(audience claps) - Cooking for two is a subject that's often overlooked.

How many times that you have said, it is just two of us.

Let's order a pizza instead.

Why not use the occasion to whip up something a little unusual and have a feast.

Delicious feast.

Just for two.

Today I'm going to show you a very interesting dish.

I'm going to combine everybody's two favorite foods.

Noodles and pancake, to make one delicious dish.

Noodle Pancake with pork and ginger, julienne vegetable.

Very easy to do.

Everybody can do at home.

Here, all we have to do to save time.

We're going to make the pancake first.

This is our Chinese fresh pasta, egg noodles.

Okay.

You can buy, use angel hair noodle.

You can use anything.

And I boil it for about three minutes.

Okay.

And let it sit.

Lets cool down a little bit.

And then I am going to make this little pancake.

Here, I use a tiny, tiny bit of oil.

Now you do not even have to use oil because this is basically non-stick, okay.

Move these around.

And then I make a small pancake.

This is one pancake, because two people, you make two pancakes.

Okay.

I have one over here.

You'll make two pancakes.

And then when it's brown.

Let me move them around and make sure one little pancake for one person.

And then let's turn it down a little bit so everybody can see.

Then while I'm making and browning my pancake here.

I'm going to cut up some ingredients.

Which is julienne pork and vegetable and stir fry and put it right on top of the pancake.

It's going to be delicious.

The first thing I want to show you is this.

Sichuan pickle.

Sichuan zha cai.

You buy it.

You buy it in a little can, like this.

You can tell this little sign here.

Normally about three or four pieces inside.

They're big, like this.

Look at that.

Okay.

This is called Sichuan preserved vegetable.

When you do that, you julienne this.

Like that.

You're going to julienne, parallel cut.

julienne, parallel cut.

Very thin slices like this.

Okay.

Parallel cut.

That's all I need.

Most of these can be kept in the fridge for months and months because they are pickled and preserved.

With Sichuan pickled, chili pepper and salt.

(knife chops) Hyah.

Chun.

So easy.

(audience laughs) And then always clean up in the meantime.

We'd come back here and turn this whole thing down a little bit and do not - You want to brown the noodle pancake.

You don't want to burn the noodle pancake.

Okay.

And then we cut up a tiny bit of carrot.

Slice it first into thin slices.

And then you can use this technique too, look.

Slowly, rest this knife on one end.

This is Chinese chef knife, right?

You go downward, forward, downward, forward.

You just slide it back and forth.

Back and forth.

This is another way without making..

This way, you can cut into pieces.

As thin as this.

Look at that.

I am truly amazed.

(audience laughs) And then you put this right over he.. And then of course, onion is very easy.

You just slice.

(knife chops) That's all I need.

Okay.

We'll put the onion right here.

So you have all these ingredients.

Now, you can even cut up a tiny, tiny bit of pork.

The same way called parallel cutting technique.

Very thin slices.

Look at how thin this slice is.

Look at that.

And then you slice another one and you slice another one.

And then you're going to - Very simple to do.

All you do is stack them all up and everything is ready.

One, two, three, four, five, while cooking for two doesn't take too long.

Okay.

That means a lot of this cutting up can also be done ahead of time.

You don't have to do it in the last..

So it doesn't make too much difference.

Whether you do it the last minute or do it early.

Okay.

Now the pancake is basically done.

Oh, this is nice pancake.

In the meantime I'm going to stir fry the pork and the vegetable.

This is very unique.

Put a tiny bit of these.

Oil.

Put a tiny bit of a pork.

If you have time, marinate your pork.

Okay.

(frying pan scrapes) (pork sizzles) Wow.

Little, too baby wok.

Wow.

Exciting.

(audience laughs) (pork sizzles) This is very good because just like love, it is flame.

(audience laughs) Getting so excited.

Put all of these ingredients in there.

And also, you want to have some green color, put a tiny bit of green onion.

To give that green color.

Okay.

We'll put this over here.

Stir.

(vegetables fry) Stir.

Put a tiny bit of broth.

Home mix soup stock.

Put a tiny bit of sugar.

A tiny bit of Sichuan brown bean paste.

And then, put a tiny bit of salt.

Tiny bit of white pepper.

Tiny bit of soy sauce.

And you are okay.

And then, basically slightly, slightly thicken this up.

I'm so glad that when I cook, there is no distraction whatsoever.

(audience laughs) (vegetables toss) When this is done, you shut it off.

Shut this off.

And I want to show you how beautiful this is.

It's very easy to do.

And the pancake, all you have to do is slide the whole pancake right here.

The whole pancake.

So this is for your loved one.

You always serve your loved one first.

And then when this is done.

You transfer this and put it right on the side.

Noodle pancake with pork and vegetable julienne.

(audience claps) Now, our next entree.

Is even more exciting and more interesting.

For a party of two.

It's called, Salmon Sandwich.

It sounds absolutely wonderful but you'll be amazed when you find out that I actually use the salmon, as a bread.

Let me show you how to do it.

Very easy to do.

Here.

You got to have all these wonderful ingredients.

First.

These are different ingredients.

I'm going to put it inside the salm..

I have enoki mushroom, julienne celery.

Julienne celery.

And also carrot.

And julienne black mushrooms.

Shiitaki mushroom.

And here I have a beautiful piece of salmon filet right here.

And I am going to cut this up into two pieces.

Okay.

Cut this into two pieces.

Look at that.

Cut this right in two.

And then, I will cut this parallel cut again.

Into two like a butterfly.

Look at that.

But I will stop right here.

Without going through.

So when you open it up, it looks like this.

And it's a sandwich.

Okay.

And I put this right over here and once again, cut it up lik that.

Can you see that?

Very easy and you open it up like this and then you can close it up, like that and put it right here.

And then to make it nice and delicious.

I'm going to quickly show you, very easy to do.

I'm going to quickly put a tiny of a pepper and salt, right in the middle here.

To marinate it first.

And then we're going to assemble our sandwich.

We have a tiny, tiny bit of enoki mushroom.

Okay.

Enoki mushroom.

Enoki mushroom.

Okay.

And then I have some carrot.

Put it right in the middle.

Carrot.

And then I have mushroom.

Shiitake mushroom.

Shiitake mushroom.

And then I have some, a couple of celery.

So it's kind of stick out a little bit.

It looks nice because you can see what you put in.

If you bury the whole thing.

Nothing would show.

And then after that, you fold this up.

Look at how cute.

(audience laughs) you tell your loved one.

Isn't it cute?

(audience laughs) It's very nice.

When it's done.

You get ready and we're going to cook this right here.

First use a tiny bit of oil.

Look at that.

And then you can brown this on both sides.

One.

Oh, marvelous.

And brown it on both sides.

(salmon sizzles) (salmon sizzles) Look at this.

I hope you can see me.

(audience laughs) Brown.

And then you're going to make a sauce.

Get ready a sauce.

I have - Oh, make sure they won't burn.

Okay.

You don't want to cook them too much on one side.

Oh, look at this.

This is beautiful.

Use a chopstick to move everything up.

Oh, look at this.

Cooking for two is a lot of fun.

Brown it.

And then I'm going to show you how to make the sauce to braise this salmon sandwich.

This is lemongrass.

I grew it in my backyard.

Lemongrass.

When you use lemongrass, remove the outer leaves.

And then you cut this tip off the end.

You don't want it.

And you cut this off and you do not.. All you need is this part.

Nice tender part.

And you cut it in half.

Then wait, there's several ways of doing it.

One is you press it and then you go like that.

(lemongrass chops) Allow maximum flavor to come out.

Okay.

Or you simply just slice it like this.

Without pressing it, if it's thin enough.

So you can do it either way.

Okay.

Now, make sure I have some shallot here.

Already chopped up, put it right here.

And then also put a tiny bit of rice wine.

Okay.

Put a tiny about fish sauce.

Fish sauce.

Very popular in Southeast Asian cu.. And of course a tiny of a sesame seed oil.

And that's all you need.

And then you put the whole thing, of course, add a tiny bit of - Oh, look at that.

Dash of sugar.

And then you are ready to braise the whole thing.

Right here.

Just braise it.

When you braise this, you cover this up and let it braise.

For approximately two to three minutes.

Low heat, very, very low.

Just let it braise so that aroma and the flavor of the sauce permeate into your salmon.

And then when you are ready.

All you have to do is take this out.

Oh, look at that.

It's already done.

Always remember, the whole thing is out.

I'm going to take this and transfer this and put it right here.

And it's so beautiful.

And I'm telling you this is one of my favorite.

And right before you do that, put some extra sauce on top and garnish with the cilantro.

Run a piece over here.

And one piece over here.

You should use cilantro, a nice and clean.

Beautiful, salmon sandwich for two of you.

(audience claps) Next.

A wonderful asparagus beef roll wit..

It's a dish that also great for the two of you.

First of all, you cannot do anything unless you get the beef.

and I'm going to get my beef in the fridge over there because I have been freezing it.

Because it is easier to julienne and to slice when the beef is somehow partially frozen.

So get it from the freezer and then set it aside.

I'm going to remove my noodle pancake and everything else because I have done this and I want to save it for the other loved ones.

Make sure you cut this up properly.

See, nice and partially frozen like this.

And then I'm going to get ready all the other ingredients, so everybody can see.

This is the ingredients.

These are the ingredients that we'll be using for this particular beef roll.

Before I cut.

A lot of people asked me, Martin how come your knife is so sharp.

If you are gourmet, professional chef.

You always remember you got to maintain a sharp knife because a sharp knife is not only a functional cooking utensil.

It's also much safer.

A dull knife always slip.

And it's very dangerous.

So make sure to maintain your knife.

Most people, they probably use one of these, sharpening steel to keep at home.

But you're not really sharpening.

Basically.

You are basically all you're doing is to keep at home, to keep the edge.

Okay.

When I was growing up we do not have any sharpening implements.

All we have to do is use the back of a plate, was ceramic.

And we just go like that.

(knife sharpens) This is how you sharpen your knife, okay?

But of course don't do it on your antique.

(audience laughs) Be very, very careful.

This is how my mother had been doing it for 70 years.

Nowadays in the U.S. or in many other country, you have a choice of all kinds of sharpening implements.

This is the most common ones that most people have.

A regular stone.

This particular stone have a rough side and have a smooth side.

If your knife is very dull, you start with the rough side first.

And you, this is how you do it.

With a Chinese chef knife, because the Chinese chef knife the blade is wider and a little - But it's not that heavy.

(knife clangs) All you have to do is angle about ..

Normally French chef knife you do it about 18 to about 23 degree angle.

When you sharpen.

You just make sure to do it an angle.

Like this, you go.

One.

Two.

Three.

Four.

This way, you're moving your whole..

This way, after you're finished so many strokes on this side.

You turn it to this side.

And you do it.

Look at that.

One, move the whole body.

Move the whole body.

This way you have controlled the angle.

Very, very well.

Most people have problems with, they can not control the angle.

So when they move back and forth, back and forth.

You're not having a smooth edge.

After the rough side.

You turn it to the other side and just do it the same way.

One.

Two.

Three.

Four.

Five.

Six.

You see?

And then you turn it to the other .. You see this.

Put a tiny bit of water.

The reason why you need that.

This is a wet towel.

Just enough moisture here.

This is a regular stone that most people already have.

Okay.

Now this is the one the professional..

Okay.

See, it's a three prong thing.

One, two, three.

And they use this in restaurants.

But nowadays you can even get one of these electric sharpener.

Not only for your knife, but also for the cleaver.

For my cleaver.

All you have to do is turn it on.

(electric knife sharpener whirs) Go all the way.

And the angle is magnetized.

So when you put this in the angle is anchor to the right angle.

So you have - Perfect.

(knife sharpens) Look at that.

(knife sharpens) Very, very slowly.

(knife sharpens) The magnet allow you to anchor the angle.

Also, the thing is the wonderful thing is the whole blade is running through.

Without any problem.

And it's very easy to do.

Look at that.

Then the last stroke, you do it a little bit faster.

And then the next one to do is this.

Oh, look at that.

This is the honing.

The honing.

Honing.

Very slowly.

The angle is perfect.

Then you can do it faster.

Only takes a few minutes.

Then finally, really sharpen it.

Fine tuning.

You get a little diamond vibration here.

So you can do regular knife or my Chinese chef knife.

Look at that.

And I, one, two.

Once I finish, I want to show you.

Once I finish I want to show you this.

Okay.

Here is a tomato.

Hyah.

Amazing.

(audience laughs) Show you one more time.

Hyah.

Hyah.

Hyah.

(knife clatters) Look at that.

It's amazing.

Very, very sharp.

You don't need this.

This is so sharp.

Just to show you.

Look at that.

Three, two, one.

(knife saws) Huh.

Amazing.

(audience laughs) That's how I maintain a sharp knife.

People don't believe - You can actually sharpen a knife.

Now, when the knife is sharp.

I want to show you.

How easy it is to do this.

Look at that.

Parallel cut.

Very, very thin pieces.

Look at this.

Very.

One.

Two.

Look at this.

Very thin slices, like that.

And then you cut it.

That's how you do it.

When you have a sharp knife.

Look at that.

And you can continue to do this, okay.

And then we're going to get ready.

Some asparagus.

And all the other ingredient, okay.

This is done.

We're going to marinate this beef with the following ingredient.

A tiny bit of wine.

And a tiny bit of soy sauce.

And a tiny bit of egg white and also some ginger.

Garlic.

And corn starch and black pepper.

This way, it would be really tasty already.

And corn starch.

Of course, you got to have used co.. to seal in the juice.

Okay.

marinate it for a little while.

Very easy to do.

Make sure to marinate.

Use, always use your chop stick.

Now a lot of people love asparagus.

And also this particular dish is actually served in a lot of Chinese restaurant.

That's the reason why I want to show you how to do .. A lot of people probably know asparagus is very, very healthy.

Because it has only 220 calorie for the whole serving.

And also has a lot of vitamins.

Vitamin C, vitamin B6 and vitamins.

All kinds of sodium and everything.

Low in sodium.

And also, this is good because I am going to show you how easy it is to do this.

Little piece.

Okay.

Little enoki mushroom.

I love enoki mushroom.

It looks cute.

And then some - A tiny bit of - Oh, look at this.

Shiitake mushroom, couple pieces.

Shiitake mushroom.

And green onion.

And of course, asparagus.

Put it right here.

Look at that.

Just put it right here.

Also the great thing about asparagus is it's easy to prepare.

All you have to do is snap of the end and boil them, steam them, microwave them.

Or you can stir fry them.

The whole spear.

When you boil it or simmer.

All you have to do, is do it for about three to five minutes.

It's done.

One.

And I will quickly show you how to do another one.

This is very, very easy to do.

Once again, do it.

You can do it very fast.

Look at that.

Nobody have to rush you.

Okay.

Put it together.

And you have, this, so simple.

When it's done, you are going to put a tiny bit of oil.

You're going to brown this.

Now if your concerned about the thing might come out.

All you have to do, is use a little toothpick, to make sure to close the whole thing.

So they would not come out.

See this.

They won't come out.

This way, guarantee, it would not come out.

(beef sizzles) You brown this.

If you want, you can brown two for each.

So cooking for two, you have four.

And we'll put all of these aside.

And put it back here, so everybody can see.

No problem at all.

Brown it.

In the meantime, you can make a lit..

Okay.

All I have to do, it doesn't take too long to brown at all.

(beef sizzles) All we have to do is make sure to put a tiny bit of teriyaki sauce.

(sauce sizzles) Put a tiny bit of broth.

Okay.

So let it braise for a little while.

Ooh.

Look at that.

Let it braise for a little while turn them around.

Doesn't take too long to cook at all.

It's beautiful.

And it's very easy to do and nobody can miss when it's done.

And also it's beef.

It doesn't take too long to cook.

When it's done, you can put it right over here.

Now, talking about asparagus.

Just in case your asparagus is a little bit wilted.

No problem.

Put some, put it right in ice cold water.

Okay.

We'll have one over here.

Remove the toothpick.

Look at that.

Very simple to do.

Without this.

Everybody can do it.

Everybody can do it.

Look at that.

I don't know about you.

I love this particular dish with asparagus.

(audience claps) After all these wonderful, delicious dishes.

We still don't have enough.

Here's a dessert for two.

Pagoda fruit crisp.

What I did, is use some fried won ton wrappers and I layer it with all this seasonal fruit and stack it up like your favorite wonderful shortcake.

Well, that is for our show.

Cooking For Two.

Till next time.

Be good to your loved ones.

And remember, if Yan can cook.

So can you!

“Goodbye!” (##!)

(audience claps)