Amalan Kumar is mad about hoppers. The co-director of is one of the 25-plus food trucks and vendors that convene in a Flemington car park at dusk each Saturday as part of the . The weekly event, which launched in July, acquaints food lovers with dishes from the likes of Dirty Bird, Curry Up Now, Shiso Fine and Poke Brothers. For Kumar, the market offers a chance to introduce Sydney to Sri Lanka’s dangerously addictive nod to the crepe.
“Hoppers can be eaten for breakfast, lunch or dinner and be both savoury and sweet,” Kumar tells SBS. “You’ll often see Sri Lankan people enjoying an egg hopper with spicy sambal and curry and switch up to a sweet hopper or appam with coconut milk and jaggery [unrefined cane sugar]. Hoppers make use of raw ingredients such as coconuts and rice flour that are readily available in Sri Lanka. In Australia, where there’s a rising awareness of food intolerances, people also appreciate that hoppers are gluten and dairy-free.”
Given that the hopper I’m eating — a lace-like pancake crowned with fiery chicken curry and scattered with pomegranate seeds — packs such a punch in the flavour stakes, this health quotient makes for heartening news. I’m not the only one having a surprising culinary experience. Around me, families line up for bao stuffed with roast duck and lychee at cult food truck Tsuru. Couples sitting on crates attempt to tackle their Chur’spacito, a Latin-inspired combination of grilled beef, pepperoni and saffron aioli courtesy of Surry Hills’ Chur Burger. And teenagers play Pacman on retro consoles to the always-welcome beat of Mark Morrison’s 90s hit, Return of the Mack.
For Dennis Chan, the founder of , a Western Sydney food truck whose Japanese-inspired fried chicken burgers once drew a surprise visit from Katy Perry, the market is a much-needed addition to the city’s nightlife. Chan, whose truck draws queues of people lured by his ‘crack burger’ (he rolls his chicken breast in puffed rice before deep-frying), also says that it lets people experience dishes from different corners of the world.
“The night markets are amazing — there’s not very many places that you can sample food from so many different countries in one block,” says Chan. “I try to incorporate a lot of Japanese techniques and ingredients such as soy and seaweed to intensify the flavours but I brine everything American-style so it’s fusion. Seeing someone who’s willing to wait half an hour for a dish you’ve created makes all the hard work you’ve had to do to get to this point pay off.”
A Flemington car park is now home to the Paddy’s Night Food Markets, where diverse food trucks dish out bao, burgers and more. Source: Dennis Chan, Dirty Bird
Western Sydney food truck Dirty Bird makes Japanese-inspired fried chicken and burgers that have even enticed pop star Katy Perry. (Dennis Chan, Dirty Bird) Source: Dennis Chan, Dirty Bird
Kumar, who started Hopper Hut with his high school friend Dhilip, says that their signature dish is a devilled egg hopper served with Jaffna lamb, sweet onion relish and coconut sambal. He says they’ve been fine-tuning their hopper-making skills over the last 18 months.
It’s so great being part of this event because it’s so diverse — which is what Western Sydney is about. Food plays such an important role in bringing people together.
“We see some puzzled looks when people first see our hoppers being made but the most rewarding aspect of the Paddy’s Night Food Market for us is being able to introduce food lovers to something new,” he says. “It’s so great being part of this event because it’s so diverse — which is what Western Sydney is about. Food plays such an important role in bringing people together. We hope that our little ‘hut’ can develop into something much bigger in the next few years.”
take place every Saturday from 6.30pm–11pm at Austin Ave, Flemington. Entry is free.
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