I remember this guy. He's hilarious. One time he was chopping up some carrots and i can't remember exactly how it went cause it was over 20 years ago but he said something like "then you chop up this carro...carrol..what is it called?" The audience goes "carrot!" Yan goes "Oh yeah, Carol was the girlfriend i had last night" Big smile on his face. I wish i could find that episode to watch that part again. If anyone knows of it on youtube or whatever, please let me know.
I looked at this show from a different angle and I noticed a few things: 1.) The vegetables looked a lot smaller. The mushrooms, the carrots, the peppers all looked smaller than what we have today. 2.) He uses very little meat in the dishes which are essentially meat dishes. We use a lot more meat in our food now. 3.) The dishes are literally pieces of art. I remember dishes used to have a lot of great patterns and art on them back in the day.
i wanted to become either a comedian/actor or a chef when i grow up cause they both make people happy... this man teached me how to do both at the same time :) .
I have about a dozen more clips that I will upload as soon as I am able to. These are taken from the two VHS Cassettes that Wok With Yan produced in the 1980s.
Thank you for posting this Garr. Stephen Yan is the man who inspired me to learn how to cook Chinese food back in the 80's. I looked forward to his daily show with his unique style, simple healthy recipes and wonderful humor. Wok don't run!
i miss this on tv, when i was a kid i watch all his episode, im so amazed of how he cooks. For me it looks tempting to eat, looks delicious too, when i watch him i wish that i was part of the audience who can eat what he serves, thats why i learned how to cook and love to cook because of him..
I have been trying to recreate chicken chow mein at home since 2019 when lockdown hit. This would have to be the best tasting and closest to my local Chinese restaurant. Definitely try this recipe and of course any veggies will do
Chef Yan is amazing.. I've watched him since I was a little kid, probably since the day he came on. He's definitely a huge reason why Canadians aren't as racist towards Asians as Americans are. How can we be? Yan taught us so many beautiful things about Asian Culture and he did with a huge smile, lots of jokes, and many many years of great food.
Yan knew how much fun he could be with his wok puns, cute jokes, and thick accent, and mixed it all in to teach people how to cook Chinese food dishes. He made cooking shows fun that way.
Ah ah ah ah ah ah is funny Yan. Many thinks that pasta was brought to Italy from China, rose from a misinterpretation of a famous passage in Polo’s Travels.Polo mentions a tree from which something like pasta was made. It was probably the sago palm, which produces a starchy food that resembles, but is not pasta.Even while Polo was away on his travels in the 1270s, there is a reference to a soldier in the northern Italian city of Genoa, who owned a basket of “macaronis.” However from the 13th century, references to pasta dishes-macaroni, ravioli, gnocchi, vermicelli-crop up with increasing frequency across the Italian Peninsula. i love both italian pasta and Chinese noodle.
He is the reason why I love to cook I would come home from pre school and turn on the TV and watch him and James barber instead of sesame street. But did you see the cross contamination of him touching the raw chicken then the veggies haha
Americans confused the mind of Mr.Yan aswell. Italian pasta is originated in South Italy (Sicily) in Trabia town near Palermo. In the XIIth century the Arab geographer Al-Idris is very precious. In his book entitled “Ruggero’s book”, he affirms that in 1154 in the village of Trabia, was produced a particular thread-shaped meal( Vermicelli) called “itrivah” in the Arab language made with flour. Marco Polo came later in the 1294 from China.
Everyday I would come home from kindergarten and I would see him still on the television I walked home with my friend and her mom who picked me up from school because she went to school next to mine so I bet my dad everyday to send a PO Box address so we can get his cookbook I even bugged him to get my mom his wok because that was not only her favorite show it was mine he was always funny he made me laugh and I was a little and we have been watching the old reruns on RU-vid
@Garr1984 That would be fantastic. Very much appreciated as I mentioned in another post. I always wondered what happened to him. Google searching seems to yield few results.
I remember my mum used to tell me the recipe is not nice when I was a kid. After 30 years later I realised that's just to cater American flavour. No wonder......
+Sylvia Howes There's something called "vegetarian oyster sauce." It's made with mushrooms. Should be available at your Asian supermarket if they have a good selection.
Stephan...not sure where you learned how to cook...probably somewhere in North America...... I am not a fan of your style, but I must say you are a good ambassador of whatever you are cooking....Cheers !!
D'Professor - he was born, raised & trained in Hong Kong. He moved to Vancouver in the 1960s and had a few restaurants before getting into television in 1980. One of his restaurants is still in Coquitlam under his name, Yan's Garden, although he no longer owns it. His show is a bit white washed looking back on it now but he was on television for 15 years and produced a number of top selling cookbooks that delve into more traditional Chinese fare. He helped bring a wider audience to appreciate Chinese cuisine and even had a line of cooking utensils, spices and sauces.
I saw him in Coquitlam studio and restaurant. the dairy queen that Dorothy Stratten worked was up the road, and Terry fox was running the marathon. the early 80's suburban Vancouver, who knew society would get like this. then the dark ages of the 90's- now it's a nightmare.
+David Dimalanta . My guess is looking at the generation of people he was promoting Chinese cooking to, that this would have been the most ethnic friendly to introduce what would have been foreign cuisine of the time.
David Dimalanta - yes at the time he started access to Chinese ingredients was limited in most grocery stores in Canada in the early 1980s, thus the reason for saying you could get away with different noodles if you had too. Even if you watched American cooks who tackled Asian cuisine, like the Frugal Gourmet, they'd often discuss where you could find stuff. We're lucky today that in many markets you can get a wide variety of ingredients!
Well our home classic way of cooking Chow Mein ny my great grandma from China. She doesn't put soy sauce and garlic. Just ginger and salt. Trust me it taste better. Taste so fresh. Unlike soy sauce. Tasted like week old noodle dish.
