| Born | 1948 Canton, Republic of China |
|---|---|
| Cooking style | Chinese, mainly Cantonese |
| 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's Hong Kong |
Martin Yan (Chinese: 甄文達; Pinyin: Zhēn Wéndá) (born 1948) is a Chinese-born American chef and the host of the award-winning US national cooking show Yan Can Cook.
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Early years
Born in Guangzhou, China, to a restaurateur father and a grocer mother, Yan began to cook at 12. He moved to Hong Kong when he was 13, and attended the Munsang College in Kowloon City. During this time in Munsang College , he worked at his Uncle's Chinese Restaurant and learned about the traditional method of Chinese Barbecue there. He received a diploma from the Overseas Institute of Cookery of Hong Kong and later left for Canada for continuous study . 10 years after his arrival in North America, Yan received a Master of Science degree in food science from University of California, Davis in 1975 .
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. Martin Yan currently hosts "Martin Yan's Quick and Easy." He also hosts Martin Yan's Chinatown Cooking, where he tours Chinatowns around the globe. Yan is one of the lead actor of the Singaporean movieRice Rhapsody (海南雞飯, 2005). Martin Yan also received the title of "Master Chef" by the American Culinary Federation. 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.
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
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.
Personal life
Yan is married to a Japanese woman whom he met in college. His wife gave birth to their twin sons in 1993. They currently reside in San Francisco. Yan grows his own vegetables and herbs at his backyard.
