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Acclaimed chef Martin Yan conjures up a loyal following no matter where he goes, including the Bay area.
by MARY D. SCOURTES
mscourtes@tampatrib.com
TAMPA - When Martin Yan preaches about his passion for food, the kitchen becomes his pulpit.
"I love to teach," says Yan, who is best known for his public television show "Yan Can Cook," which is seen in almost 250 cities in the United States and in more than 70 countries.
With 2,000 cooking shows and 27 cookbooks under his belt, he is often a guest chef-instructor at professional chef programs and schools, such as the California Culinary Academy. He also founded his Yan Can International Cooking School in San Francisco.
Yan, 48, chooses 10 classes each year to teach for the public.
A few weeks ago, he visited the Tampa Bay area to teach seafood classes at Publix's Apron's Cooking schools in Citrus Park and University Walk in Sarasota. Tickets to the Tampa class sold out in two days.
Michael Cohen of Tampa, who attended the Citrus Park class with his wife, Janice, has watched Yan's show for years.
"I like everything about him. He was funny, witty and very entertaining," says Cohen.
Jon Weisman of Westchase says, "I love his cooking energy."
Weisman cooked Yan's Creamy Walnut Prawns for his family of five. The dish tasted like the professional version, he says.
That's not always a given. Chinese chefs use heavy, deep-sided woks to toss food over high heat, 125,000 to 150,000 BTUs - blow torch level. The technique sears the food.
A native of Guangzhou (also known as Canton) in southeast China, Yan grew up learning culinary secrets from his mother, Lam Xi-Mei, who cooked fabulous dinners on a wood-burning stove. She worked in a grocery store, and his father ran a restaurant.
"As a little kid, I knew what a black bean sauce or chili sauce was," Yan says.
Because food was scarce, he learned to work magic with inexpensive ingredients. Recycling was important, too. A bottle of soy sauce once emptied is saved and refilled.
His philosophy reflects that of his mother: to appreciate every grain of rice.
"There was no waste and no garbage disposal," he adds.
Asian chefs' attitude of "waste not, want not" motivates them to use chicken carcasses, fish bones or vegetables for freshly simmered stock. (Yan deboned a chicken in 16 seconds during his Tampa class.)
Yan's guidance makes Chinese cooking easy.
He has received two James Beard food awards for best cooking show (1994) and best television food journalism (1996). He also won a Daytime Emmy in 1998.
The chef, who lives near San Francisco, is also host of PBS' "Martin Yan's Chinatown."
His newest cookbook, "Martin Yan's Chinatown Cooking, 200 Traditional Recipes From 11 Chinatowns Around the World" (Morrow, $34.95), is a companion cookbook to that show.
Julia Child, who wrote its introduction, says she has watched him since he started on television.
"Martin cooks and eats with engaging gusto, and he is certainly the premier exponent of Chinese cuisine," Child writes.
Yan's book is a lip-smacking visit through the streets, shops and restaurants in 11 Chinatowns on four continents, from London to Yokohama.
Yan also operates five Yan Can eateries in Northern and Southern California, as well as an upscale restaurant, SensAsian, in Irvine, Calif.
He is hard at work putting together a new PBS television show, "Yan's Quick and Easy Asian," which will air next year.
The tireless chef, who speaks several Chinese dialects and contributes to a variety of food publications, does about everything but teach Chinese.
Maybe that's next.
CREAMY WALNUT PRAWNS
3/4 pound uncooked medium shrimp, shelled and deveined
Vegetable oil
Marinade:
1 egg, lightly beaten
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 teaspoon minced shallots
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon sesame seeds
Sauce:
1/2 cup mayonnaise
2 teaspoons honey
2 teaspoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon lime juice
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1/4 teaspoon dry mustard powder
Garnish:
1/4 cup Glazed Walnuts (below)
Sesame seeds (optional)
Lime zest (optional)
To marinate shrimp: In a bowl, stir egg, cornstarch, shallots, garlic and sesame seeds together to blend. Toss shrimp gently in marinade until coated. Let stand 10 minutes.
For sauce: Stir mayonnaise, honey, soy sauce, lime juice, sesame oil and dry mustard together in a medium bowl until smooth.
Pour enough vegetable oil into a wok to fill 3 inches. Heat over medium heat to 375 degrees. Carefully slip shrimp into hot oil, using a spoon to keep them from sticking together. Fry until opaque in center, about 2 to 3 minutes. Lift shrimp out with a slotted spoon. Drain on paper towels.
Transfer shrimp to a large bowl and drizzle with sauce. Using 2 spoons, toss shrimp to coat evenly. Scoop shrimp onto a serving plate and sprinkle Glazed Walnuts over them. Garnish with sesame seeds and lime zest, if desired.
Makes 4 servings as part of a multicourse meal.
GLAZED WALNUTS
1 pound walnut halves
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
Vegetable oil
Blanch nuts in boiling water for 2 minutes; drain. Combine sugar and water in a 3-quart saucepan and cook over medium heat until sugar has dissolved. Add nuts and cook, stirring continuously, until the sugar caramelizes, about 5 minutes. Drain syrup in a colander. Pour 3 inches of oil into a wok and heat to 300 degrees.
Add nuts and deep-fry, stirring for 5 minutes. Increase heat to 350 and cook until nuts turn deep brown and float to the surface. Using a slotted spoon, remove nuts, draining well, and place in a shallow pan to cool. Shake the pan often to prevent nuts from sticking. Cool.
Makes about 2 1/2 cups; can be refrigerated up to 2 months.
GOLD MEDAL CRAB-FRIED RICE
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 cups cooked long-grain rice, separated (cold)
4 egg yolks, lightly beaten
1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
1/4 pound uncooked medium shrimp, shelled, deveined, and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1/4 pound cooked crabmeat, flaked
2 green onions, trimmed, cut into 2-inch lengths and shredded
2 tablespoons water
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground white pepper
Cooked crabmeat from 2 leg segments, optional
1 lobster tail, cooked, meat removed and cut into bite-size pieces (optional)
2 teaspoons flying fish roe caviar (optional)
Heat a wok over medium heat until hot. Add 1 tablespoon oil and swirl to coat sides. Reduce heat to low; add rice and egg yolks. Cook, stirring continuously, until each grain of rice is coated with yolks and golden, about 2 minutes.
Increase the heat to high, make a well in the center of the rice to expose the bottom of the wok and add 1 tablespoon oil. Drop garlic and shrimp into the well, stirring constantly until the shrimp turn pink, 1 to 1 1/2 minutes.
Mix shrimp and rice. Add flaked crab, 1 green onion, water, salt and pepper. Cook, stirring, until heated, 1 to 2 minutes. Scoop rice onto a serving platter, and garnish with remaining green onion and, if using, crab leg meat, lobster and roe.
THAI RICE SALAD WITH SHRIMP
1/2 pound cooked large shrimp, shelled and deveined, tails left intact
4 cups cooked long-grain rice
Sauce:
3 stalks lemon grass (bottom 6 inches only)
8 quarter-size slices peeled ginger
2 tablespoons freshly grated lime zest
1 cup fish sauce
2 3/4 cups water
1 cup palm (or light brown) sugar
Salad:
1 cup unsweetened coconut, toasted
1/4 cup dried red chili flakes
1 cup thinly sliced green beans
1 cup thinly sliced English cucumber
1 cup bean sprouts
1 grapefruit, peeled, segments removed from between the membranes and diced
1 small green apple, cored and cut into small cubes
1 stalk lemon grass (bottom 6 inches only), minced
2 tablespoons freshly grated lime zest
To make sauce: Bring 3 stalks lemon grass, ginger, 2 tablespoons lime zest, fish sauce, water and palm sugar to a boil in a 2-quart saucepan over high heat.
Adjust heat so the sauce is simmering; cook, uncovered, until the sauce is dark and reduced, about 20 minutes. Remove from heat and strain into a sauce bowl. Discard solids, cover bowl and set aside.
For salad: Arrange small piles of toasted coconut, chili flakes, green beans, cucumber, bean sprouts, grapefruit, apple, lemon grass and lime zest on a large serving platter.
Place 1 cup rice on each plate and divide shrimp evenly among plates. Let guests add accompaniments.
Pass sauce separately, for guests to drizzle a little (1 to 2 tablespoons) over their plate. Toss ingredients together.
Serves 4 as part of a multicourse meal.
Source: "Martin Yan's Chinatown Cooking"
(CHART) CUTTING EDGE
Chef Martin Yan uses a knife to chop and crush foods, then transfer ingredients from cutting board to wok. Here's how:
"Martin Yan's Chinatown" airs at 9:30 p.m. Mondays on WUSF, Channel 16.
Reporter Mary D. Scourtes can be reached at (813) 259-7635.
Copyright © 2003, The Tampa Tribune and may not be republished without permission. E-mail library@tampatrib.com
Published on September 17, 2003
