“I grew up with a lot of cousins and aunties, who eventually all moved back to Hong Kong,” says Sydney-based comedian Jennifer Wong when Broadsheet asks her what she loved most about making the ABC series Chopsticks or Fork?, which she created with producer and friend Lin Jie Kong. “Getting to spend time with 10 Chinese restaurant families for the series and the book felt like being a kid again: surrounded by the hubbub of food being made, chatter in Cantonese, and people insisting that I eat more.”

The six-part series about Australia’s regional Chinese restaurants inspired a cookbook of the same name, which features 32 recipes and a history of Chinese food in Australia. “I loved getting to know the families, who each had such unique stories about how they arrived in Australia, and to find out what made them decide to settle in country towns,” she adds.

A writer, stand-up comic and presenter, Wong is a woman in demand. This week alone, you’ll find her interviewing legendary chef Tony Tan at Kinokuniya, she’s performing at the first North Sydney Festival and she’s in the middle of a tour for her pun-filled wordplay show The Sweet and Sour Hour of Power. Broadsheet stole a few minutes of her time to find out where she likes to eat out, what she’s cooking at home, and the people and places she thinks make Sydney better.

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Hi Jennifer! We love Chopsticks or Fork? the cookbook. Is there a recipe from it that you like to cook?
I’m a huge fan of the sang choi bao recipe from Happy’s Chinese Restaurant in Canberra. It’s so simple to make and belongs to one of my favourite categories of food: a food wrapped in another food, resulting in an edible container. All you need is an iceberg lettuce, some sauces from your pantry, and then for the super adaptable filling – pretty much whatever protein and veggies you have in your fridge.

Where do you like to eat when you’re home in Sydney?
The food I crave most often is japchae. Pretty much at least 15 per cent of my brain is always wanting bouncy sweet potato noodles. I have no explanation. One of my favourite late-night, post-show eats is Joomak in Chatswood, where we will sit outside and order – depending on the number of people – bulgogi beef, ginseng chicken soup, a beef soup with pipis and zucchini and tofu, rice balls, fried chicken. And of course, japchae. The banchan there is so good. I always look forward to the slight sweetness in their radish kimchi.

What do you love about Sydney generally?
I have very talented friends in the arts, and what I love most about Sydney is that I can see their fingerprints all over the city. I see it in [writer] Annette Shun Wah’s influence in Australian theatre, in [designer and illustrator] Luke Tribe’s designs for Mardi Gras Film Festival, and [set and costume designer] Mikey Hankin’s stage designs for various productions in Sydney. I see it in [theatre director] Tessa Leong directing a new play, [actor and playwright] Happy Feraren producing and hosting a new improv show, [photographer and journalist] Teresa Tan taking incredible photos for the ABC. I feel very lucky to live in a city where so many people are dedicated to making beautiful, thoughtful work.

What else makes Sydney a better place?
Sydney has excellent libraries, and libraries definitely make our lives better. Apart from what they offer to the community (you can borrow everything: books, DVDs, toys; there are free programs to suit every age and interest), they are often in stunningly beautiful buildings. A few that I’m very fond of for their splendid design and character: Bankstown Library, Darling Square Library, Green Square Library, Customs House Library. I’m also very much looking forward to visiting the new library in Liverpool.

When you want to impress someone, where do you take them?
As a huge fan of trees, I would take them to Wendy Whiteley’s Secret Garden, which has some truly grand Moreton Bay figs.

Is there a film or show about Sydney that you hold close to your heart?
One of my favourite after-school TV shows was Spellbinder, which was filmed in Sydney. I’m not sure if it was filmed in Balmain, or somewhere else in inner Sydney, but it often had shots of the city from angles that were entirely foreign to me as a kid who grew up in Cherrybrook and did not know the city very well. At the end of each of these episodes I would vow to one day know where you need to be in Sydney to see the city from that angle. I guess I should go make good on that childhood promise to myself now.

@jenniferwongcomedian

“My Sydney” is a regular column discovering the places and spaces that captivate and entice Sydney’s well-known residents.