Kylie Kwong by Kylie Kwong

by: Kwong, Kylie

Victoria Australia: Penguin Group 2012, Hardbound
ISBN: 978-1-921383-18-2

Reviewed by: Jacqueline M. Newman
Fall Volume: 2015 Issue: 22(3) page(s): 16

This 'Lantern Cookery Classic' volume is one of Australia's books that gathers between two covers that we found in a bargain bookstore in Johannesburg before our safari in South Africa. Other Lantern Books listed inside its rear cover include those with recipes of Stephanie Alexander, Maggie beer, George Calombaris, and Matt Moran.

It has sixty-two recipes by Kylie Kwong in this one volume. Each has a full-page color photograph of its completed dish. The recipes are written in standard style, and those not familiar with this award-winning lady restauranteur and cookbook author will enjoy this cookery compilation of her talented recipes. Her popular eatery in Sydney is worth the wait to garner a table there. We were unhappy just watching folks stand on the long lines ever present before opening every evening.

Written in five chapters titled: Seafood; Meat and Poultry; Eggs; Vegetables and Tofu; Rice, Dumplings, and Noodles; Stocks, Sauces, and salts, its only other material is a three-page four-column Index. Using htis book, you can enjoy her food at home. Kwong's recipes are simple, simply made, and simply delicious. Many are special, some even unusual. We particularly like her Duck Breasts with Hoisin Sauce. Others we also enjoy is Roast Cinnamon Chicken with Lemon and Cider Vinegar Dressing.

Duck Breasts wit Hoisin Sauce
Ingredients:
4 duck breasts, excess fat trimmed and discarded, the skin left on
3 scallions, cut in jullienned strips
3 cloves garlic, peeled and diced fine
1/4 cup hoisin sauce
2 Tablespoons malt vinegar
3 tablespoons Shao Xing wine
1 tablespoon thin soy sauce
2 teaspoons granulated sugar
1 teaspoon five-spice powder
1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
1 teaspoon vegetable fat
Preparation:
1. Cut dick breasts on the diagonal into half-inch slices.
2.Mix garlic, hoisin sauce, vinegar, wine, soy sauce, sugar, five-spice powder, sesame oi, the salt, and the vegetable fat, then add the duck breast slices and mix well.
3. Heat oil in the wok or fry pan, and add half the duck pieces, not the oil, and stir-fry with a slotted spoon for one minute, the remove them to a plate; then do the other half.
4. Add the marinade and stir-fry for one minute, then set the duck aside. Reduce the heat, add three tablespoons of cold water, and simmer for two minutes. Now transfer everything to a pre-heated bowl, garnish with the scallion pieces; and serve.
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