A Little Bowl of Asia in South Africa

How Chinese, Indian, and Indonesian food came to South Africa and influenced local cuisine

“Where Asia meets Africa” : in many Chinese restaurants in South Africa, you can find African-inspired decor like the place-mat above. Oftentimes these are made by local Zulu women who work in many such restaurants. Photo by the author.

Near the heart of Johannesburg, the most populous city in South Africa (and my home!), resides one of Africa’s largest Chinatowns in all its majesty. Poised beyond an archway that makes you feel like an emperor entering his palace, the town is just over 10,000km away from the Chinese heartlands.

Cyrildene (西里尔德纳) is one of those suburbs you visit to get the best price on the best food. I, myself, have been there on numerous occasions in the past few years to try out a variety of authentic, Chinese dishes.

As my Mandarin teacher always says, the best way to win the hearts of the Chinese is first through enjoying their food and then speaking their language.

Being the adventurous foodie that I am, I’m constantly on the lookout for new foods and recipes to try on my own. Unfortunately, making several round-trips to China is, much to my dismay, out of my budget range; so I have to compromise as best I can.

And the Chinatown in Cyrildene is simply the best place for this.