Where to taste the best spice bags in town

Irish Chinese cuisine, particularly its signature dish spice bag, has become a fast-food hit in Sydney after a record influx of young Irish migrants last year.

The fried, starchy and (mostly) beige-colored cuisine comes from Chinese takeaway shops in Ireland, where fried rice and breaded chicken balls are served with hot fries and curry sauce.

“It’s definitely not an amazing dining experience, or authentic Chinese food, but it’s something you dream about when you’re miles from home,” says social media influencer Riona Magee (@belfastfoodiegirl ), who moved from Belfast to Sydney last November.

Demand for Irish Chinese food has soared since 2023, when more than 21,000 working holiday permits were granted to Irish residents aged under 35, the highest number in 16 years. Its most popular dish, the spice bag, became the best-selling item in pubs such as The Taphouse in Darlinghurst and Shea’s in Clovelly.

At the end of March, Sydney’s first Irish Chinese restaurant, Paddy Chans, opened in Kensington with queues lasting two hours. Magee was among those waiting in line and his review on TikTok went viral, garnering over 200,000 views.

“The Irish Chinese are in turmoil at the moment,” says the Irish-born chef and chef. My cooking rules host Colin Fassnidge, who remembers it as the go-to for a greasy and comforting post-pub feed. In Sydney, Big Dave’s Chipper in Maroubra became Fassnidge’s Irish dish of choice.

“The reason it works so well is nostalgia. We eat it and smile because it reminds us of our return to Ireland.

Fassnidge says a spice bag (also known as a spice box) typically consists of hot chips, fried chicken, chopped onions and peppers shaken with mild spices and topped with sweet brown curry sauce (usually McDonnells or Mayflower brands). Think of it as Ireland’s answer to the halal snack pack.

Since appearing in Dublin takeaway shops in the 2010s, the spice bag has become a national sensation, voted Ireland’s favorite takeaway in 2020 and the subject of a petition calling on the government Irish people to declare National Spice Bag Day.

Searching Sydney for the “most authentic” spice bag has become a trend among food influencers like Magee, and Shea’s co-owner Patrick McTigue says the pressure is on.

“We’ve been refining our recipe for about a year to make it the best,” he says. “We make our own spice blend, we make our own sauce, and we marinate our chicken breast in buttermilk for two hours before putting it in the fryer.”

Magee says Australians who aren’t used to seeing hot chips with Chinese food “get a little angry” in the comments section of his TikTok videos, but McTigue says his customer base has expanded beyond of the expatriate community.

“It looks so crap,” says Patrick Friesen, culinary director of Applejack Hospitality Group, who took some convincing to add it to the menu at Taphouse, where Cantonese chef Sam Ng runs the kitchen.

Ng, who recently moved to Australia from Hong Kong, says he had never seen a bag of spices before this conversation with Friesen: “Crisps in a Chinese restaurant? For me, this is unheard of. »

In researching the origins of this cuisine, Friesen and Ng learned that the first Irish Chinese restaurant had opened in Belfast in 1962. But it took off when the first wave of migrants left Hong Kong for Ireland before the Chinese economic reform in 1979. Many came from rural areas. and sought employment in the hospitality industry.

As in Australia, Chinese restaurateurs adapt their dishes to local tastes.

“The Irish weren’t used to Cantonese flavors, so migrants started opening fish and chip shops or serving chips in their Chinese restaurants,” says Ng. “I think Irish Chinese cuisine evolved out of necessity and survival.”

Despite initial reluctance, Friesen and Ng introduced their version of a spice bag as a St. Patrick’s Day special in March.

Ng reinvented the dish as if he had emigrated to Hong Kong, with wok-fried vegetables, homemade curry sauce and marinated, silky, blanched chicken. It has remained on the menu ever since.

“It’s surprisingly addictive and delicious…and people have been coming in droves,” Friesen says. “It’s still the best-selling item every day.”