(Joyful music) (Cleaver chopping) (Joyful music) (clapping) - Welcome to the "Yan Can Cook" show.

Many of you often ask me, "What do great Chinese cooks eat for dinner?"

So I conduct a scientific survey, and the response has been absolutely tremendous.

And I received a whole bag of mail.

(laughter) Unbelievably tremendous.

I sent out 5000 questionnaires to chef all over the world.

Oh, this is from chef Chin.

Dear Martin, your survey is a great idea.

May be next time you can include a return postage.

(laughter) As for my favorite dish, I really like a pizza, with lots of pepperoni and anchovy.

Sincerely, Chef Chin.

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, (laughter) Oh, also, PS please don't mention .. (laughter) Sorry me, Chef Chin, I won't do that next time.

But seriously, people who spend a lot of time in the kitchen like me and you, many of you, cooking and every day, whether it's in a restaurant or at home, you don't feel like having very heavy, rich, complicated dish.

You want something light and simple.

Something nutritious, Like this particular dish, I'm gonna show you.

Pork spare rib with black bean sauce.

It's very easy to do.

In fact, you can order this, in a dim sum restaurant, a little plate.

But this is also a main dish.

You start with spare rib like this, See, whole slab.

Then you can cut it.

Now I wanna show you, it's very important.

When you open the back side, all you should do is trim this off.

Okay, trim this off like this, and if you have any excess fat, also trim it off like this.

Look at this, trim this off, and then you can cut into one, two, like this, please come out.

(laughter) Sometimes it gets stuck.

So all you have to do is, cut along the rib, Okay.

Cut along the rib, and if it doesn't come out you chop it.

And then you set it aside.

This all you need...

I should have approximately two pieces per person per guest.

After that, you should bring a pot of boiling water to boil, and you quickly blanche this.

The idea of doing that is you let a string and string the fat a little bit.

If there's any, you can trim it off.

And then and you heat up your wok.

I'm gonna heat up my wok, okay.

And then, let me remove this, and then, the next step I wanna show you, is we're gonna get some black beans.

This is salted black bean, it's also called, fermented black beans and have been fermenting for about 20 years.

Now is nice and mellow.

You smell it, Wow, aromatic.

(laughter) With this, it normally come in a ba.. look at this black beans.

You got tO read it, this (speaking in foreign language).

salted black bean, okay.

To go along with this, you need a tiny bit of ginger and garlic.

(heating knife) (clapping) The idea of this, is the game yourself in the right mood.

(chopping) Can you imagine how boring?

(heating knife) (laughter) I'm gonna chop some ginger, (chopping) (clapping) Put the all together, put them right here.

Garlic, garlic See this.

(chopping) See, this is how you do it.

Mince all these and get this already.

Now you have, like salted black bean, China's got (speaking in foreign language).

Heat up this work, put about two teaspoon, at the most of oil, and then you use a spatular and then you brown this, okay?

Brown this, oh look at this.

If you do this at home, you might want to ask the butcher, to cut it in half, so it's about three inches, rather than this long.

And then you prime it on both sides.

Look at this, brown this, when is long like this, it's very hard to turn them around, but it's easier to eat.

I remember a lot of people don't understand, why the Chinese chef love this.

Because in China when you are a good chef, your food taste so wonderful.

By the time the guest finish it up, there's no left over.

So all is left is bone.

So the Chinese chef have developed a taste for bone.

(laughter) This is very rich.

I know, I love you like bones.

And then the next thing is, I am going to put some broth.

Oh wow, look at this hot stuff.

I'm gonna brace this, in this bracing sauce, you have some cooking wine, salt sauce and broth, okay?

And then some green onion, about one or two stock and then if you want you can also put some stock, black beans, let it a brace.

Or you can crush it a little bit like this, and let it brace.

While you're bracing this, let me r.. because I don't need this anymore.

We're gonna cover it up, and let it brace.

Why I'm bracing this?

I want to show you, how to take care of wok.

Now, everybody know a wok is one of the most important cooking utensils in a Chinese kitchen.

You use the wok for steaming, for stir frying, for deep frying for practically all the cooking chores.

So, it's very important to know how to take care of the wok.

There're all kind of wok in the market.

A wok like this, is made from a hot anodized.

You don't have to season it.

It never rust, you can use any spatular, ..

Okay, but there're also woks like this.

It is nonstick.

This is very important for those, are diet conscious, that you're concerned about, intake of calorie, then you use this, because all you need is about half a teaspoon, to two teaspoon of oil.

But if you have a wok like this, this is a wonderful regular steel wok.

This Way You have to season the wok first.

You got to use a hot soapy water to clean up inside now get away with the industry oil.

And then the next step, is you heat it up over medium high heat.

You put a tiny bit about a teaspoon of oil, okay?

And then, you move these with a paper towel, make sure to hold on to it like this.

And you do it for approximately 15 to 20 minutes.

Now it takes a while, because you got to heat it up, and let the oil bake into it.

Because when you heat up this carbon steel wok, the pores open up and the oil bake into it, and fill in this, make it a nice smooth cooking surface, so it won't stick anymore.

When it's done, It should look like this.

See, this is well seasoned wok.

I have used this since 1905.

(laughter) You see, now, I wanna show you, actually this already turning brown.

Can you see, everybody see this is already turning brown, all you have to do, is do about twice or three times, okay?

When it's done, we will remove this.

Now, somebody said, "What happens if the wok "is not seasoned properly or rusted."

If the wok rusted like this, you're gonna be in trouble.

But at least one thing is good because, you don't have to take any iron pill anymore.

Because a lot of iron.

Or you can use this as a flowering pot.

Let me come back and check my ribs.

Wow, look at this, this is marvelous.

This looks really good.

And then when it's done, normally you should do this long enough because you wanna make sure the pork is properly cooked.

And then when it's done, you use a tong and you get one of these nice surfing platter and you pick it up, this way, everybody can enjoy.

Look at how beautiful this dishes is.

You see this?

Very easy to do.

(clapping) It looks so good.

If I don't watch out, by the time I come back, only the bone left.

So, the next dish I wanna show you, is an other wonderful dish most of the chef like it.

As I said, when you work in the kitchen for so long, you don't really need anything reach complicated, but something simple.

This I call it water lily egg.

is very velvety, very simple and all you need is four eggs.

All you need is four eggs, okay?

The idea of fining four eggs is, a lot of people always say, don't put all your eggs in one basket.

But it's okay to put in a bowl.

Look at this, now in China, they don't have fancy stuff to rid.

So they use this to pick the egg, look at this.

By the time you finish, your pronounce 16,000 caring.

(laughter) Wow, I am burning up.

(laughter) Now, the important thing is not only use the egg, you should also use a tiny bit of water or you can use some chicken broth.

Let's put about four eggs and about one tiny bit of green onion, if you want put a tiny bit of chopped green onion on top, you can put it in now or you can put in later.

Also use a tiny bit of dry Sherry, to give a little hangover.

(laughter) And also a tiny bit of oil, one li.. and also a tiny bit of salt, and white pepper, And then I use approximately one and a half cup or less broth, okay.

put it right over here and then, you put into this heat proof dish, like that.

And let us steam, okay, it's very important.

Let me put this over here and heat up this.

Now it's very, very important, to make sure you have some water over here, so you can steam it.

Let me get some water.

Oh, let me get some water over here.

So we can steam this.

This is too traditional Chinese bow.

All you need is about four cups, okay.

And you put this in a bamboo steamer.

If you don't have a bamboo steamer, all you have to do, is put two pairs of chopstick, tic tac toe and put it right on top of the wok.

And then you can steam this okay?

Steam this for approximately five to seven minutes and check it out.

When it's done, it should look like this, i wanna s..

It should look so gorgeous, you see this.

And then what you're gonna do is, you can garnish this with a tiny bit of little pepper.

I wanna show you how to do it, so everybody can see.

You can garnish this with a little red pepper, like this.

After you do this, you put in ice water and then open up like a little flower, then you can garnish over here.

Now, traditionally, you can also add a tiny bit of minced, chicken or beef or pork or mushroom, but we are on a tight budget here.

So I'm gonna save all the chicken and mushroom for the next show.

So I wanna put this around, the next one i wanna show you is very wonderful.

I wanna show you a dish that the chef loved it.

Simple, easy and is wonderful.

Here, I have a pot of boiling water here, and this is Chinese broccoli.

See, this is Chinese broccoli.

And in order to make it easier to cook, what I do is, see this is a lot skinnier than the stem.

So what I did is, I go like this, see this, and I go like this, and open it up.

So this way it is a lot easier to cook.

So it would not be overcooked on one side and undercooked on this side.

When it's all ready, I put a teeny tiny bit of oil, into this little pot, to give that nice glaze, and then put a tiny bit of salt, look at this, to give some flavor.

And then, I put all of these right over here, very basically you are blanching this.

Now, this is very easy to do.

When it's done, you can use a chopstick.

Chopstick is not only a great surfing utensil, also good cooking utensil.

You make sure, you let it cook properly.

When it's done, you get a plate, this is very easy to do.

Now, let me show you, when is done, you use a chopstick, laid it out like this, It takes about three minutes to cook.

And we have been doing this for exactly three minutes, believe it or not.

(laughter) We'll put it over here, now of course, when you do it at home, you can do it with a tong.

This would drive you nuts.

I am developing my patience here.

Now, okay, that's good, this is almost ready.

And, when it's almost ready, or when it's on... if you want to stop the cooking, all you have to do, is drain it through, run it through cold water, stop the cooking, so stay nice and green and tender.

Don't overcook.

If you overcook it, you kill the d..

Put a tiny bit of hot oil, this is hot oil and then put a tiny bit of sesame seed oil, and a tiny bit of oyster flavor sauce.

Now, what I have for you, is wonderful Chinese broccoli with oyster flavor sauce and water lily.

(clapping) To be a great Chinese cook, you need more than just good look.

You need to master the tool of the trade.

So let me show you a few of the cooking utensils, that they actually use in a Chinese restaurant.

Here, they've different kind of wok.

This is 16 inches, and this is 18 inches, and this is 24 inches, and of course, the most functional one is this 14 inches wok, that you can use.

Now also, if you are cooking for one, they even have something like baby wok, one handle.

This is for the people that they cook for one.

Now here, we also wanna show you, the bamboo steamer that they use in restaurant.

We go to dim sum restaurant.

They've have bamboo steamer, looks like this.

What they do is, they put all the little baby steamers, all over there.

Then you have hot gow, suma, chicken feed, all kinds of stuff my favorite.

Then you cover this up, and you put all of them in steam, a whole bunch at the same time.

Even this come with different size.

They come with either making with bamboo, or stainless steel like this, Or there are a little baby one like this from Wunan.

They make this, isn't a cute baby bamboo steamer?

Now, of course the most functional one is a 12 inches, bamboo steamer that you can use at home.

Look at this, when you use this you put water, in 14 inches wok or 16 inches wok and then you put this right on top.

And then you can have two or three of these, you can cook Two or three of these at the same time.

This is just a lid.

When it's done, you lift it up, never lift it up like this unless you want a steam bath.

You always lift it up on the other side.

And then when you pick up things, all you have to do is, little this robot and lift it up like this small dish, medium dish, last dish and you just hold onto it and pick it up.

(laughter) Now, I am gonna show you the chef and other favorite dish, which is served in a large restaurant, after restaurant is closed, after a hard day's work.

This is what they're gonna use.

I'm gonna show you how to do a beef and bean cooked delight and it's so easy to do.

I started out with approximately three quarter pounds of beef.

Even half a pound is good enough.

And then this is very important to make sure when you cut beef.

Make sure you cut it across the grain.

don't cut it along the grain, if you cut it along the grain, It takes about two and a half hours to chew as you are dancing up.

(laughter) Okay, always cut it like this, firs.. Look, one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, you see this?

Put it right here, okay?

Slow motion, one, two three, and then please transfer like this.

You see how I move my knife?

If you have a lot of people and that's all the beef you have.

What are you gonna do?

You make it into three slices, look at this.

I cannot one, look at this.

Two, wow, I am nervous.

(laughter) One more, depends on how many peopl.. Wow, look at this.

And then you can actually have, (clapping) These slices like this, look at thi..

Very, very thin slices and then you stack them all up and you go one, two, three, that means all of a sudden, you have more pieces of beef.

Now, normally when you cut beef after you cut it, let's cut them up, and then, let me show you how to transfer.

Watch, right now let's see, here, you see how I do it?

(laughter) Now look carefully, one, two, three.. (laughter) You see that?

very easy, now, in the meantime, I'm gonna heat up my wok, I'm gonna do steamfy beef and bean curd.

There are all kinds of bean curd.

There are firm bean curd, medium firm bean curd, and soft bean curd Okay?

This is firm bean curd.

See this, it can actually turn them around.

You can put it this way or this way nobody cares.

If this firm bean curd have already fallen into 6000 pieces.

Cut it up slices, set this aside.

Cut it up, cut it up, cut it up more people, cut it up, cut it up, set it aside and put it over here.

Now, this particular dish is very easy to do.

And all I have to do is, let me show you; heat up the wok, use approximately, now, when you do wok cooking, the most important thing is, make sure you hit up the wok first.

Then you put the oil in.

Now the wok is hard I put the oil in.

Step number one, move them around.

Once again, to keep up the tradition, of the "Yan Can Cook" show, let us all get excited.

First of all, (heating knife) (laughter) (heating knife) (clapping) Mince ginger, put it over here, marinate the beef for a little while, you can use our chopstick to mix this up and then put them all in.

What you have is about one tablespoon of soy sauce, and about half a teaspoon of, white pepper, and about a teaspoon one and a half teaspoons of cornstarch.

Now, a lot of people ask, Martin, why do you use cornstarch?

Cornstarch help to seal in the juice.

Give a nice glaze to your beef, and also give a nice smooth texture.

You stir, stir, you turn this while you turn it like this?

Why you don't just go one, two, because you want to allow uniform cooking.

And also the important thing is, you do not overcook one piece and undercooked another piece.

Otherwise it will get tough.

Now, the firm being curved is wonderful, because it can take the heat, it will not fall to pieces.

You don't have to worry about if you overcook it.

Never worry about top being cooked, or when the beef is over cooked, your top V in one fish, you cannot have two top characters, you see.

Move them around, put all these tofu in, look at this tofu, wow, look at this.

Put the tofu in, and put a tiny bit of green onion, stir, look at this, I move my wok around and move my wok round.

And then you do the last touch up.

Put some seasoning.

I use about a quarter of a cup of chicken broth, about one table spoon to two table spoon draw Sherry.

Wow, look at this, make a lot of sauce.

And then use about two tablespoons or so, of oyster flavor sauce.

And then we're gonna thicken it up and you've won, you can also use a kind of a black pepper, When it's done, really remove these, we don't need this anymore.

And then thicken it up.

I have, once again, get ready a tiny, bit of cornstarch solution.

One portion of cornstarch, to three portion of water.

Let's make some more up.

One, pull it off right here.

Take a break, Stir, don't just go like this, because this is too dry.

So you should never put the cornstarch around like this because it's too hot and too dry, it will turn into glue, instead of a salt.

So you should always put it where, the boiling liquid is.

Look at this?

Can everybody see?

Boiling liquid is right here, I put it in and I stir, ok.. Once again, this is very simple.

This four ounces of tofu only have about 25 calories or so, of about 90 calorie of calorie of calorie and a lot of protein, good quality protein, and yet very nutritious.

A lot of calcium so it's good for you when it's done.

All you have to do is, move these and set this aside.

Look, I wanna show you how wonderful this would look.

Look at this, Isn't that beautiful?

Do you think you would like to eat?

Look at this, And it's so delicious.

As I said, great dishes doesn't have to be complicated, doesn't have to be expensive.

Then you can use a little knife, if you wanna make it nice and colorful.

All you have to do is, get a little paring knife, get a little nice red bell pepper, and you cut it into little pieces like this, Put it in ice water or you can put it in the fridge.

And you can put it over like this and the dish looks very, very wonderful.

Now today, I really enjoy having you all in the studio and also you at home.

And I hope all of you go home and get a chance to try this.

Now, you all know what the Chinese chef like for their dinner.

Simple, nutritious, light and easy.

By now, you're all great Chinese chef.

So please write to me and tell me what is your great dish and favorite dish, and put the post office to work.

(laughter) (clapping) If Yan can cook, so can you!

(upbeat music)