Martin Yan
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Born | 1948 Guangzhou, People's Republic of China |
|---|---|
| Cooking style | Chinese |
| Education | Overseas Institute of Cookery of Hong Kong |
| Restaurants | Yan Can (Santa Clara, Pleasant Hill) |
| TV Show(s) | Yan Can Cook, Martin Yan's Quick and Easy, Martin Yan's Chinatown Cooking |
Martin Yan (甄文達 Pinyin: Zhēn Wéndá; later 殷文達 Yīn Wéndá, note that 甄 and 殷 are both Yan in Cantonese) (born 1948) is a Chinese-born American chef and actor who hosts the award-winning national cooking show Yan Can Cook.
He currently resides in Hillsborough, California, south of San Francisco, and is married to Susan ("Sue") with a pair of twin sons, Colin and Devin. He is not related to the Canadian cooking show personality Stephen Yan.
Contents |
[edit] Early years
Born in Guangzhou, China to a restaurateur father and a grocer mother, Yan began cooking at 12. He moved to Kowloon, Hong Kong the next year with his family, working in his uncle's restaurant. He received a diploma from the Overseas Institute of Cookery of Hong Kong, then he studied college a year in Calgary at 18 before heading to California. He received Master of Science degree in food science from University of California, Davis.
[edit] Career
After teaching Chinese cooking for the extension program and appearing on a local Calgary talk show in 1978 (likely CICT-TV or CHCT-TV), Yan has been hosting over 1,500 episodes of the PBS cooking shows Yan Can Cook since 1982. He has also appeared on cartoon talk show Space Ghost: Coast to Coast, which currently airs on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim.
He also hosts Martin Yan's Chinatown Cooking, where he tours Chinatowns around the globe.
Yan is the lead actor of Rice Rhapsody (海南雞飯, 2005).
He has appeared as a guest judge on an episode of Iron Chef America, on the episode in which Cat Cora lost by .1 of point.
[edit] Accent
Yan's TV presentation, which combines his thick Cantonese accent with clownish behavior, has been of particular note. He pronounces words like shrimp as "shwim", crab as "cwap", etc. Yan maintains that his accent is not fake and that any excessive intonation is because of his enthusiasm: "For many people the accent will stay, even those who speak English perfectly, and uses proper grammar and words." Yan started studying English at 16.
The most famous lines from his show include "If Yan can cook, SO - CAN - YOU!", and "Children can be a great help in the kitchen", which are both memorable due to his accent and his facial expressions.
[edit] Cookbook career
Yan has opened a chain of Yan Can Restaurants and founded the Yan Can International Cooking School in the San Francisco Bay Area. He has written over two dozen cookbooks:
- Martin Yan's Feast: The Best of Yan Can Cook
- Chinese Cooking for Dummies
- Martin Yan's Asian Favorites
- Martin Yan's Quick and Easy
- Martin Yan's Chinatowns
- Martin Yan's Culinary Journey Through China
- Martin Yan's Asia
- Martin Yan's Entertainment At-Home
- Martin Yan the Chinese Chef
- Martin Yan's Invitation to Chinese Cooking
- Martin Yan's Feast
[edit] Awards
- An honorary Doctorate of Culinary Arts by Johnson & Wales University.
- A Daytime Emmy Award in 1998 for best cooking show.
- A 1996 James Beard Award for Best TV Food Journalism.
- A 1994 James Beard Award for Best TV Cooking Show.
- The Antonin Careme Award by the Chef's Association of the Pacific Coast.
- The Courvoisier Leadership Award by Courvoisier.
