Lantern Cookery Classics--Kylie Kwong by Kylie Kwong

by: Kylie Kwong

Melbourne Australia: Lantern Books--an imprint of Penguin Books 2012, Hardbound
ISBN: 978-1-921282-18-2

Reviewed by: Jacqueline M. Newman
Winter Volume: 2015 Issue: 22(4) page(s): 23

This book’s sixty-two recipes written in standard style are easy to make and doing so everyone can cook and learn about this busy restauranteur’s food. People line up outside her eatery waiting for it to open and enjoy her delicious food. This book lists many of its restaurant selections. They are in chapters titled: Seafood; Meat and Poultry; Eggs, Vegetables and Tofu; Rice, Dumplings and Noodles; Stocks, Sauces and Salts. After them is a three page four-column Index in this book is the series about Australian chefs, six to date. Use this one to learn the foods of this talented lady.

Her popular restaurant in Sydney is worth the wait; we did go there and eat her food when in that city. Glad we did but not happy for those who need to wait on its long lines ever-present before it opens each evening.

Using this book, you can enjoy her food at home; we know you will. The recipe below is a winner, the other sixty-two are, too. We suggest you try all of them; we are on our way to doing just that.
Duck Breasts with Hoisin sauce
Ingredients:
4 duck breasts, excess fat trimmed, the skin left on
3 scallions, cut into thin julienne strips
3 clove garlic, peeled and diced fine
1/4 cup hoisin sauce
2 Tablespoons malt vinegar
2 tablespoons Shao Xing wine
1 Tablespoon thin soy sauce
2 teaspoons granulated sugar
1 teaspoon five-spice powder
½ teaspoon sesame oil
½ teaspoon coarse salt
1 teaspoon vegetable fat
Preparation:
1. Cut duck breasts on the diagonal into half-inch slices.
2. Mix garlic, hoisin sauce, vinegar, wine, soy sauce, sugar, five-spice powder, sesame oil, and the salt and add the duck breast pieces. Mix, then cover and place them in the refrigerate for half an hour or more.
3. Heat the oil in a wok and add half the duck pieces, not the marinade, and stir-fry for one minute, then remove from the oil with a slotted spoon and set them on a plate.
4. Add the rest of the duck and the marinade. Stir-fry this mixture for one minute, add the set aside duck and any other liquid on its plate adding three tablespoons of cold water. Reduce the heat and simmer uncovered for two minutes, then transfer everything to a pre-heated bowl. Garnish with the scallion, and serve.

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