T
here’ssomuchgoingonat
ChuukathatI don’tknow
wheretostart.It couldbethe
soundtrack, whichrangesfrom
LorderemixesandTheAvalanchesto
whatI’mtemptedtodescribeasarcade
synth-wavedisco.It couldbethegarish
designshoehornedintotheheritage
wharfbuilding,orthe$38frozenyoghurt
servicefordessert.Orit couldbethe
website, wherethesameChinesedragon
andJapanesekoicarpthatdecoratethe
wallsoftherestaurantsnaketheirway
behinda neon“Chuuka”signandthe
phrase“rebel,renegade,outlaw,punk”
sits awkwardlyabovea footnotereading
“brought to you by The Star”.Above:chefsVictor
Liong(fromleft)
andChaseKojima.
Left: ma po tofu.AtChuuka,twotopchefs
combineChineseand
Japaneseinfluencesto
bringSydneya restaurant
thatgoesbig,bright
andbold,writes
DAVID MATTHEWS.
Star turn
Atitsworst,Chuukais an
exampleofa decentpitchgone
askewthroughtoomuchcorporate
workshopping.Atitsbest,it’sa
placewherethecomingtogether
oftwochefsintheirprime– Chase
Kojima(Sokyo,SydneyandKiyomi,
GoldCoast) andVictorLiong(Lee
HoFook,Melbourne)– managesto
drownit out.Wheredishesthaton
papershouldn’tworkdoandhint
atthisSino-Japanesecollaboration
havingseriousstayingpower.
Taketheebichilli,forexample,
a spinontheJapaneseversion
ofa Chinesedishofprawns
stir-friedwitha Sichuanesechilli
sauce.AtChuuka,theprawnssit
proudlyona baseofchilli-miso
buttersauceandwok-tossedspring
onion.They’recrownedwith
eschalotandchilliforsharpness
andheat,andsmartlydressedup
withcrisp-friedprawnlegsfor
crunch.PlumplittleJapanesemilk
bunscomeonthesidetocleanup.
Thisis oneofa fewdishes
riffingonChuka cuisine,defined
looselyasJapaneseChinesefood- inthesameveinasAmerican
Chinese,say,onlyrenderedwith
thesamelevelofenthusiasmthat
gavetheworldthelikesoftonkatsu
andcurryrice.
Tenshindon,oneofmany
glorious entries in the eggy rice➤
Sydney review
GOURMET TRAVELLER 51PHOTOGRAPHY ALICIA TAYLOR (PORTRAIT).