Yan Can Cook

{{short description|American food reality television series}} {{Use mdy dates|date=March 2025}} {{Infobox television | alt_name = | genre = Cooking show | creator = | writer = | director = | creative_director = | developer = | presenter = | starring = Martin Yan | voices = | narrator = | theme_music_composer = | open_theme = | end_theme = | composer = | country = Canada, United States | language = English | num_seasons = | num_episodes = 3,500+ | list_episodes = | executive_producer = Gayle Yamada | producer = Mark Tocher | editor = | location = | cinematography = | camera = | runtime = | channel = CFAC-TV, PBS | first_aired = {{start date|1978}} | last_aired = | related = {{Plainlist| * Martin Yan – Quick & Easy }} }} '''''Yan Can Cook''''' is a Chinese-oriented cooking show starring Chef Martin Yan that featured recipes for stir fried foods and an assortment of various other traditional Chinese meals and cooking techniques. The series originated in Calgary, Alberta, Canada (CFAC-TV), from 1978 to 1982 as a daily syndicated cooking show, '' Yan Can'', for 250 episodes<ref>{{cite web |last1=Maiellano |first1=Sarah |title=2022 Lifetime Achievement Award Winner Martin Yan |url=https://www.jamesbeard.org/blog/2022-lifetime-achievement-award-winner-martin-yan |website=James Beard Foundation |access-date=August 10, 2024}}</ref> until Yan moved to San Francisco, California, United States, in 1982 starting ''Yan Can Cook'' on PBS (KQED).<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=SFGATE |first=Susana Guerrero |date=2021-04-29 |title=Martin Yan on 'Yan Can Cook' and the future of Bay Area cuisine |url=https://www.sfgate.com/food/article/2021-04-Chef-Martin-Yan-on-Can-Cook-Julia-Child-16136009.php |access-date=2022-12-16 |website=SFGATE |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Krishna |first=Priya |date=2021-06-15 |title=Four Decades on, Martin Yan Faces a New Audience and a New World |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/15/dining/martin-yan.html |access-date=2022-12-16 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> Yan also wrote several cookbooks which serve as companions to these various television series.<ref name=":0" />

==Presentation style==

Chef Yan's style of presentation was infused with (and today continues to feature) humor using witticism, and international or local cultural references. During this program's original run he became known for his main catchphrase, "If Yan can cook, so can you, zai jian (goodbye in Mandarin Chinese)/zoi gin (goodbye in Cantonese)!", with which he signed off on each show. He used a second catchphrase, "Something fishy here! [''sic'']", used whenever he cooked seafood.<ref>{{Cite web |first=Stephan |last=Lee |date=2016-02-26 |title='Top Chef' recap: The chefs have to come up with the best "fast casual" concept |url=https://ew.com/recap/top-chef-season-13-episode-12/ |access-date=2022-12-16 |website=EW.com |language=en}}</ref> One of his other trademarks was to chop food frantically making music with a sharp cleaver while grinning toward the camera and audience. This show is shot on stage.

==References== {{reflist}}

==See also== *''Wok with Yan'', a Canadian Chinese cooking television series starring Stephen Yan, for whom Martin Yan once worked

Category:1982 American television series debuts Category:1980s American cooking television series Category:James Beard Foundation Award winners Category:1970s Canadian cooking television series Category:Chinese American television Category:Asian Canadian television series