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Danny Kaye, Master of Wit, Is Also Master of Chinese Cooking
March 12, 1975, Page 20
BEVERLY HILLS, Calif.—There were eight guests at table. Danny Kaye was at the stove with volcanolike, billowing smoke ascending from one of his three professional woks, as he stirred a dish of cubed beef with onions, Chinese‐style.
“The trouble with Danny's cooking,” Olive Behrendt was saying, “it spoils you forever for going to restaurants. You could eat in this home every night for a month and never be served the same dish twice.”
Mrs. Behrendt, president of the Los Angeles Philharmonic and a frequent guest at Danny Kaye's table, added that Luciano Pavarotti had recently dined there and agreed that the multitalented Mr. Kaye makes perhaps the best fegato alla veneziana, or calf's liver Venetian‐style, in the world.
For years we had heard of Mr. Kaye's prowess as a chef, particularly in the province of Chinese cooking, and tended to regard it with at least a touch of skepticism. One more touch of Hollywood, we mused.
But if we came into the man's kitchen to scoff, we stayed to stare with openmouthed awe as he proceeded to bone a chicken or two with surgical skill and, at the moment of cooking, wield his cleaver, wok scoops and wok spoons with maestro‐like dexterity.
Danny Kaye, who is 62 years old, was born in Brooklyn of Russian parents, and his father did most of the cooking.
“He cooked very simple dishes,” Danny recalled. “Great soups like borscht and schav and Russian stews. He got so much joy out of raw ingredients, and I think I inherited that.”
Danny's abiding interest in Chinese cooking came about when he traveled to Shanghai in 1934 with a group of American entertainers.
“Every day they'd spend their off hours in search of bargains—shoes, suits, trinkets.” On his first day there, he recounted, he was taken to a Chinese restaurant by friends, and it was something like getting religion. He was taken into the kitchen.
“It was overwhelming; 180 degrees in contrast to anything I'd ever experienced in the Western world. I was absolutely riveted by the heat, the flames and the technical speed of the chefs.” He knew from the beginning he had to become involved.
Some years later, he added, he met Johnny Kan who owned one of the best‐known restaurants in San Francisco's Chinatown. “Johnny and I became friends and for weeks he let me stand around his kitchen and watch. Eventually they let me do a little chopping and a few of the simpler dishes.”
When you write of Danny Kaye's cooking, there is an inherent temptation to drift into superlatives. He has what is undoubtedly the finest Chinese kitchen of any private home in America and as far as we know the world.
He has cooked for many of the world's notables. His guests in Government circles have included Henry Kissinger; in the arts, Luciano Pavarotti, the singer; Beverly Sills, the soprano; Jascha Heifetz and Itzhak Perlman, the violinists( and Zubin Mehta, the conductor.
And who else would cook for those peripatetic wizards of the French kitchen, Paul Bocuse of the restaurant that bears his name in Lyon; Roger Vergé, the celebrated chef‐patron of the Hostellerie du Moulin de Mougins, and Jean Troisgros Frères restaurant in Roanne?
Within the past six weeks he has had them in his home to dine on an eight‐course Chinese banquet—cucumber soup, beef with onion rings, “banjo” duck, deep‐fried squab, sweet and sour deepfried scallops, stir‐fried shrimp with oysters. And there was an Italian feast—fettucine with pesto, the fegato alla veneziana, chicken cacciatore. The chefs, we have it on the best authority, gluttonized; Danny Kaye took it all in professional stride, unfazed in the midst of that mass, prodigious talent.
The Kaye kitchen consists primarily of a 10‐foot stainless steel, professional Chinese battery of stoves, custommade by Robert Yick, a San Francisco designer and perhaps the best‐known fabricator of Chinese cooking equipment in America. The range consists of three wok ranges fired by enormous jets of gas, the controls of which can be operated by knee‐ac tion—a lever at knee height
There are easily accessible refrigerator drawers across from the stove and a professional oven for roasting duck next to it. It has been rumored that most of the ingredients used by Danny Kaye when he cooks are prepared by a team of Chinese souschefs, which is patently untrue. He has one kitchen helper, Ming Lo Chin, a joyous, good‐natured woman in her mid‐50's.
When Danny Kaye entertains, he never sits at table until after the end of the meal. He presides over the woks, preparing one course at a time, each of which is served in succession on a lazy susan permanently placed in the middle of his round table, situated to one side of his Chinese kitchen. The ventilating system is silent and a marvel of efficiency. There are no fumes.
The gentleman does all of his own shopping, most of it in Chinatown in Los Angeles, about a 15‐ or 20‐minute drive along the freeway from his home.
Among his “permanent” ingredients can be counted a gallon of thin licorice root and anise‐flavored sauce that he has had on hand for 11 years. As the sauce is used —as a dip for squab before roasting, for example—the ingredients such as soy sauce and wine are replenished. It is brought to the boil every 10 days to keep it in good condition.
Danny Kaye has one wall decoration in his kitchen that bears a special significance. It is a hand‐painted black calligraphy drawing that says simply in Chinese, “Danny Kaye, skilled hands.” It was given to him by one of the chefs after his early days in the Johnny Kan kitchen.
Here is a small sampler of the Danny Kaye repertory.
BATTER‐FRIED SCALLOPS
1 pint scallops
½ cup flour
½ cup cornstarch
1 egg white
1 tablespoon peanut, vegetable or corn oil
1 tablespoon white vinegar
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ cup or more water
Peanut, vegetable or corn oil for deep frying
2½ cups sweet and sour sauce (see recipe).
1. If desired, rinse and drain the scallops well.
2. In a mixing bowl, combine the flour, cornstarch, egg white, one tablespoon oil, vinegar and baking soda, Mix well.
3. Gradually add the water, stirring constantly with a wire whisk. Add enough water to make a thick batter like a pancake batter.
4. Heat the oil almost to smoking and, if desired, test one scallop by dipping it in the batter and frying to determine if the batter is too thick. If so, stir in a little more water.
5. Add the scallops to the batter and quickly drop them one at a time into the hot oil. Deep fry, stirring and turning with a strainer, mak ing sure that the scallops do not stick together. Remove and drain well. Pour onto a serving dish. Pour over the heated sweet and sour sauce and serve.
Yield: Eight servings.
SWEET AND SOUR SAUCE
1 cup sugar
¾ cup white vinegar
½ cup plus 3 tablespoons water
¾ cup pineapple juice
1½ tablespoons cornstarch
½ teaspoon red food coloring.
1. Combine the sugar, vinegar, one‐half cup water and pineapple juice in a saucepan. Bring to the boil and simmer, stirring, until sugar dissolves.
2. Blend the cornstarch with the remaining three tablespoons water and stir it into the simmering sauce. Stir in the food coloring.
Yield. About two and onehalf cups.
CRAZY CHICKEN
1½ cups skinned, boned chicken cut into half‐ inch cubes
1 egg white
4 tablespoons peanut, vegetable or corn oil
1 tablespoon cornstarch
½ cup thinly sliced water chestnuts
10 lychee nuts, cut into quarters
1 tablespoon dry sherry wine or shao hsing Chinese wine
1 tablespoon light soy sauce
½ to 1 teaspoon sambal oelek (see note)
Salt to taste
½ teaspoon sugar
½ cup roasted peanuts, crushed.
1. Combine the chicken, egg white, one tablespoon oil and cornstarch. Mix well with the fingers. Refrigerate 30 minutes.
2. Heat the remaining three tablespoons oil in a wok or skillet and add the chicken, stirring rapidly just to separate the pieces. Drain chicken, reserving oil.
3. Return two tablespoons of the oil to the wok. Add the chicken and stir quickly about 30 seconds. Add the water chestnuts and lychees and stir to blend. Add the wine, soy, sambal oelek, salt and sugar, stirring and tossing quickly. Add the peanuts, toss quickly and serve.
Yield: Eight servings.
Note: Sambal oelek is a hot chili seasoning from Indonesia. It is sold where Indonesian products are available including Bloomingdale's Delicacies; Trinacria Importing Company, 415 Third Avenue (29th Street).
LION'S HEAD
8 dried black mushrooms
1¼ pounds ground pork
20 water chestnuts, finely diced
1 teaspoon finely minced fresh ginger
3 green onions, chopped
1 teaspoon finely minced garlic
Grated rind of one orange
¼ teaspoon sesame oil
1 tablespoon dry sherry or shao hsing Chinese wine
1 tablespoon, light soy sauce
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon cornstarch Peanut, vegetable or corn oil for deep frying Steamed spinach or broccoli, optional.
1. Place the mushrooms in a mixing bowl and add hot water to cover. Let stand 20 minutes or longer until softened.
2. Place the pork in a mixing bowl. Drain the mushrooms and squeeze dry. Chop them Add them to the pork.
3. Add the water chestnuts, ginger, onion, garlic, grated orange rind, sesame oil, the wine, soy sauce, salt and cornstarch. Mix well and shape into eight to 12 balls. Set aside.
4. Heat the oil for deep frying and add the meat balls. Deep fry until crisp and golden on the outside. Drain well. Place the meat balls in a steamer and steam 20 to 25 minutes. Serve on a bed of spinach or broccoli.
Yield: Eight servings.
STIR‐FRY OYSTERS AND SHRIMP
1 cup raw oysters
¼ cup flour
½ pound raw shrimp, shelled and deveined
2 tablespoons peanut, vegetable or corn oil
1 two‐inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and cut into fine shreds
5 scallions, trimmed and cut into two‐inch lengths
1 teaspoon light soy sauce
¼ teaspoon sesame oil
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
1½ tablespoons cornstarch
1½ tablespoons water.
1. Place the oysters in a bowl and add the flour and water to cover. Stir the oysters in the liquid. Drain well and run under several changes of cold water. Drain well. The flour will both cleanse and plump the oysters. They must be rinsed well before draining.
2. Prepare the shrimp and set aside.
3. Drop the oysters into barely simmering water. Turn off the heat. Let stand one minute and drain. Set aside. Repeat with the shrimp.
4. Heat the oil In a wok or skillet over high heat. Add the ginger, scallions and cook, stirring, about five seconds. Add the oysters and shrimp and stir rapidly. Cook about 15 seconds. Add the soy sauce, sesame oil, salt and pepper to taste, stirring constantly.
5. Blend the cornstarch with water and stir it into the dish. Cook 15 seconds, stirring quickly, and serve.
Yield: Eight servings.
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