Kylie Kwong!!!!!!!

So let me set the stage. It's Saturday night and J and I are staying in and feeling kind of guilty about it because we had plans to go to a Halloween party and just pooped out. After making four jars of applesauce and a batch of apple muffins, I'm chilling out flipping channels. Expecting the Saturday night wasteland of tv shows, I plow through the channels. When I get to Discovery Home, I get a glimpse of some of the most food porntastic images I have ever seen on tv. Luscious close-ups of chopped scallions, ginger and chilies being glossified in stir fry. The source of all of this food erotica is Kylie Kwong. Imagine Lane from Gilmore Girls being possessed by Toni Collette, making Chinese food. Kylie's website describes her as "an ABC (Australian Born Chinese)." She's smart, sassy, and stylish, wearing funky deisgner glasses and kicky silk blouses.

Her show, Kylie Kwong: Heart and Soul is the foodies wet dream. Ingredients are fresh, the kitchen is shot in luminous lighting with sexy close-ups of frenetic chopping and stirring. How foodie is this show? The opening sequence has her putting together an aromatic salt and Chinese peppercorn mixture in a hot wok and then walking around her restaurant to infuse the space with the salt and pepper aroma.

Viewer beware, this is not really a home cooking show. Most of the stuff she makes is dependent on buying the freshest ingredients not necessarily available in the U.S. (i.e. Australian Yellowtail Kingfish). Because this is about stir fry, the techinque requires a level of mis en place (preparation of the ingredients) that I don't have the patience for. For example, check out her Chinese Steamboat meal. The ingredient list makes my head explode.

But this show isn't about self improvement or education. It's about visual pleasure. For the 12 people in DC who have Discovery Home, watch this show.