Martin Yan

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

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

When you have a good stock, you can make a good soup.

When you enjoy what you do, work becomes play.

When I retire or pass away, I will be able to look back and say that this has been an exciting life. That's all that matters.

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

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.

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.

Soy sauce is really a multi-purpose seasoning.

Some people never contribute anything positive to society, they may even drain our resources, but most of us try to do something better, to give back.

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

If I could only have one type of food with me, I would bring soy sauce. The reason being that if I have soy sauce, I can flavor a lot of things.

I think being famous is more of a hindrance, a constraint, than just letting yourself be free.

I normally don't eat junk food.

I enjoy the quiet life.

First of all, I can't really claim to be a great chef.

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

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.

I also have a lot of preserved foods, things that will keep for a long time like dried fish, seaweed or lotus seed.

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

Anyone that has come to America past the age of eighteen will be able to understand when I say that you can never shake your accent.

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

I am just a normal professional with a great job and a great life.

People who don't travel cannot have a global view, all they see is what's in front of them. Those people cannot accept new things because all they know is where they live.

I live a very low-key life.