Due to residing & working in different parts of the world it would be at least 5 years since I've seen him. So with a special siblings reunion, a special feast was needed & Billy Kwong was highly recommended by my other Brother Petite to be the place where this family reunion should take place.
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| Billy Kwong is a no-bookings restaurant except for one table to seat 6-8 people & can be booked at 6pm or 8:30pm with the 6pm booking to vacate the table by 8:30pm (if you want to secure yourself a table I recommend arriving at the door early!) |
My Mother is a great cook being the eldest daughter of 9 children helping to raise & cook for her siblings at a very young age & my Grandmother is a greater cook from where my Mother's culinary skills were learnt so my palate is quite stubborn having set ideals & expectations of Chinese cuisine.
When it comes to food (especially Chinese food) I'm a creature of habit tending to stick to certain Chinese eateries where I know my taste buds will approve & seldom venture into the unknown.
But with "Just like Mum's cooking..." I was sold!
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| Christmas macarons for the family (through a mutual acquaintance a bag of sweet treats even made it's way to Kylie Kwong who on the night was also at the restaurant having Christmas Eve dinner!) |
One look at the menu proves Kylie Kwong's firm belief & passionate advocacy of sustainability & ethical eating. Her commitment to the environment was recognized when Billy Kwong became the first climate friendly restaurant in the state of New South Wales.
We started the night with Rice Noodles filled with Biodynamic Beef Brisket & Black Bean Sauce, Steamed Prawn Wontons with Organic Brown Rice Vinegar Dressing and Homestyle Fried Biodynamic Eggs with Organic Tamari & Homemade XO.
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| Rice Noodles filled with Biodynamic Beef Brisket & Black Bean Sauce |
Familiar with thick, saucy beef brisket dishes accompanied with rice or noodles served as a main, I was curious by this cut of meat offered as an entree.
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| The beef brisket served in a roll with a drizzle of thin sauce was surprising lite fit for an entree. The meat was so soft & tender it just melted in the mouth! |
Sister-in-law Petite had a little craving for wontons. To my knowledge it was an undecided order so when a plate of steamed wontons made its way to our table, it came as a pleasant surprise.
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| Steamed Prawn Wontons with Organic Brown Rice Vinegar Dressing |
Having sampled many & enjoy making wontons aplenty, my taste buds were in shock by the depth of flavour of these "Chinese gold nuggets"! The flavour of the prawns were so intense my head was in over-drive trying to work out what was that something my mouth can taste but my head just can't place.
...Was it roe?!?...Was it prawn roe?!? Whatever it was, it was a flavour I will always remember, look forward to once again taste & would loveeeee to recreate!
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| Brother Petite from Hong Kong trying to figure out for me what was that "something" in the dumpling having taken a bite! |
The last of our entrees was a request by me having seen Kylie Kwong cooking the dish on Kylie Kwong My China where she rediscovers her Chinese heritage travelling to different parts of China sampling regional produce & cooking with an array of Chinese locals.
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| Homestyle Fried Biodynamic Eggs with Organic Tamari & Homemade XO |
Not one to underestimate the humble egg, it's certainly a test of ones & a test which can also determine ones culinary skills. I once heard a story of how chefs in Hong Kong on applying for a job when asked to demonstrate their cooking skills, were only asked to cook eggs from which the employer would then decide whether or not that chef was worthy of employment!
Whether fried, steamed, boiled, scrambled or poached for me the holy grail of cooking eggs is the element of soft, smooth silkiness. We can all cook eggs but can we cook it well.
Another curiosity needed to be satisfied with this dish was the use of XO sauce, a spicy sauce commonly used for seafood.
XO sauce was developed in Hong Kong in the 1980s for Cantonese cuisine. Traditionally a prestigious concoction of the finest ingredients of dried scallops & shrimps, salted cured fish & parma ham cooked with chilli, onion, garlic & oil, was found only at top seafood restaurants.
The name XO comes from "fine XO" meaning extra-old cognac considered affordable only by the wealthy. Thus the term XO is used to denote high quality, luxury & prestige. Since then more affordable versions have been developed available as a pre-made sauce found on grocery store shelves for the common household.
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| The eggs were cooked to perfection with the outer edges crispy & aromatic, the eggs were smooth & silky and the yolk was just right considered by some a sauce itself soaked up by & eaten with rice |
Kylie Kwong was messing with my head as the dish was registering as seafood but knowing quite well it wasn't! The XO was mellowed from what traditionally would be quite a hot & spicy sauce, and if intentional, is understandable so as not to overpower the eggs.
With this introduction to Billy Kwong our entrees were subsequently followed by White-Cooked Free-range Chicken with Organic Tamari, Chilli & Coriander, Stir-Fried Local Mushrooms, Stir-Fried Mussels with Chinese Celery & Sichuan Chilli, and Billy Kwong's signature dish Crispy Duck with Seasonal Mandarin.
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| White-Cooked Free-Range Chicken with Organic Tamari, Chilli & Coriander |
White-Cooked is a gentle poaching & steeping techinque used for cooking chicken that allows for the preservation of the chicken's flavour with the aim of achieving a moist, silky & tender flesh. Chicken cooked this way is commonly accompanied with finely grated ginger & spring onion sauce.
At first glance of the dish one can easy mistaken what lies beneath the aromatic herbs is fish. The presentation of the dish was so similar to the presentation of a steamed whole fish served at Chinese seafood restaurants that once again Kylie Kwong was messing with my head!
The chicken pieces were moist & tender, and accompanied with sauce & herbs commonly used with steamed fish was certainly another eye-opener.
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| Stir-Fry locally grown Oyster, Simejii, Shitake & Swiss Brown Mushrooms |
The stir-fry local mushrooms was another dish Brother Petite have had before & thoroughly enjoyed so again was a must to order. This dish was popular amongst the table & went down like a treat having realized we're such a bunch of carnivores!
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| Billy Kwong's signature dish Crispy Duck with Seasonal Mandarin |
The cripsy duck was a dish highly recommended by one of Mr Petite's colleagues who had dined at Billy Kwong & said the dish was "...to die for..." so was another must to order!
The colours of the dish was aesthetically pleasing, the combination of duck with a citrus was certainly refreshing & the presentation of the star anise & sticks of cinnamon made it that much more exotic. But a whiff of the dish when placed on the table saw it not as warmly received.
Likened to when fish has a fishy smell so pepper & ginger is added to rid of this unpleasant smell, when lamb has a lamby smell so pepper & garlic is added to rid of this unpleasant smell, the duck can also have a duck smell.
Brother Petite from Hong Kong was the first to voice this concern. With this unpleasant observation confirmed we were all quite hesitant to take the plunge. And finally Brother Petite from Hong Kong takes the first step & bites into a piece of duck ,with all of us waiting in anticipation, reports despite the strong unpleasant duck smell surprisingly there was no strong unpleasant duck taste!
And as our friendly & attentive wait person discovered this was a night celebrating a family reunion, he offered to do this...
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| "Smile!" (a night & family feast to remember!) |
So was it "Just Like Mum's cooking..."?
Answer: No
Did my taste buds approve?
Answer: They certainly did!
Chinese cuisine with an unexpected twist equally enjoyed by the Traditionalist as well as the Modernist.
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| Billy Kwong Shop 3, 355 Crown Street Surry Hills |
Tell me Dear Readers where would you consider to be THE place for a special family feast?
