Quotes By Martin Yan

When you have a good stock, you can make a good soup.

If I could only have one type of food with me, I would bring soy sauce. The reason being that if I have soy sauce, I can flavor a lot of things.

When you enjoy what you do, work becomes play.

So when I do Chinese cooking, I mix everything together, then the kids have to eat their vegetables. They won't have the patience to pick them out.

The problem with a lot of Chinese is that they put up divisions between Taiwanese, Hong Kong natives, mainlanders. We are never united. I really hope that the Chinese can be more united.

The only thing that counts is if you know how to prepare your ingredients. Even if with the best and freshest ingredients in the world, if your dish is tasteless or burnt, it's ruined.

When I retire or pass away, I will be able to look back and say that this has been an exciting life. That's all that matters.

Just like if you were brought up on a farm, you would most likely carry on your father's business as a farmer; I was brought up in the kitchen and ended up becoming a chef.

As long as the food is well prepared and not overdone, I think it tastes good. It doesn't matter if it's Chinese, Japanese, anything.

Because normally with Western cuisine, you'll serve vegetables separate from the meat, so kids will eat the meat and never touch the vegetables.

You can do almost anything with soup stock, it's like a strong foundation. When you have the right foundation, everything tastes good.

You don't have to show people how successful you are.

The hoopla, the applause, the praises have never excited me.

Happiness is within. It has nothing to do with how much applause you get or how many people praise you. Happiness comes when you believe that you have done something truly meaningful.

At thirteen, when I arrived in Hong Kong after leaving China, I made a living by working in a restaurant.

Why is America such a great country. It is because we stand united.

I also have a lot of preserved foods, things that will keep for a long time like dried fish, seaweed or lotus seed.

I live a very low-key life.

I don't like to waste anything. Any food left over from the night before is always eaten the next day.

I can represent my culture while helping not only the Chinese-American community, but also the community at large.

I've never considered myself a celebrity or even part of the entertainment business. I'm a cooking teacher.

Well, you know, if you get into the profession because you think you can make a lot of money, you can never become successful.

I am just a normal professional with a great job and a great life.

Some people never contribute anything positive to society, they may even drain our resources, but most of us try to do something better, to give back.

I think being famous is more of a hindrance, a constraint, than just letting yourself be free.

Chinese culture has a lot of virtues that are tremendously valuable to not only us as Asian-Americans, but also the world in general.

Soy sauce is really a multi-purpose seasoning.

I normally don't eat junk food.

A lot of people don't enjoy their job, they may even hate it, but I am lucky enough to be able to make a living through my passion.

I have a lot of cooking tools. In fact I have a whole drawer full of knives. Cooking tools, especially cutlery, are my toys.