Martin Yan's Feast: The Best of Yan Can Cook [Paperback]

Martin Yan (Author), Geoffrey Nilsen (Photographer), Jacques Pepin (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 2003

Now in paperback comes the complete guide to Chinese cooking based on Martin Yan's popular PBS show. This encyclopedic book features Martin Yan's trademark clear and detailed guidance on Chinese cooking techniques, implements, ingredients - and of course, recipes. Using a warm, witty approach, Yan makes the mysterious accessible for novice or experienced cooks not familiar with the complexities of this cuisine. Color photographs enhance the 350 recipes which include both typical restaurant choices and homemade favorites, from Drunken Crab with Ginger-Wine Sauce and Mu Shu Vegetables, to Sunshine Soup with Dumplings, Sweet Bean Paste Puff, and Steamed Coconut-Papaya Sponge Cake.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Martin Yan's Feast" named COOKBOOK OF THE YEAR! -- ForeWord magazine, March 1999

Friends have commented that Martin Yan is so silly on his cooking show that they can't take his food seriously. Too bad for them. They are missing out on some of the best Asian food around.

True to the name of his show, Yan can cook. His blend of Asian cultures and Western techniques make his food fresh and easy to prepare...

In most respects, Yan's newest cookbook "Martin Yan's Feast" is his best...We made about 10 dishes from "Feast," and every one turned into a keeper. We especially liked the Thai-style spicy chicken; we've made it several times and guests ask for the recipe...Gorgeous color photographs of some dishes and excellent graphics give this volume extra flair. Cooks who fancy Asian foods--or who want to--will want to add this gem to their shelf of essentials. -- Sacramento Bee, July 21, 1999

If watching Martin Yan on TV has demystified Chinese cooking for you, reading his book will enhance your understanding of one of the world's most complex, multi-faceted cuisines. "Martin Yan's Feast" is a carefully arranged collection of the recipes and techniques he's presented over 17 years of cooking for his public television series, "Yan Can Cook." -- New York Daily News, December 23, 1998

Long before chefs chopped and bellowed across cable TV lines, Yan was whisking his knife rapidly around on public television...His latest book, "Martin Yan's Feast," is a culmination of 17 years of cooking on his show and features favorites from the series as well as new recipes. Beautiful photgraphs and easy-to-read recipes make the book a useful tool for anyone who enjoys cooking Chinese cuisine, as well as foods from other Asian countries.

But for Yan fans, the best part of the book is its introduction, in which the ebullient Yan finally lays out the story of his impoverished upbringing along the Pearl River in Guangzhou, southern China, and his hard-won rise to success. -- Orange County Register, February 3, 1999

Most people know Martin Yan as the cartoonish character he plays on his television cooking shows...Even his fans might be surprised to learn that Yan is actually a very smart, thoughtful guy...In "Martin Yan's Feast"...those qualities shine through more than ever. -- Los Angeles Times, May 1999 --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

Yan grew up in China with his widowed mother, whom Yan still credits as one of his greatest cooking teachers. At age 13 he went to work at an uncle's restaurant in Hong Kong, later going to a professional chef's school in Hong Kong and then to the University of California, Davis, where he earned a master's degree in food science. He is the star of public television's "Yan Can Cook," and author of eight other cookbooks, including "Martin Yan's Asia" and "Martin Yan's Culinary Journey Through China." He lives in California with his wife and twin sons. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 393 pages
• Publisher: Bay Books (CA) (March 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 157959526X
• ISBN-13: 978-1579595265
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 8.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #617,121 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

36 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Authentic oriental restaurant taste that anyone can do!, February 22, 2001

By 

Joanna Daneman (Middletown, DE USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Martin Yan's Feast : The Best of Yan Can Cook (Hardcover)

Here's why I always recommend Martin Yan's books; for some reason, his recipes will result in that authentic taste that is often missing from other Chinese or Oriental cookbooks. He gives techniques that really work, like marinating chicken or meats in a cornstarch-soy sauce mix that give the meat that succulent coating when stir fried. Yet most of the recipes can be made with ingredients found in a majority of American grocery stores that stock a foreign food shelf and some exotic vegetables like sprouts and chinese cabbage.

I learned to cook Chinese food as a kid from my Dad (he bought an enormous wok right from a restaurant in San Francisco in the 60's. It was so big we had to store it in the garage. But that was the only kind there was, no one sold them in the kitchen department until much later.) We used to make fried rice and Chinese egg omelets (egg fu yung) that tasted like the Chinese restaurants we loved. But it wasn't until I found Martin Yan's cookbooks that I found any book that could duplicate that flavor.

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A must book for my library, December 19, 1999

By 

Jacqueline Bauman - See all my reviews

This review is from: Martin Yan's Feast : The Best of Yan Can Cook (Hardcover)

This book is a must for my library, resting in the area reserved for the Ultimate Book. It is the bible of all of my oriental cook books and I have plenty of them. Yan is not only a superb Chinese chef but an artisan with foods. That's where his magic is. I will never learn to chop as fast as he does and I never seem to have a smile on my face, like he also does, when I'm doing this. But his recipes are easy to follow and 400 pages of them leaves nothing left out. This book is a winner.

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fast, easy, delicious Chinese food!, February 12, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Martin Yan's Feast : The Best of Yan Can Cook (Hardcover)

As I was flipping through this cookbook with a friend, we would stop every two or three pages to exclaim, "I love that dish!" I've tried about seven recipes so far, and six have turned out excellent. Make sure you try the green onion pancakes. The recipes are for the most part very simple, and Martin Yan includes a lot of hints for making your dish perfect. The book also contains beautiful photos, so it makes a great gift.