nearby, it’s compulsory to batter everything in sight and see what sticks. Thus – the Irish-Chinese was born.

The curious regional cuisine evolved with the first dedicated Irish-Chinese restaurant opening in the early 1960s in Belfast, and really took off in the 1980s as citizens of Hong Kong migrated to Ireland after China introduced economic reform to the territory in 1979. 

It clearly struck a chord with the people of Ireland who have enthusiastically absorbed heading for a post-pub Chinese into their everyday rituals, cardiac health be damned!

A final word of advice from Noonan, “And remember when you’re eating a Chinese, it’s not about filling a hunger or nourishing yourself, it’s really about seeing how much Chinese can you get into you before breathing starts confusing you.”

Related story: The new viral drink on TikTok is a 250-year-old stout