A Morning with Culinary Artist Martin Yan

James Gibbs had the opportunity to meet the legendary Celebrity
Chef, Martin Yan, at Berjaya University College of Hospitality at Berjaya Times
Square hosted by the Asian Food Channel.
“Cooking is about having confidence in your abilities”
Martin is visiting Malaysia to host a dinner event and also
to promote his show, True Passion – Martin Yan. Martin has judged shows such
as ‘Hell’s Kitchen’ as well a being a food pioneer, and has a Master’s Degree
in Food Science. He was presenting his craft in the well-appointed demonstration kitchen of
the Berjaya University. Also in the room were around 20 young students who were
soon to venture out to cook and compete in some of Malaysia’s most respected
restaurants and hotels.

Martin sharing his experience with young cooking talent
One soon realizes that spending an hour or more with Martin
is just as much as about learning his life’s philosophies as it is about his
outstanding culinary skills. Martin was presenting his talents and advice to
cooking students on how to survive in the ‘battlefield’ kitchen working environment.
 
 
Martin Yan the Ninja Chef
Martin Yan is pretty much the result of a fusion between one
of the world’s finest chefs and a Ninja warrior. His skills with slicing and
dicing are second to none. Most
think he would be just as much at home in a Bruce Lee movie as he is in the
kitchen.  He spoke both passionately and at
length to the students of the importance of using and maintaining the correct tools
of the trade while simultaneously performing neurosurgery on tomatoes and cucumbers
with his custom made super-knife. This ‘one and only’ blade he employs for all
tasks (apparently including shaving when required) and is a formidable piece of
kitchen hardware. Later we saw how he can completely deprive a hapless chicken
of all bones in only 18 seconds – a spectacular piece of showmanship.
His mastery of cooking is reflected by his deep understanding
of what it takes to become a great chef.  “A good chef must show passion, excitement,
energy and happiness” He also advised the students to “be individual and follow
your dreams and most importantly, believe in yourselves!”

Martin performed some outstanding displays of cooking by
preparing two dishes that even though cooked at light speed, they were absolutely
delicious. The first being a zingy stir fried chicken on a bed of tomatoes sliced thinner than the Shroud of Turin and other garnishes. The second dish was a fried fish fillet on a
bed of fruit salsa, garnished with a prawn, crab meat and egg white sauce.
Needless to say just how tasty that one was!
The only slightly disappointing aspect of the day was the quality
of prep done by the students when it came to asking questions at the end of the
session. Clearly overwhelmed by the steely gaze of this culinary warrior, the only question
that surfaced was “how to cook a nice dish?” A pity that that this rare and
potentially valuable experience was missed to ask really good questions from one of the best Asian chefs on the planet.
Seeing Martin perform has to be one of the most inspirational
displays of cuisine preparation. Creating amazing cuisine in a blur of motion while
entertaining the audience with interesting stories about his rise to fame is
his specialty. Now I know I need to
sign up for a cooking course at Berjaya Times Square.

3 Comments

  1. wow! you met him … cool.. i would love to be there too

  2. Great comparison, likening a chef to a ninja warrior! And I bet a ninja wouldn't be able to dice his carrots as well as Martin does! 😀

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