Chef Martin Yan Takes on Beijing’s Restaurant Scene

For almost thirty years, celebrity chef Martin Yan has been dazzling audiences and taste buds in more than 50 countries with his cooking show Yan Can Cook. Now he’s bringing that experience to Beijing diners, not with his show, but with the interactive restaurant Yan Can Cook Beijing, opening in the CBD on December 7. Agenda met with Yan between chops to learn all about it.

Tell us a little bit about your new restaurant, Yan Can Cook Beijing.
Yan Can Cook Beijing is essentially a platform to showcase different Chinese cuisines. We have an open kitchen theatre, where our chefs will perform their skills and techniques. One end will be a Peking duck oven, the other a dim sum station and the middle will have two big woks for noodle tricks. In front there will be an area for over 200 people to watch the performance as they eat. This is perfect for expats and travelers who want to entertain guests and are limited on time, because you have China’s signature dishes in one restaurant.

When did you first start cooking, and where did you train to become a chef?
Before I was born, my father had a restaurant and my mother operated a grocery store. The first time I cooked was at age ten, when I helped my mum get everything ready. Even today the knife and cutting board I used growing up are still in the same spot. At 13 I left Guangzhou and went to Hong Kong to work in my uncle’s restaurant. That’s how I got into this business. It’s funny though, because when I was younger I never really thought I was going to become a chef.

What inspired you to start teaching others how to cook?
I went to school in North America, and someone told me I should get a restaurant job. When I went to get one I found out that, back 25 years ago, you only earned 75 to 85 cents an hour. So I decided try and teach cooking at an extension university, and approached my dean. He rejected the idea both because I didn’t have any certificates, and because the university didn’t teach cooking. I told him that I wasn’t going to teach cooking, but that I was going to teach the art and science of Chinese cuisine. He still refused to give me a class, but I kept bugging him. He got so fed up that he put an ad in the local paper and told me if had more than 15 students, then I could teach. 36 people signed up.

How would you describe your cooking style?
I live in San Francisco, but I am constantly traveling. I learn from all the masters and home cooks. My style I believe is contemporary healthy, delicious, cuisine. I guess I am also a crusader of Asian cuisine. I always use seasonal ingredients, and if it’s not in season, I don’t want it. I use ingredients from Thailand, Italy, and Indonesia. Gourmet cooking has no boundaries.

You’re best known for your Chinese cuisine, do you think this is because you are Chinese? Does your heritage play a large role in what you cook or the way you cook?
Of course! Your comfort zone is created in your country. Being of Chinese heritage, the flavor profile and the food are dear to my heart. But my cuisine is also very worldly and my focus is introducing Chinese food to the world. I also go to the South West provinces frequently and spend time with minorities. I stay and cook with them and I have fun with them. That is why Chinese cuisine is still dear to my heart.

What’s your favorite dish to cook?
As a chef you use wonderful and expensive things, but most chefs enjoy simple food. My favorite is steamed fish with some shredded green onion, ginger, good quality soy sauce and sesame oil. It is natural and sweet. I live very simply. When you enjoy life, you savor simple ingredients. You don’t have to be applauded all the time, and in fact, that is tiring. If you feel good about yourself you can be happy with simple things. That is what I teach.

What about your favorite food to eat?
I travel 250 days a year, and we eat out every night, some times at two restaurants in one night. Anywhere you go the food is also different, so to me any dish that is well prepared is good food, and I will appreciate it. I do love Shanghai dumplings and a wonderful Peking duck. I also love noodles and sesame seed buns. So in a sense my favorite food is the food I encounter. No chef I know wants to cook badly. Whether it is my family, a mother or a chef, they pour their heart out for me. There is always something I can learn. We can always learn. Everyday I feel I am thankful I can learn something from people.

You’ve hosted over 3,600 cooking shows broadcasted worldwide, and have won various awards. What do you think is your greatest accomplishment?
You work hard and you receive a few awards, so what? I feel that personally, my teaching is my greatest accomplishment. Since our show reaches millions of people, I know I can make them smile and laugh. It is a very meaningful life. I can’t buy that with money. The biggest sense of accomplishment I feel is when chef instructors will come to me and say, “I got into this field because of you”. If I can inspirea few people and changed their lives, then I am happy. I am not a merchant; I am not a businessman. I am a professional, I want to accomplish something small every day and every day I do. This keeps me going.

Are there any restaurants you would recommend for Chinese food in Beijing?
Da Dong Roast Duck. I love it. It brings traditional duck to another level. It encompasses cultural aspects of China and its heritage into fine dining. Every dish is a work of art. Amazing cuisine. Mr. Dong encourages his chefs to absorb and to create. I respect Mr. Dong very much as a culinary man. He is a good chef, and he can bring the best out of his team and promote Chinese cuisine to the world.

I also always recommend trying different things to people who want to experience Chinese cuisine. They shouldn’t miss Mongolian hot pot, and should try an imperial banquet and a veggie dish.

Can you teach us a quick and easy recipe we can make at home in our tiny, Beijing kitchens? I think twice cooked pork is the perfect recipe for Beijing kitchens. You can also use beef or lamb.

Get one pork shoulder, about ¼ kilo and cut it one and a half inch thick pieces. Put it in water with spring onions, ginger and a tiny bit of salt and let it simmer for 20 minutes, until 60 to 70 percent done.

Take it out and thinly slice it. Then, cut up some leek, green onion, ginger and dried chili. Saute these all together, and when it is fragrant you throw the pork back in and stir-fry it. Add some sesame oil, soy sauce, chili pepper and toss it.

This dish is so full of flavor that you can wrap it in a pancake or steamed bun. Simple ingredients, delicious and it keeps for a while. Perfect for the Beijing kitchen.

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