She's been chopping duck and frying rice since she was a toddler. She's spent half her life hanging around her uncle's noodle shop. She's studied under Australian master chefs Neil Perry and . She's passionate about her Chinese family and tradition and she's a totally modern 21st century girl. She's Kylie Kwong, restauranteur, author, award-winning chef and poster girl for modern Australian Chinese cooking.
season 1 premieres on Wednesday 21 November at 8.30pm. The series airs Wednesdays at 8.30pm on SBS Food (Channel 33). After they air, episodes will stream at .
Episode 1: Bamboo
Being surrounded by a large extended family of all ages has provided Kylie with a plethora of colourful memories and inspiring, long-held family recipes. Kylie prepares her Aunty's recipe for home-style fried duck eggs. Cooked in the wok, they’re topped with shallots, chilli and oyster sauce, giving them a delicious crunchy, rich texture. Her version of a Chinese classic, sweet and sour pork, catapults the dish into the 21st century. Reflecting on endless hours spent at her Uncle Jimmy’s noodle factory, Kylie prepares one of his fabulous noodle dishes using lots of ginger, garlic and chilli. Pickled bamboo sounds exotic but bottling your own is simple enough. Kylie uses this unusual ingredient to complement her mouth-watering crayfish and chicken salad.
Recipes
Episode 2: Spice
Kylie takes us through her Chinese versions of traditional Australian favourites and cooks up some Middle Eastern magic using an abundance of fragrant spices. Cumin, fennel seeds, cardamom, star anise and cinnamon quills provide a taste of the exotic in Kylie’s Moroccan inspired lamb shanks tagine. The lavish dish is cooked over hot coals in a rustic ceramic tagine. Several hours later with the flavours infused throughout, the lamb is tender and falling off the bone and the guests are champing at the bit — it’s ready to eat. Kylie’s roast chicken provides a quick delicious meal. Fresh rosemary and tarragon, generous knobs of French butter, olive oil, garlic and shallots provide a wonderful essence to the dish. Finally, Kylie gives traditional fish and chips an inspired makeover. Fillets of snapper are coated in a light beer batter that Kylie deep-fries — an art in itself. Forget the chips, she prepares a deliciously light tomato salad in her mortar and pestle to accompany the golden fillets.
Episode 3: Rice
Kylie loves to entertain and prepare recipes for her friends from the very best fish she can find from the markets. Picking up the freshest fish she can find from the local markets, she prepares a variety of seafood recipes. On the menu — Hiramasa Kingfish Carpaccio, Salt and Pepper Squid and delicious Stir-fried Mussels. Kylie’s Sydney restaurant, , is famous for its mouth-watering dish, crispy skin duck with fresh blood plum sauce. She shows you how to prepare this lavish dish in your own home.
Episode 4: Shellfish
Kylie and her mum go head-to-head in the kitchen, to discover who makes the best noodle stir-fry. Although Kylie learnt how to cook from her mum, their method and style are completely different. Kylie’s brother is called in to judge the winner. Tasmanian scallops with mint and a fresh mud crab salad with the unique ingredient, pickled bamboo, are also prepared, and you can’t go past Kylie’s foolproof version for tasty fried rice. Three generations of Kwong women then make some party food.
Delicious fried rice
Mum’s Hokkien noodles
Kylie’s Hokkien Noodles
Tasmanian scallops barely roasted, served with mint
Fresh mud crab salad
Pickled bamboo
Mum’s jelly cakes
Epsiode 5: Noodles
Chinese people are known as inventive cooks, making delicious meals from basic ingredients. Equally inventive are Kylie’s recipes for waygu beef brisket with caramelised eschalots, slow-cooked honeycomb tripe with green peas and sautéed chicken livers served with a watercress and radish salad. She takes the finished dishes to a popular Chinese restaurant, the staff eager to sample her tasty dishes during their dinner break.
Red-braised brisket with caramelised shallots and fresh chilli
Red-braising stock
Slow-cooked honeycomb tripe with fresh green peas
Sautéed chicken livers served with watercress and radish salad
Luscious bacon braised with red wine and fresh cherries
Episode 6: Mushroom
There's a party for the opening of an art exhibition and Kylie is doing the catering. Having studied art early on in her career, Kylie still maintains a passion for it. She prepares a wonderful selection of elegant finger food. The delicate serves of salad with crayfish and soft boiled duck eggs and Japanese eggplant with garlic, olive oil and tomatoes will impress.
Salad of foie gras, lobster and soft-boiled duck eggs
Japanese eggplants with garlic, olive oil and tomatoes
Italian mushroom ragout
Episode 7: Egg
Kylie has been invited to a delicious lunch by the sea. The only catch is that she has to cook.
Pork cutlets served with braised red cabbage and green apples
Pan-cooked snapper fillet with tea-scented sour cherry and tomato salad
French-style braised octopus
Les oeufs modestes
Episode 8: Marinade
Kylie is having a steamboat party for 10 friends at home: she provides the food, the guests do the cooking.
Steamboat
season 1 premieres on Wednesday 21 November at 8.30pm. The series airs Wednesdays at 8.30pm on SBS Food (Channel 33). After they air, episodes will stream at .
