Chef Martin Yan the GE Monogram Ambassador

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Do you remember Martin Yan? The famous chef with the famous cook show Yan Can Cook! I remember watching this show back when I was still in my primary school years ago! Amazingly, this show has been around for a whopping 30 years! My, how time has flown. And a show that could survive the test of time surely means something, right? I had the privilege of attending one of his famous cook shows just recently, courtesy of Kollektion and Sidney.

Chef Martin Yan

The sponsor for the venue that day was Benova Dealer at Taman Tun Dr Ismail. Kind Benova actually redesigned part of their showroom into a kitchen for the cook show. I was there early and took the opportunity to capture the surroundings.

witch with Martin Yan’s cook book

Martin Yan’s China

The ingredients used for the day were all laid out neatly on the kitchen top, waiting for the master. I noticed lots of Lee Kum Kee bottles around. Recommended brand, perhaps?

Sugar, spice and everything nice

Of course, being the ambassador of GE Monogram, it was only natural that all the equipment used in the kitchen was from the very same brand. Did you know that GE Monogram is like the Rolls Royce of kitchen brands? It is used in the kitchens of Martha Stewart and Donald Trump! And of course, in Chef Martin Yan’s kitchen, too!

Kitchen by GE Monogram

Kollektion as the presenter

The impeccable kitchen

Soon enough, the chef arrived in style, with everyone’s applause. He was very witty and kept the crowd alive with his jokes and stories. Really interesting.

Chef Martin Yan

His assistant was introduced after that, by the name of Chef Sunny, from Summer Palace restaurant, Tai Thong group.

Chef Sunny and Martin Yan

Before Chef Martin Yan started cooking, he showed us some of his amazing cutting skills. Even chopping of garlic required high skills, especially if you want to cut them almost paper thin, as shown in the picture below.

Paper thin garlic slice

Or mashed garlic

Lightning speed of cutting

First dish of the day was fried calamari rings or squid. He demonstrated the Chinese way of cutting squid, instead of just cutting them in the normal ring form.

Cleaned squid

Slice them just halfway through, at 45 degrees angle

After blanching them in hot water, you can see it blossoming like a flower, Chef said. Really pretty!

Cooked squid

He then proceeded to cook the calamari rings for the audience. Added in salt and pepper, which were the basic seasoning.

Frying squid

And then, it was done!

Fried calamari/squid rings

We were so lucky to be given the chance to try them out. They were yummy!

Close up shot

Second dish was cod fish! Oh my favourite! Season them with salt and pepper first, as he said.

Cutting up cod fish

He was demonstrating how to use the GE monogram oven, which used 3 methods to heat up the dish, hence making cooking 3 times faster!

Baking cod fish

He also grilled a few pieces of cod fish on the stove. Before long, they were done! And nicely presented too, on top of salsa sauce.

Cod fish on salsa sauce

Baked cod fish on salsa sauce

Finally, the third dish was ‘kung pow chicken’, for the extra ‘power’. Interestingly, we actually should massage the chicken to relax it before chopping it up. I always saw it from movies, but never knew there was truth in it! Massage the legs first, then the wings.

Massaging the chicken

He was overly excited cooking the chicken. *LOL*

Cooking kung pow chicken excitedly

Even Chef Sunny couldn’t contain his laughter

Kung pow chicken

After his 3 dishes, Chef opened a bottle of wine to be enjoyed by him and Chef Sunny. Also, we were told there would be lucky draw!

Chef with his wine

There were 10 prizes for lucky draw, each one of them was Martin Yan’s China cook book.

Chef showing off his book

Secretly, I was hoping that either one of us would win at least one book and little did I know, Saucer’s name was called during the second draw! *gasp* I was so happy I squealed with laughter! Chef then asked Saucer what was our relationship, and when he knew we were newly married, he made Saucer take an oath in front of everybody. *LOL* Chef really did know how to create the lively mood!

“I will cook 3 times a day, throw out the trash, do the dishes, etc etc”

Autographed for us too!

Since Saucer already won the book, I was contented and happy. But guess what? When the 9th draw was made, my name was called out! *gasp* What were the chances! Two of us getting the lucky draw! I went up sheepishly, feeling a bit embarrassed, but Chef said I could autograph it to whoever I wanted. So I asked him to autograph the book to my mom.

witch winning lucky draw!

We also got our books signed by Chef Sunny.

witch and Chef Sunny

Group picture

Coincidentally, that day also marked the day when Benova dealer was endorsed as a  GE Monogram Gallery.

Chef Sunny signing

Group picture with Benova representatives

Chef Martin Yan endorsing on the plaque

Congratulations to Benova!

And before we left, we were given goodie bags too! There was a mug, some flyers and a knife in it. Very sharp one too! So lucky we were, to have won two lucky draws in a row. I’m going to start experimenting on the dishes from his cook book, for sure!

Goodies to be taken home

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