Quotes from Martin Yan

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.

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

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

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

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

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

I think a lot of times it's not money that's the primary motivation factor; it's the passion for your job and the professional and personal satisfaction that you get out of doing what you do that motivates you.

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

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 live a very low-key life.

First of all, I can't really claim to be a great chef.

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.

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.

I enjoy the quiet life.

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

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

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

In general I love to eat anything. I enjoy anything that is well prepared, a good spaghetti, lasagna, taco, steak, sushi, refried beans.

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.

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

I remember when I was in college, I used to watch Julia Child's cooking show during dinner and joke with my roommates about becoming a TV chef.

Soy sauce is really a multi-purpose seasoning.

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