nwasianweekly.com
Apr. 15, 2006

Chef Martin Yan is arguably the best-known Asian chef in America. Having produced more than 2,500 cooking
shows, he is credited with demystifying Chinese cooking
for millions of Americans.

Chef Yan: It’s OK to be No. 2

By Pat Tanumihardja
For the Northwest Asian Weekly

When Chef Martin Yan was growing up, his mother used to tell him a Chinese proverb: “Da shu zao feng,” which translates to “tall trees find wind.”

His mother told him, “‘Don’t even try to be number one because … when you’re way up there, you catch all the wind, so that means that you’ll always get hit,’” the celebrity chef recently explains over breakfast at the Sheraton Seattle. “So she always reminded me, ‘You don’t have to be number one. Number two, number three is OK.’”

Yan, who was in town for the International Association of Culinary Professionals (IACP) conference in March, credits his long-term survival — he has been in the industry for 26 years — to this philosophy. “I never worked towards being number one … so I never have the stress and the pressure within myself or from my family,” he says. “As long as you try the best you can and do the best you can.”

For someone who never strived to be the crème de la crème, Yan has done very well for himself. This immigrant from Guangzhou, China, is arguably the most recognized Asian chef in mainstream American media, having produced more than 2,500 cooking shows and authored 27 books.

After being in the limelight for more than two decades, Yan feels privileged to be regarded as a well-known authority on Asian cooking. “In events like this (the IACP conference), they always ask me to get involved, hosting dinners and doing fund-raising,” he explains. “I feel fortunate. … Not everybody has such an opportunity, even though they try harder than me.”

Credited with demystifying Chinese cooking for millions of Americans, Yan also feels he has a larger responsibility. “Being an Asian, I feel that what I’m doing is not only representing my profession and myself and my family, but also representing Asians,” he says. “So if people respect me, they respect what I do and they respect the profession; they also respect the Asian culture.”

However, he never set out to achieve this goal. “I just love what I do and I just do what I do,” he says, likening himself to Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan. “This is our career. This is what we are passionate about. Along the way, there is a transformation of our philosophy, our personality, our thinking and mission.”

Among his many different hats, Yan loves to put on his teaching toque. Despite his busy schedule, he still finds time to share his knowledge and expertise in culinary schools, supermarket demonstrations, cooking classes and, of course, his live cooking shows.

“In the very beginning, my slogan was always ‘Yan can, so can you!’” he says. “I want to make (my students) feel comfortable. To teach something that’s so different, so much technique and so much seasoning, you have to give them the impression, ‘Hey, that’s easy.’ The only way to do it is to tell them, ‘I can do it, you can do it too.’”

Cooking can be simple, but fame and celebrity are another story.

“A lot of culinary graduates think they can be a celebrity chef like Emeril or Bobby Flay. That would be a big mistake. (They) worked really hard for many, many years … and they have the right personality,” Yan notes.

Although Yan believes people should follow their instincts and their dreams, he offers this advice: “Just enjoy what you do and it will come. If it’s meant for you to be successful, it will come. Just do the best you can and forget about how it will come out and just do it.”

“That’s what I love about the Nike commercial,” he continues. “Forget about talking. Talk is cheap; talk doesn’t get you anywhere. … Just do it and love it.”

Yan is definitely a man of action. He recently took on his first principal role in the 2004 Singapore feature film “Rice Rhapsody.” His 27^th book, Martin Yan Quick and Easy, is on its way to becoming a bestseller. He is producing another 52 “Yan Can Cook” shows and is currently working in China on a show called “Happy Cooking With Chef Yan,” a series of one-hour programs comprising travel, cooking advice, nutrition and even skin-care tips. Produced in Mandarin, the show will have a potential worldwide audience of 150 million people — not only in China but also in Southeast Asia and Taiwan.

Having experienced an amazing career and a fulfilling culinary and personal journey, Yan says he has nothing left to prove. “I just continue to do what I love to do and what I’m passionate about,” he says. “You like it, I appreciate it. If people don’t appreciate what I do, it doesn’t hurt my ego.”

Yan may not be number one, but he has achieved the greatest career success of all: He loves his job. 

Pat Tanumihardja can be reached at scpnwan@nwlink.com.

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