Autumn Treasures with Chef Martin Yan

In conjunction with the Autumn Treasures with Martin Yan tour from the 4th to 5th of September, some very lucky members of the media, foodies and culinary students were treated to an afternoon of exciting cooking demos by Chef Martin Yan. This event was a joint effort by The Asian Food Channel & BERJAYA University of College Hospitality.

Following the success of True Passion – Martin Yan which premiered on AFC last year, this tour aims to give viewers the chance to get up close and personal with the culinary legend himself. This event took place at Â Samplings On The Fourteenth, BERJAYA University College of Hospitality.

Chef Martin Yan started off the afternoon by revealing that he travels everywhere with his trusty knife, as he believes that it’s the best tool for slicing, cutting and dicing just about anything on the ingredient list.

On top of that, he also has a trusty frying pan that he does not leave home without.

He then proceeded with some basic cooking (or in this case, cutting, slicing and dicing) demonstrations which wowed the socks off of the audience present (apparent from the ‘ooohs’ and ‘aaahs’). He began by ‘julienning‘ (a culinary knife cut in which the food item is cut into long thin strips, similar to matchsticks) a red bell pepper. Not only did he manage the feat in what seemed like a split second, but it was so thin and find that you had to look really close to see its existence. He also did the same with a piece of chicken later on! He then sliced a whole tomato in super-thin slices that it filled-out an entire plate. This evident crowd-pleaser was followed by him slicing a cucumber into pretty- looking evenly sized slices (and that took him like a second to do too).

Next, he briefed the audience on how to breakdown a chicken into its’ respective parts. Some tips included making sure that the chicken is dry to ensure a firm grip.

With a few chops and cuts, he effortlessly breaks down a chicken in less than a minute.

Using the few ingredients he sliced, diced and cut, coupled with a few others, he started to cook-up an impromptu stir-fry.

Having being done in what seemed like a matter of minutes, the chicken stir-fry oozed with flavor.

He also took some time to answer questions from audience members as well as elaborate on how he started off his amazing culinary career and some of the roadblocks he faced and overcame along the way.

Always sure to have a smile on his face, he mentioned how that was one of the main ingredients that paved the way to his success today.

He was ever so eager to impart knowledge and advice to the culinary students present at the event and encouraged them to always ask questions to maximize the learning process.

He then began to whip-up one of his recipes from the series, Seared Fish Fillet in Egg White Sauce.

Here’s the recipe for the mouthwatering Seared Fish Fillet in Egg White Sauce:

Ingredients:

1 Snapper, Halibut or other white fish fillet

2 tbsp of vegetable oil

1 tsp of minced ginger

2 tbsp of minced ham

1 small of hot green or red chilli

½ cup of chicken stock

3 egg whites, lightly beaten

½ cup of cooked crabmeat

2 ounces of baby shrimp, peeled

2 tsp of cornstarch, dissolved in 1 tbsp of water

1 egg white, lightly beaten

Seasoning

1 tbsp of chardonnay

2 tsp of soy sauce

½ tsp of sugar

½ tsp of salt

⅛ tsp of white pepper

1 tsp of sesame oil

Method: 

1. Peel and seed melon. Cut the flesh into 5cm x 1 cm sticks and set aside.

2. Combine the seasoning and ingredients together into a small bowl and set aside.

3. Heat a wok over high heat. Add oil and swirl the wok to coat the sides.

4. Add ginger, chilli and ham. Stir-fry for 10 seconds or till it becomes fragrant.

5. Add melon and stock and bring the mixture to a boil.

6. Cover and reduce to medium heat.

7. Simmer until the melon is cooked through and for about 8 minutes.

8. Add crabmeat, shrimp and seasoning. Bring it to a boil.

9. Add the cornstarch solution and stir until the sauce thickens.

10. Remove the work from the heat.

11. Drizzle the egg white over the melon, gently stirring with chopsticks until long egg strands are formd.

12. Serve hot.

I definitely couldn’t get enough of that egg white sauce. It complimented the fish perfectly!

Apart from being extremely entertaining, witty, and highly knowledgeable about his trade , Chef Martin Yan shows that it takes more than culinary skill to make it in the culinary world today; it takes a passion, and lots of it too!

Don’t forget to catch True Passion – Martin Yan, an AFC Original Production, this 10th September at 7.30pm!