Stephen Yan
Encyclopedia
Stephen Yan was the host of the successful Canadian
television cooking show Wok with Yan
.
The Vancouver-based chef moved to Canada
in the 1960s and owned two Chinese restaurants in Vancouver. His hit show was originally produced at CBOT
in Ottawa
from 1980 to 1995 and was syndicated in the United States and Asia. For over 15 years Stephen produced over 500 episodes of Wok with Yan.
Stephen also has produced travel and variety shows called Wok's Up? for CBC, Yan's Wokking for BCTV, and several half-hour travel specials on Thailand
, Hong Kong
, Japan
, Walt Disney World, Malaysia, Singapore
, and Fiji
.
On May 14,1986, Yan also released a 60-minute show on video cassette titled, "Wok On The Wild Side, Wok With Yan Volume 2", where he showed how to prepare and cook the following menu: prawns in a nest, egg rolls, sweet and sour fish, gold coin beef, hot and sour soup, ginger lobster, and chicken with pineapple.
Yan's charismatic personality on his television show can be attributed to his spontaneous humour that included one-liners spoken with his trademark Cantonese accent or him playing with his food or cookware. He has appeared on Late Night with David Letterman
, Good Morning America
, Live with Regis and Kelly
, and other shows from the United States to Australia.
A trademark of his was aprons that bore a different 'wok' pun every show. Some examples are:
Yan was the author of bestselling cook books:
He also created various names for some of the ingredients that he used in his cooking, they include:
Wok Before You Run is another cooking videotape produced in the 1980s and distributed worldwide.
He is not related to Chinese American chef Martin Yan
of the PBS series Yan Can Cook
, Martin was an employee and had worked for Stephen Yan in the 1980s as demonstrator for Stephen's product.
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
television cooking show Wok with Yan
Wok with Yan
Wok with Yan was a Chinese cuisine cooking show starring Stephen Yan. The show was first produced in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada by the CBC at CBUT from 1980 to 1982. A second edition of the show was also produced in the early 1990s...
.
The Vancouver-based chef moved to Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
in the 1960s and owned two Chinese restaurants in Vancouver. His hit show was originally produced at CBOT
CBOT (TV)
CBOT-DT is a Canadian Broadcasting Corporation television station in Ottawa, Ontario. The station's studios are located in the CBC Ottawa Broadcast Centre.-History:...
in Ottawa
Ottawa
Ottawa is the capital of Canada, the second largest city in the Province of Ontario, and the fourth largest city in the country. The city is located on the south bank of the Ottawa River in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario...
from 1980 to 1995 and was syndicated in the United States and Asia. For over 15 years Stephen produced over 500 episodes of Wok with Yan.
Stephen also has produced travel and variety shows called Wok's Up? for CBC, Yan's Wokking for BCTV, and several half-hour travel specials on Thailand
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
, Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, Walt Disney World, Malaysia, Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
, and Fiji
Fiji
Fiji , officially the Republic of Fiji , is an island nation in Melanesia in the South Pacific Ocean about northeast of New Zealand's North Island...
.
On May 14,1986, Yan also released a 60-minute show on video cassette titled, "Wok On The Wild Side, Wok With Yan Volume 2", where he showed how to prepare and cook the following menu: prawns in a nest, egg rolls, sweet and sour fish, gold coin beef, hot and sour soup, ginger lobster, and chicken with pineapple.
Yan's charismatic personality on his television show can be attributed to his spontaneous humour that included one-liners spoken with his trademark Cantonese accent or him playing with his food or cookware. He has appeared on Late Night with David Letterman
Late Night with David Letterman
Late Night with David Letterman is a nightly hour-long comedy talk show on NBC that was created and hosted by David Letterman. It premiered in 1982 as the first incarnation of the Late Night franchise and went off the air in 1993, after Letterman left NBC and moved to Late Show on CBS. Late Night...
, Good Morning America
Good Morning America
Good Morning America is an American morning news and talk show that is broadcast on the ABC television network; it debuted on November 3, 1975. The weekday program airs for two hours; a third hour aired between 2007 and 2008 exclusively on ABC News Now...
, Live with Regis and Kelly
Live with Regis and Kelly
Live! with Kelly is a syndicated American television morning talk show, hosted by Kelly Ripa. The show has aired since 1983 in New York City and 1988 nationwide. Tony Pigg has been the show's announcer since its inception...
, and other shows from the United States to Australia.
A trademark of his was aprons that bore a different 'wok' pun every show. Some examples are:
- Wok & Roll
- Wokking My Baby Back Home
- Danger, Men at Wok
- Wok Around the Clock
- Wok the Heck
- You Are Wok You Eat
- Wok Goes up Must Come Down
- Wok's New, Pussycat?
- Wokkey Night in Canada
- Stuck Between a Wok and a Hard Place
- Raiders of The Lost Wok
- Moon Wok
- Jailhouse Wok
- Over Wok, Under Pay
- Wok Me to the Church On Time
- Woksy Ladies
Yan was the author of bestselling cook books:
- Vegetables the Chinese Way
- Creative Carving
- The Stephen Yan Seafood Wokbook
- Wok with Yan Television Cookbook
He also created various names for some of the ingredients that he used in his cooking, they include:
- "Chinese Water"
- "Wonder Powder"
- "Five Spicey"
Wok Before You Run is another cooking videotape produced in the 1980s and distributed worldwide.
He is not related to Chinese American chef Martin Yan
Martin Yan
Martin Yan is a Chinese-born American chef and the host of the award-winning cooking show Yan Can Cook.- Early years and education :With ancestral roots in Kaiping, Guangdong, China, Yan was born in Guangzhou, Guangdong, China, to a restaurateur father and a grocer mother, Yan began to cook at 12...
of the PBS series Yan Can Cook
Yan Can Cook
Yan Can Cook is a Chinese cuisine cooking show starring Martin Yan that featured recipes for stirfrys and other traditional Chinese meals. Martin had a catchphrase, "If Yan can cook, so can you!", with which he used to sign off each show...
, Martin was an employee and had worked for Stephen Yan in the 1980s as demonstrator for Stephen's product.