I can represent my culture while helping not only the Chinese-American community, but also the community at large.

- Martin Yan

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

- Martin Yan

Chinese culture has a lot of virtues that are tremendously valuable to not only us as Asian-Americans, but also the world in general.

- Martin Yan

I don't like to waste anything. Any food left over from the night before is always eaten the next day.

- Martin Yan

I normally don't eat junk food.

- Martin Yan

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

- Martin Yan

The hoopla, the applause, the praises have never excited me.

- Martin Yan

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

- Martin Yan

As long as the food is well prepared and not overdone, I think it tastes good. It doesn't matter if it's Chinese, Japanese, anything.

- Martin Yan

Because normally with Western cuisine, you'll serve vegetables separate from the meat, so kids will eat the meat and never touch the vegetables.

- Martin Yan

I live a very low-key life.

- Martin Yan

I have a lot of cooking tools. In fact I have a whole drawer full of knives. Cooking tools, especially cutlery, are my toys.

- Martin Yan

So when I do Chinese cooking, I mix everything together, then the kids have to eat their vegetables. They won't have the patience to pick them out.

- Martin Yan

Soy sauce is really a multi-purpose seasoning.

- Martin Yan

Well, you know, if you get into the profession because you think you can make a lot of money, you can never become successful.

- Martin Yan

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

- Martin Yan

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.

- Martin Yan

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.

- Martin Yan

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.

- Martin Yan

At thirteen, when I arrived in Hong Kong after leaving China, I made a living by working in a restaurant.

- Martin Yan