(orchestral music) (Joyful music) (applause) - Hi Today we are taking a walk on the light side.

My cousin is always on a diet.

No matter what he cooks, he always uses this balance to weigh every single food, this is a Chinese balance, that he cooks.

So this is what they call a balanced diet!

(laughter) Let me show you a much better way.

To eat light, and eat right today.

Now, the first delicious, healthy dish I'm going to do is the Chinese cabbage roll.

Now in the world, there are all kinds of rolls.

On the roll, roller skates, rock and roll, Rolls Royce, and this cabbage roll!

(applause) This is my favorite.

Not only, you can cook it, you can eat it too.

In this part, think of the cabbage roll.

Why you are calling it cabbage Chinese style?

Because I use napa cabbage.

Okay, and we will now put this napa cabbage in boiling water.

So we can water blanch this.

Make it soft and pliable, so we can use it to roll it up.

So we'll put it in boiling water.

Now, you can put it in like this.

Or you can pick it up, and graciously put it in, like that.

(audience laughter) And for filling, for stuffing.

You can use ground turkey, this is ground turkey.

Or you can use ground chicken or beef.

But you should not use pork.

If you do, you're going to have to change the name to pigs in a Chinese blanket.

(audience laughter) The first thing to save time is you marinate this first.

With 1 tablespoon of soy sauce, 1 tablespoon of dry sherry and approximately 1 teaspoon, up to 2 teaspoon, up to tablespoon of cornstarch.

Mix them all up with a wooden spoon, or your finger, or a fork.

Set it aside for approximately 15 minutes to half an hour.

If you don't have time, you can marinate it overnight.

Okay, let's put them all together.

Set that aside, okay.

The next thing we're going to do is, we are going to show you how to get all the other stuffing ingredient ready.

We're going to have water chestnut.

You chop water chestnut.

There are a lot of way to do it.

If you have a lot of time, you can slice it first, like this.

Make sure you hold onto your water chestnut tightly, because it's very small pieces.

Make sure you do not raise your knife higher than your knuckle.

And then you have to chop this up, like this.

And then you set aside, and put it right here.

And this takes forever.

So we'll show you a technique, which I have been using for 47 years.

Looks this this!

(shouts) Done.

Put it right here.

And then put another.

(shouts) Done.

Put it right here.

Now you gotta make the right noise to do it, (shouts) done.

(audience laughter) If you don't go, it won't go.

And then, our water chestnut, we're going to put it into this turkey.

1 third of a cup of chopped water chestnut.

1 small carrot, grated, put it right over here.

And then also use some, what do you call, the shiitake mushroom in Japanese.

The Chinese call donggu.

It's black mushroom, so good for half an hour.

Okay, and then I press this a little bit, and I press this a little bit.

And then I julienne this.

(chopping noises) (applause) Set it aside and put it right over here.

If Yan can cut it, so can you.

(audience laughter) And then this is about 3 or 4 of these black mushr.. and put it over here.

Now to make this wonderful, marvelous.

You gotta also season this filling, okay.

We're going to have some sesame seed oil, 1 teaspoon of sesame seed oil.

Half a teaspoon of sugar.

And also a pinch of white pepper.

And of course, you should have soy sauce.

1 tablespoon extra soy sauce.

Okay, once again mix them all up.

Mix well, this way all the seasoning would be coating every single piece of ingredient uniformly.

And then, when this is nice and ready, set it aside and then you can get ready to stuff.

Now if you want, you can also cut up a tiny bit of green onion.

This is green onion, cut it up and you go like this, like this, cut it up, green onion, cut it up, cut it up, cut it up, cut it up, onion, cut it up, done, done.

See, no problem at all.

Give color and flavor.

And then when this is all nice and ready, we are going to roll it up.

I will show you how to roll it.

Here, I have about 2 heaping tablespoon of this.

Depends on how big the cabbage leaf is.

The bigger, you can put more in.

The smaller, you put more in.

(laughter) The smaller, you put less in.

Am I confusing you or what?!

(audience laughter) I am confused.

And you fold this in, and you roll it.

Tuck this, tuck this and you roll it.

Okay this is what you call the fold and roll technique.

We'll do another one, because we have so much time.

Now let's do it together one more time.

More for large leaf, less for smaller leaf.

I am okay!

(audience laughter) And then you tuck this in, tuck this in.

And roll it, once again.

The fold and roll, just like you fold your laundry, okay.

No problem at all.

Well, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6.

All this row on a roll.

Now, next step, you gonna get ready to cook.

First, we're gonna heat up the burner.

I'm gonna heat up a little frying pan, you can use a wok, you can use a frying pan.

And I'm going to put a tiny bit of oil in the wok, or a frying pan.

And then get ready some seasoning.

Here, I have a tiny bit of garlic, and tiny bit of ginger.

We're gonna mince this and flavor our oil.

Minced garlic, set aside.

Minced ginger, set it aside.

Simple.

Put it all together, this will give flavor to it.

And then the next thing we want to do is we'll put the cabbage roll right here.

3 in a row.

Another 3 in a row.

Put more rolls on a row in the pan, are we rolling or what?

(audience laughter) and then when this is all nice and.. we're going to use approximately 2/3 of a cup of, this is vegetable juice cocktail, look at this.

And then also use about 1/3 of a cup to 1/4 of a cup of chicken broth.

Use a tiny bit of dry sherry, 1 tablespoon of dry sherry.

Or you can also use a tiny bit of rice vinegar too.

Okay, a pinch of pepper.

Let it braise for a little while.

Like this, cover it up and braise it for about, you know what, 23 to 25 minutes okay.

And then when it's almost nice and ready, you take it out.

Look at how wonderful.

You take it out, you thicken it up with cornstarch solution.

Now this has been here for at least 22 minutes.

Time just flies.

(audience laughter) Oh this is marvelous.

When this is done, look at this, this is all marvelous and ready.

And we'll set aside and serve these in this beautiful platter.

We are going to show you how easy it is to do it.

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7.

And then when it's nice and ready we put the sauce right on top.

Right on top.

(applause) Look at how beautiful!

Next, we are gonna cook and show you how to make a soup with tofu.

Last week, I finally found out where tofu comes from.

So let's take a look!

(speaking Japanese) Tofu or soy bean curd, is made from the juice of soy beans.

First, you wash it and then you dump it in and have the soybean take a nice bath.

After they are washed, the beans have to be ground up in this machine and then cooked.

The process is somewhat similar to making cheese.

You use a thickener to thicken this and until they form a nice smooth custard.

And then, when the liquid is set, you give it a squeeze plate, squeeze out the water.

Of course the firmness of this is determined by the amount of water you squeeze out.

The firmer it is, the less water is remaining.

There are generally 3 grades of tofu.

The firm, the soft and the custard-like tofu.

The firm one is great for stir-frying and for deep frying.

And then the soft one of course is great for soup.

Now, the $64,000 question.

What are we gonna do with all these left over bean solids?

Being ecologically sensitive, nothing is waste, according to the Chinese golden rule of cooking, What we're going to do is, we're gonna pack this up and send it to our good friend, the pigs.

(applause) That was a week ago, my friend actually sent me this card.

It says, "Martin, you are really making my day."

Thanks!

Actually you have made my day.

(applause) Now, the next thing I want to show you is another very healthy, light dish.

I call this fish, spinach and tofu soup.

Because we just saw how tofu is mixed, we gotta use it.

When I was a little kid, my mom always got me to eat all my spinach.

Nothing against Popeye, I prefer my spinach fresh, not from the can.

So Jasmine and Paul, listen to your mom, eat your spinach at home.

Also I need a tiny bit of tofu.

Here I have spinach.

Now you do not have to use spinach, you can use bok choi, or you can use Swiss chard or mustard greens.

Any vegetable, any leafy vegetable is good for you.

It's good for health.

So we set it aside and save it.

All you have to do is get ready approximately half a pound of nice fish filet, firm filet.

You can use a sea bass, you can use swordfish, you can use cod, you can use red snapper.

Cut it up into little cubes.

Save time, do it like this.

Do it into strips like this, and then you set it aside and you go 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7.

Set it aside and you put it right here, okay.

In the meantime, we're gonna want to save time, so we're going to heat up my broth.

This is chicken broth.

You have time, make your whole own chicken broth.

You don't have time, get the chicken broth freshly made, homemade chicken broth in a can!

And then we also want to cut up some soft tofu.

You can use firm tofu or soft tofu.

I will show you how to cut it.

Very, very graciously, very carefully.

And you put it right here.

Soft tofu, cut in a little bit.

Don't do it too fast!

See?

Stop right there.

Know where to stop.

Cut it up, 1, 2, 3.

And then 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6.

Just let it sit here.

Sit.

And then in the meantime, to flavor our broth.

We're going to use some mushroom.

This is once again shiitake mushroom.

Very very nice and useful.

Cut it up, cut it up, cut it up, cut it up.

Always curl your knuckle, so this way you don't hurt yourself.

And then you transfer it, like this!

Put it right here.

(audience laughter) And then, when it's done, all you have to do is season it with a tiny bit of white pepper, salt to taste.

Tiny bit of white pepper and also sesame seed oil.

Now, I don't know about Popeye.

He loved to serve his spinach with olive oil, and I prefer mine with sesame oil.

(audience laughter) Okay.

When this is nice and done, we'll put the fish right here.

Any white fish will do.

And also, wow, soft tofu.

And then spinach.

This is a beautiful, simple dish.

Everybody can do it.

And it doesn't take too long to do it.

And everybody can do it at home and it's so light and healthy.

When it's done, all you have to do is scoop it out in this wonderful soup bowl.

And you can serve these right into this bowl.

Now, when I was a little kid, my mom served me this.

Fixed me this every other day.

And look at how marvelous it looks.

(applause) Now, since we have a little bit more extra time, so we are gonna let this set aside.

We're gonna make another marvelous dish.

Oh, of course we're gonna have to shut this off.

We are gonna do a very light, healthy noodle salad.

Like all this buckwheat, zesty, buckwheat noodle salad.

With a tiny bit of garnishing.

It's beautiful.

Now everybody knows, that noodle is exceptionally popular in Japanese cuisines.

They serve a lot of noodles in lunch shop spots, at lunchtime, everybody goes to have noodles, okay.

And this is buckwheat noodle.

The meaning of noodle in Japanese cuisine is called soba.

Soba, it's so good, that you've gotta try it to believe it!

And when you cook the noodles from Asia, you do not have to cook it like spaghetti.

Cook it too long, it will be turned into a noodle mush ball.

You cook it for about 2 or 3 minutes until they're nice and soft.

You dump it in cold water, to immediately stop the cooking so it's nice and firm, okay.

Now we have done this ahead of time.

And all we have to do is make the dressing.

You've gotta make the dressing.

Here, this is the vinegarette dressing for the zesty buckwheat noodle.

Here I have 2 tablespoon of broth, 5 teaspoon of soy sauce.

Use this whisk.

And use 1 tablespoon of the Japanese or the Chinese rice vinegar.

Or use a tiny bit of balsamic vinegar.

Okay.

And you put it over here.

Now in order for everybody to see better, we're gonna move it over here so everybody sees better.

Okay.

So I can see better.

And also use 1 tablespoon of lemon juice, 1 tablespoon.

2 teaspoon of sesame seed oil.

This is gonna be a wonderful dressing, that's why I say it tastes so good.

And then also use a tiny, tiny bit of dry sherry, or rice wine sake.

And also use a tiny bit of sesame seed oil.

Okay.

Now I don't know how hot you want it to be, this is mild, hot lip, there won't be any lips left!

(audience laughter) And also use a teeny tiny bit of sugar.

Not much.

After this, you put it into these noodles, soba.

We are gonna toss these.

If you want, how many of you like cilantro?

They call it Chinese parsley.

Sprinkle a tiny bit over here to give a little zest.

Okay.

This is very, very tasty.

Very, very good.

And then in the meantime, we are gonna toss this.

Look at this, toss the soba.

I can toss anything, even with this Chinese Frisbee.

(audience laughter) when this is nice and ready, set it asi.. Set aside, and we are going to oh!

We set it aside over here, or set it here, here, it makes no difference.

(audience laughter) And then we're gonna cut up a tiny bit of cucumber.

This will be used as a garnish.

We'll chop it up, sprinkle this around, it looks marvelous.

Okay, and also have a tiny, tiny bit of.

I'll show you how to do this, this is red bell pepper.

I wanna show you how to julienne this.

Look at this, how easy.

This technique is marvelous technique, see that?

(applause) 1, 2.

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 , 10 , 11, 12, 13, 14.

Look at how beautiful this is, huh.

Sprinkle it around.

Right before you serve, you can have some extra cilantro, and also toasted black sesame seeds, toasted white sesame seed, more black sesame seed, more white sesame seed.

All kinds of sesame seed.

And this is a marvelous dish.

Everybody can see.

(applause) I'm so glad that you liked the dishes that I just prepared.

I'm gonna show another very popular dish.

Everybody loves fried rice.

And I'm gonna show you how to make a meatless fried rice, a vegetarian fried rice.

So you can use up all the leftover vegetables.

And also you can get all your kids to eat all the vegetables, that's good for you.

So once again, Jasmine and Paul, eat your vegetables, it's good for you.

In this particular dish, we use long grain rice, cooked rice, or brown rice.

Rice that doesn't stick together that easily.

Otherwise you're gonna have a rice ball!

See we have some cooked brown rice, healthy stuff.

Okay.

And also this is approximately 4 cups of cooked brown rice.

You can use a regular long grain rice.

And also, we're gonna have an onion.

Half an onion, okay.

And you can cut it really fast if you julienne.

But, we are not gonna cut it like that.

We're gonna cut it differently.

We're going to cut it into little cubes.

We're gonna go, 1, 2, 3.

Like that.

And then we go 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6.

All nice cubes like this.

Set it aside, put it right here.

Okay.

Because we don't necessarily need the while thing.

Particularly when you have a big onion.

Now, the next I wanna have is some mushroom.

I have about half a cup of mushroom.

Sliced.

(chopping sounds) (applause) Set it aside.

A lot of people ask me, Martin, when you cut, how come you don't look?

When I look I get nervous!

(chopping sounds) Even my mother is impressed.

(audience laughter) We'll put it right here.

And then also we have some baby corn.

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8.

Okay, baby corn.

Celery, cut everything into little cubes.

Like this, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11.

(counting quickly) This is done.

Set it aside.

In the meantime, we are going to get ready our wok.

And then also have some carrot.

Cut it in to also create some color and texture contrast.

And also it's good for you because all kinds of nutrients.

Set it aside.

Okay.

And also some green onion, okay.

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, very easy to do.

Now the important thing about fried rice is not only in the rice.

But also you've gotta make sure your wok is hot.

This wok is a hot shot.

Wok hot, tiny bit of oil, a tiny bit of garlic and ginger.

Once again, mince garlic, mince ginger.

Done.

Put it here.

Stir fry all the wonderful ingredients.

Things that take longer to cook, you put it in first.

Okay.

Celery and carrot and onion, put them all together.

Put the rice in at the last minute.

Okay.

Don't put it in too early.

Oh can you hear the sound, the sizzling sound of music.

Toss the wok a little bit if you want.

Oh look at this, this is marvelous.

And then put some green peas.

And then you put the rice in.

Okay.

Make sure you use a spatula to pick up some of the clumps, like this, you know.

Come on guys!

Break it up!

Stir, stir, look at this, this is marvelous.

Season it with sesame seed oil, 1 teaspoon of sesame seed oil, some chicken broth, and a tiny bit of white pepper.

And oyster sauce and also use a tiny bit of, of course, soy sauce.

Okay.

This is so good.

Look at this, this is nice and ready.

Look at this.

When it's nice and ready, you serve it, it's no big deal.

When this is good, look at this.

Look at this, wonderful.

This rice is marvelous.

Look at this.

(applause) See, didn't I tell you how easy it is t.. A walk on the light side, and I'm gonna send this to my cousin.

Send this rice to my cousin, so he can retire this for good!

So I will see you next time on Yan Can Cook!

“Goodbye!” (##!)

(applause)