Martin yan

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

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.

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

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

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.

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.

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

Soy sauce is really a multi-purpose seasoning.

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