LUNCH WITH KYLIE KWONG

The mistress of Australian Chinese cuisine stirs things up during her trip to KL.
TEXT BY SHERRY OH

Soya sauce chicken, fried rice, congee, steamed fished with ginger and shallots, and green Italian style salad," quips this enigmatic Aussie-Chinese woman with silky black hair and black rimmed glasses. Kylie Kwong just revealed her top five comfort foods during a luncheon interview. Charming, warm and certainly brimming with passion for food-that was the impression I got when we meet. Needless to say, Chinese food is her passion, Italian coming in a close second. Kylie's all-time favourite dish, however, is sashimi ("I can have sashimi every night!")

Being a fourth-generation Australian born Chinese, Kylie was "terribly embarrassed" that she couldn't speak Chinese, "but I hope I more than make up for it by being able to cook the food."

Her passion for Chinese cuisine and fate inspired her to do the My China series, which premiered 25th June on Discovery Travel & Living channel (the series aired every Wednesday at 8.00 p.m.). The short clips I managed to catch between mouthfuls of soy sauce chicken were focused on Kylie's return to her ancestral village but the series is an exploration of Chinese gastronomy with Kylie acting as a guide.