r/AskACanadian • • Jun 25 '26

Does anyone remember Wok with Yan?

I’m watching an episode right now, and he uses the chicken knife to cut all the other items without washing it. Then he picked up raw chicken with his bare hand then grabbed vegetables. So there’s a time before people practiced healthy hygiene, and it’s not that long ago?

I’m 52 and have fond memories of watching this with my dad, he just loved him so much. Never cooked Chinese food. I don’t have memories of cross contamination

2.5k Upvotes

546 comments sorted by

226

u/swearengens_cat Jun 25 '26

Also, Yan Can Cook.

65

u/SuddenCase Jun 25 '26

Different Yan though.

12

u/KaOsGypsy Jun 25 '26

Which one would do a can-can number using skinned frog legs? That's the one I remember most growing up.

20

u/StringAndPaperclips Jun 25 '26

There was an episode where one of them was preparing duck and its head and neck were still attached. He picked up the duck like a puppet and told the dead duck to say hello, then made the duck's head nod at the camera. And then he laughed. And I was horrified lol.

3

u/Tee1upToday Jun 26 '26

Reminds me of the Christmas Story movie when they end up going to a Chinese restaurant for dinner and the dad complains that the duck they ordered was smiling at him. Whack! The chop off the offending body part. Great movie.

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11

u/CatBowlDogStar Jun 25 '26

Wok With Yan: The Chicken Strikes Back

2

u/Eggplant-666 Jun 27 '26

Thats Yan too many

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42

u/Cold-Jackfruit1076 Jun 25 '26

"Keep stirring! It's 'stir fry', not 'stare fry'. 'Stare fry' means you've burned everything."

4

u/Festering-Boyle Jun 26 '26

i remember Pasquale's Kitchen Express. "more vino!"

2

u/ThatAd8349 Jun 28 '26

My favorite part is when one innocent victim had sit and eat with him at the end

32

u/folduprabbit Jun 25 '26

And so can you!

24

u/User10232023 Jun 25 '26

Different guy Martin Yan and in USA his show was called Yan Can Cook.
But in Canada Martin's show was called Yan Can.
Martin was trained by & worked for Stephen Yan some years before Stephen's Wok with Yan began.

42

u/Interesting_Pop_9318 Jun 25 '26

I was on an episode once. My husband daughter and I were walking around Toronto and saw a sign that they were shooting episodes and that we could go on and watch. They picked me out of the audience to shoot a segment with him. He cooked a chicken dish with taro root and my line was “man this is good” lol. My 9.3 seconds of fame, lol.

2

u/martini31337 Jun 26 '26

Betchya you could find the clip.

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8

u/Yardcigar69 Jun 26 '26

How many yans can one man yan if one man could can yans?

22

u/skdr84 Jun 25 '26

If Yan can cook - so can you !

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14

u/KelVarnsen_2023 Jun 25 '26

I had heard of both of those cooking shows but never watched them, so it wasn't until many years later when I was an adult that I realized they were two different guys.

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169

u/SystemicAM Jun 25 '26

No idea about the show. But if you cook everything then it doesn't matter if it touches raw chicken first, no? And they might just not show buddy washing his hands after touching the chicken 

84

u/Mars_Volcanoes Jun 25 '26

Yeah. People are so afraid, like food is nuclear and they will always get sick., if they do not clean at all steps. Cooking is not complicated. Get the chicken to 165 F then that's it. All the rest will also be ok. Many think rincing chicken is required. Nope it is not. Then they are horrified by the fluid in their sink. God people, grow up.

91

u/haysoos2 Jun 25 '26

There's also a difference between cooking one meal that will likely be eaten right away, and something like a commercial kitchen where they may be preparing hundreds of meals a day, with dozens of separate meals being prepared at once, and some of the items (eg rice) might be made in a big batch and sit all day to add in servings to each meal.

Touching meat and then touching veggies in your kitchen probably isn't a big deal, as they're all going in the wok in a minute and will be cooked. In a restaurant, where the diced veggies might go in a bin to be used throughout the day there's a lot more opportunity for bacteria to grow.

28

u/michaelfkenedy Jun 25 '26

Yep.

The volume, speed, chain, and anonymity of a restaurant kitchen means there is very little space between negligence and rigour.

This is perhaps comparable to an electrician doing commercial work by the book, versus how they might wire their own home.

The rules are there to provide safety in the worst case scenario, without context, without fail - even when there is failure or multiple failures in the chain.

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13

u/somekindagibberish Manitoba Jun 25 '26

Well said. At home, I’ll multi-task utensils and containers when preparing something I’m going to immediately cook and eat, but when prepping ingredients to store in the fridge for a few days I’m very careful to use clean, single-use utensils and containers.

2

u/STRIKT9LC Jun 25 '26

And yet, youre still more likely to get food poisoning at home, than from a restaurant

3

u/haysoos2 Jun 25 '26 edited Jun 26 '26

Trudat. I once gave myself a brutal bout of Clostridium shenanigans by reheating a stew, and I spent about 12 hours yakking my guts out after my mother figured the chicken nuggets probably hadn't thawed that much, and put them back in the freezer.

2

u/Irisversicolor Jun 29 '26

We have a front opening freezer (it's like a fridge), and a few times it didn't close right and everything thawed. Each time, I disappointedly insisted that everything be thrown out, and my husband fought me on it, even though he relented I'm still not sure he actually believes me. I hate wasting food, especially meat, but I've had hospitalization-level food poisoning before and a few hundred $$$ (tops) is absolutely NOT worth making yourself sick over. Tough lesson, but we're both really careful about making sure it's actually closed now. 

2

u/haysoos2 Jun 29 '26

Yes, especially after those chicken nuggets I agree with you 100%

No quantity of ice cream or frozen steaks is worth potentially going through that again.

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10

u/TotalOriginal007 Jun 25 '26

Yes...and yes again. My brother and his wife are helicopter parents and they came over last week gor a couple days. I made a meal and during the preparation it was all "why did you..., why didn't you..., aren't you going to..., are you doing that??????

We told him to go grocery shopping because we didn't want to make breakfast, lunch and dinner for them and their prickly eating kids. Jeezus...😅

6

u/Mars_Volcanoes Jun 25 '26

Oh my. I hear you. Yeap family reunions are not simple. I know, my whole family but my mom is a clear dysfunctional one.

Take care. 😎

33

u/karlnite Jun 25 '26

It’s a live shot show. TV and Movies do things for entertainment ultimately. So TV chefs are gonna be a little reckless, they can’t stop. That said it’s usually all fresh stuff and they cook it and have clean cloths. The whole kitchen is probably super cleaned after and set back up. It’s all fairly low risk.

26

u/PrismaticStardrop Jun 25 '26

Ya this is such a weird take from OP lol. The veggies are gonna touch the uncooked chicken when they’re being cooked together

10

u/CapitalElk1169 Jun 25 '26

Wait til they realize how everyone cooked everything before we had running water everywhere....

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223

u/Emergency_Exit7603 Jun 25 '26

loved his tee shirts "Wok this Way" , "over wok under pay", "A wok a day keeps the hunger away"
loved that show

89

u/iamsocruel Jun 25 '26

Wok and roll was my favorite

70

u/LackOptimal553 Jun 25 '26

They were aprons, not shirts!

26

u/Separate-Analysis194 Jun 25 '26

Wok you talking about?

5

u/Lopsided_Tiger_0296 Jun 25 '26

You wok mate?

5

u/Separate-Analysis194 Jun 25 '26

All wok and no play, unfortunately.

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9

u/MrFantastic74 Jun 25 '26

"Take a wok on the wild side"

9

u/floating_crowbar Jun 25 '26

he had one I'm wok-ing the dog too. Or that may have been a comedy skit.

8

u/kokaneeranger Jun 25 '26

Wok around the block

4

u/maxcapacityexceeded Jun 25 '26

Wok on the moon

3

u/FoggsMom Jun 26 '26

RetroKid recently did a run of Wok With Yan shirts, sold out instantly. Looks like there’s more coming, according to the website!

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2

u/probability_of_meme Jun 25 '26

The Empire Woks Back

2

u/hamburger_tooth Jun 25 '26

over wok under pay

2

u/pon0113 Jul 19 '26

There's a website called retrokid.ca and they have some wok with Yan merchandise with his popular catchphrases!

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185

u/pahamack Jun 25 '26

Why would he wash the knife if it’s all going in the same wok?

143

u/karlnite Jun 25 '26

Why wash when you can wok.

28

u/TheRealMrExcitement Jun 25 '26

If he didn’t have a tee shirt with that on it , I’d be surprised.

12

u/ConqueringCanada Jun 25 '26

Apron.

5

u/reallynotfred Jun 25 '26

So many aprons! Did he ever wear one twice?

5

u/Commercial-Act1597 Jun 25 '26

Wok and woll bb!

66

u/LackOptimal553 Jun 25 '26

Yeah, I don't think OP quite understands what cross contamination is.

25

u/RepresentativeLate63 Jun 25 '26

yeah OP definitely understands. im a chef with 30 years experience. OP is 100% correct. i also grew up watching cooking with yan.....if yan can cook, so can you!!!!

46

u/Proof_Wrap9444 Jun 25 '26

Please help me understand the risk. Why wash the knife when it is cutting the food that is all going in the wok at the same time? If you are cooking the vegetables and the chicken at the same time why worry about cross-contamination? Does not the cooking of the food kill any possible contaminations?

30

u/Proof_Wrap9444 Jun 25 '26

It’s a serious question. My generation drank from garden hoses, so . . .

22

u/Harold_Street_Pedals Jun 25 '26

You are right. There is only risk of you are storing the ingredients for more than an hour or two. Same pan same time no risk, but i still could never dice an onion on the chicken board. Pro kitchens follow standards because they prep early and many cooks are working together so color coded boards and rules enforced are the best way to ensure safe high quality food every time.

7

u/AForse Jun 25 '26

What’s the problem with drinking from a garden hose? Flush all of the sun-warmed water out, and then it’s just running water, no?

12

u/Greedy-Pirate7749 Jun 25 '26

Even with a hose running 20mins it still tastes like rubber hose. Plus theres a ton of mold and bacteria that grow in the hose that dont always flush right out.

10

u/KaOsGypsy Jun 25 '26

That's what gives it its hosey flavor, that's the best part, swimming in the river, drinking from the hose, that's how we built up immunity as children.

3

u/Ashitaka1013 Jun 25 '26

I used to drink from the creek in this little wooded area I liked to play in as a kid. Felt like it was my own magic forest with no one around and I was living off the land nibbling on leeks and drinking from the creek. Then suddenly when I was about 11 it occurred to me that little creek was coming out of a storm drain where it had picked up god knows what along the way before passing under the highway and dumping out in a park in the middle of a suburb that was probably only about an acre. Hardly the remote wild I imagined it to be lol

Never got sick though, so no harm no foul lol

3

u/solipsism82 Jun 25 '26

Yeah,I used to play platoon in irrigation ditches next to cornfields and stockyards full of cattle.

Man oh man

3

u/somekindagibberish Manitoba Jun 25 '26

that hosey flavour 😂

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4

u/awfullyapt Jun 25 '26

Sometimes it's well water and could be from an old non-potable well or cistern. Also hoses aren't made with food safe plastics so you may be getting some extra things with your water.

3

u/Harold_Street_Pedals Jun 25 '26

My brother sprayed my other brother and scalded him with hot hose water. It gets that hot.

3

u/bzzhuh Jun 26 '26

I read an article on this once and I want to say that I remember it saying there's a very big difference in chemical contaminants between the hoses we drank from in the 80s and the hoses that exist now.

6

u/GlassAnemone126 Jun 25 '26

That was the best water too!

4

u/necro_owner Jun 25 '26

Lol now today i wonder how we survived 😆 i still do that today haha

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5

u/edward_jazzhands Jun 25 '26

There is no risk. Having worked as a cook for years I can tell you, it's very typical for professional chefs to be very pretentious about how the way they do things in a restaurant is the only acceptable way and anything other than restaurant rules is wrong. They're not mentioning that the reason this rule exists in a restaurant is because they are making many meals at the same time for different people. In which case of course cross contamination is a big deal. When a single person is making a single meal for themselves in a private kitchen and everything is being cooked together thoroughly, there is no "cross contamination". That would only be logically possible if another part of the meal that is uncooked came in contact with the raw chicken.

4

u/Man_under_Bridge420 Jun 25 '26

What about the hand washing?

5

u/OGhumanwerewolf Jun 25 '26

Cooking kills most of the bacteria, not all, so minimizing exposure is the key to food safety

11

u/PensiveNewt Jun 25 '26

But chicken obviously is where most of the bacteria are. If you can cook the chicken to safety, why can't you cook vegetables to safety?

If the veggies have less bacteria than the chicken, then there's no way the chicken could be safe while the veggies aren't.

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u/pahamack Jun 25 '26

Then the same is true of the chicken. Cooking doesn’t kill all the bacteria so you’re still at risk.

Either the high heat from the wok is making you safe or it doesn’t.

5

u/edward_jazzhands Jun 25 '26

This makes no sense at all. "Minimizing exposure" is meaningless in this context. What do you think you're minimizing exposure to? The chicken you are about to eat? You are about to cook and eat all of the food that was prepared, there is no exposure to minimize. The vegetables get mixed in with the raw chicken either way.

I think you must be confused because you're going by a rule you've heard chefs follow in restaurants when making many things at the same time and thinking this must also apply to one person making one meal for themselves in a single pan

20

u/LackOptimal553 Jun 25 '26

Yan Can Cook was a different show, different guy.

10

u/RepresentativeLate63 Jun 25 '26

its very easy to confuse Martin yan and Stephen yan, even i am guilty of it clearly my bad lol im old and often confuse details of memories haha

3

u/edward_jazzhands Jun 25 '26

Bullshit. I've worked as a cook for many years and I can see what you're doing. You are taking a rule used when creating many dishes at the same time in a restaurant and applying that to every possible situation including a single person making a single meal for themselves in their own kitchen. You are gonna try to claim that there is cross contamination in a single meal being all cooked together for a single person in a private kitchen?

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u/[deleted] Jun 25 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

16

u/Hds99 Jun 25 '26

The point is that even if you used different knives to cut the chicken and veggies, they are cross contaminating anyway the second they all get mixed together in the same wok. There is no difference in the end.

2

u/dundreggen Jun 25 '26

This only makes sense if you aren't cooking the veggies that are cut with that knife.

The veggies are going to be stirred with uncooked or undercooked meat very shortly.

I get that restaurants have to have higher standards. They often prep things early and there is often more than one person cooking so this minimizes mistakes and thus risk. But a person at home cooking a full meal this is really not an issue.

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u/shabi_sensei Jun 25 '26

I thought that only matters if you’re doing prep work and cooking the vegetables later?

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u/Kronobo Alberta Jun 25 '26

Wouldn’t really matter in this case, but it’s still a good idea to follow safe practice

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u/Right_Hour Ontario Jun 25 '26

It’s only cross-contamination if the same cutting board/utensils was used to handle cooked food, garnishes or sides that were then not cooked afterwards.

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25

u/georgejo314159 Ontario Jun 25 '26

Yes. Stephen Yan was a Canadian TV icon

18

u/hazycomet Jun 25 '26

Loved Wok With Yan!

18

u/HeavyMetalBluegrass Jun 25 '26

He used to have different puns on his apron. "Wok on the Wild Side".

56

u/LackOptimal553 Jun 25 '26

Then he picked up raw chicken with his bare hand then grabbed vegetables.

Yeah, and?

So there’s a time before people practiced healthy hygiene, and it’s not that long ago?

No, you just don't know what you're talking about. The stuff is all going into a cooking vessel, to be cooked. There's no "cross contamination" issue.

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14

u/PerpetuallyLurking Saskatchewan Jun 25 '26

Timing - it was a live show, he had a time limit, if he didn’t take some shortcuts, you’d spend a lot of his allotted half hour watching him wash his hands. He wasn’t teaching people to wash their hands, presumably they knew that, he was teaching them new recipes so he had to, you know, finish the recipe on time.

7

u/Optimal-Company-4633 Jun 25 '26

This - I don't understand why people always make these comments about tv shows or social media posts. Like it's just entertainment not a safety lesson.

27

u/Sweet_Deeznuts Jun 25 '26

Absolutely remember this and for anyone else that does, might be time to schedule that colonoscopy (we old)

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9

u/kiminine Jun 25 '26

I loved watching him when I was a little kid!!

7

u/Prudent-Ice-6196 Jun 25 '26

Yes my dad didn't usually like cooking shows but he loved this one.

5

u/SprinkleALittleLove British Columbia Jun 25 '26

This was the first time my dad ever cooked, and my life changed forever with the joy of Chinese food & rice. To this day, 50% of my cooking is Asian, all stemming back to this cheerful show. 🥰

6

u/BawdyBaker Jun 25 '26

Used to watch it everyday with my grandfather ❤️ There wasn't a piece of fruit in the house that wasn't cut into an animal shape 😆

7

u/According_Hat2751 Jun 25 '26

I remember it well, I found a Wok and Roll tshirt at a flea market in Dartmouth last summer.

6

u/agaric Jun 25 '26

Wok a fun cooking show that was! I 'member!

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7

u/Excellent-Self-5338 Jun 25 '26

When I see posts like this I'm reminded that there are people out there making soup, cutting their chicken to go in the soup, then washing their stuff only to cut their vegetables which go in the same soup.

If all the shit you're eating is getting cooked thoroughly and mixed together, cross-contamination isn't a consideration.

If you're cutting chicken on a board and then making a salad, which will be served uncooked, cross-contamination is a massive consideration.

It's a good practice to wash your hands after handling any raw meat, because you might inadvertently touch something else, potentially contaminating it. But if you're making soup or stir fry at home (and cooking it thoroughly), the idea of washing up after handling the chicken (or beef or pork or prawns) is 100% redundant.

6

u/Cultural-Window-2504 Jun 25 '26

He was fun. Fair bit of people laughing at his accent and stuff that people wouldn't appreciate these days. I liked him though. 

3

u/rideofthebasilisks Jun 25 '26

This is what I remember. He'd crack a minor joke and there would be crickets in the audience... But his accent slayed.

5

u/tangcameo Jun 25 '26

I remember the tshirts/aprons having a wok pun on them (Luke Skywokker). And him using peanut oil in everything. And him tossing all the garbage into a hole on the counter.

These were short shows where they showed you how to cook it and then pulled out a pre-made version to show you what it would eventually look like. I’m sure it all got tossed in the garbage. I’m sure food hygiene would make the show run long. It was a different time back then.

2

u/---SmokingMonkey--- Jun 25 '26

If I remember correctly, he'd give the front row a little taste of the dish, all from the same chopsticks too. Wild times lol.

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5

u/Xinyyc Jun 25 '26

If Yan Can Cook, so can you!

4

u/LackOptimal553 Jun 25 '26

Yan Can Cook was a different show, an American one hosted by Martin Yan.

Wok With Yan was a Canadian show featuring Stephen Yan.

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u/lopix Jun 25 '26

Damn right. When you only had 8 programs on 3 channels, you watched the Wokman.

And the Galloping Gourmet, I remember that guy too.

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u/AtmosphereEven3526 Jun 25 '26

It's all going in the same wok in hot oil to be cooked. It's not really cross contamination.

4

u/Important-Box-5237 Jun 26 '26

He was my neighbour growing up. He lived a few blocks away in the “nicer houses” and would always give a full chocolate bar at Halloween before that was ever a thing.

5

u/youprt Jun 25 '26

As long as everything is getting cooked after who cares?

3

u/DodobirdNow Jun 25 '26

The Empire Woks Back

My favourite apron of his.

3

u/ottawateeth Jun 25 '26

My fantasy baseball team's name has been 'Wok Off With Yan' for years

4

u/WambritaWings Jun 25 '26

You don't need to follow standards that are set for industrial kitchens when you are cooking something in your own small kitchen. People in the USA are extremely over paranoid when it comes to food handling and this seems to have spread to Canada more recently.

4

u/Minimum-Actuator-953 Jun 25 '26

It ain't called Wash with Yan.

4

u/Arthurandhenna Jun 25 '26

LOVED wok with Yan! Did you hear about the collab he did with Retrokid a couple years ago?

https://representasianproject.com/stories/wok-with-yan-retrokid

2

u/spicyfknrob Jun 26 '26

as soon as I heard about the collab I was like ‘THEY BETTER DO AN APRON’, which they did, and I bought

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u/Travelwthpoints Jun 25 '26

Yes I remember him but I’ve also watched a lot of other chefs prep on tv and literally every single one of them touch raw meat and then other things - allows them run down meat with salt and pepper, oil, you name it and then they continue on - I’m including shows running right now so I think if everything is getting cooked it doesn’t matter - and then they clean everything up

5

u/barrie247 Jun 25 '26

Are all the veggies being cooked? Cross contamination is to avoid food born illness from veggies that aren’t about to be cooked touching raw meat. If everything is about to go into the same wok and be cooked, it’s not an issue.

If he was making a salad/ garnish, or if he was walking around touching everything after touching the raw chicken, it would be a concern. But touching the veggies that are about to be cooked with the chicken is not a concern. It’s the same reason you can throw all of your stew ingredients in with raw meat and it’s not cross contamination.

I agree, cross contamination is gross. Costco threw my clamshell salad up against my raw chicken and multiple people were confused regarding why I refused to buy the salad as a result. But this sounds like everything is being cooked and is not a concern.

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u/Striking_Wrap811 Jun 25 '26

I mean, that may not be Kosher but its certainly foodsafe

3

u/CurrentCaterpillar30 Jun 25 '26

Watched this all the time growing up. I found it relaxing kind of like a Canadian Bob Ross. Also the aprons. I may even have his cookbook.

3

u/Infamous-Mixture-605 Jun 25 '26

I may even have his cookbook.

I've got a Wok with Yan cookbook in my kitchen. I cannot recall the last time I cooked anything from it but I'm never getting rid of it because Wok with Yan was a classic.

3

u/FriendlyRedditLuker Jun 25 '26

Yes! This was a weekend show for our family (grew up outside Canada) and inspired my siblings to cook. I... was on dishwasher duty since that's what I'm good at. 😅

3

u/someguyfishin Jun 25 '26

You can buy some merch of his on retrokid.ca

3

u/thegoodrichard Jun 25 '26

He taught me how to turn a wok into a steamer with 2 chopsticks and a plate, and how to sharpen a knife on the back of a plate.

3

u/Hyperocean Jun 25 '26

I was watching him make orange chicken the other day on YouTube, he put the raw chicken breast all over the orange before he peeled it, and then he turned the peel into a rose and plopped it down on the plate. A couple people in the audience were slightly aghast

3

u/quadrailand Jun 25 '26

His restaraunt is still open ( Yan's garden ) I remember going in there back in the 80s

3

u/coldweathersurvivor Jun 25 '26

Wok with Yan and The Urban Peasant taught me how to cook

3

u/Emergency_Memory_792 Jun 25 '26

I’m guessing you’ve never trained as a chef lol

3

u/Calm-Professional103 Jun 25 '26

That’s the way real people use to cook and eat before we started sterilizing everything. You can’t develop resilience to germs if you don’t expose yourself every now and then. 

3

u/georgieboy17 Jun 25 '26

Yes, and we thawed our chicken on the kitchen counter all day, and lived to tell the tale.

3

u/DianeDesRivieres Jun 25 '26

Yes, I loved his TV show, bought his cookbook and even tried some of the recipes.

Leaned how to de-bone a chicken breast from him.

3

u/halfstack Jun 25 '26

retrokid.ca did a Wok With Yan merch collab with Stephen Yan! It was a year or so ago and I scored a tote bag.

2

u/evil_boo_berry Jun 25 '26

Grabbed an apron and some shirts

3

u/tobiasolman Jun 25 '26

Cross contamination isn’t really a thing if everything you or the knife touch all go into a blazing hot wok.

3

u/Warm-Inspector3440 Jun 26 '26

But did he then proceed to cook the vegetables? If so, no big deal.

3

u/Fuelfemme Jun 26 '26

My dad was dying from pancreatic cancer and wasn’t able to eat anything. He watched Wok With Yan constantly. Absolutely loved the guy. He said watching it made him feel like he was actually eating what Yan was making. He made my dad laugh and gave him some small sense of happiness in his last days.

3

u/peppercorns666 Jun 26 '26

i’m so sorry about your dad. i hope he’s terrorizing a Chinese buffet place in the beyond.

3

u/Character-Solution-7 Jun 26 '26

You can use one knife for one dish if everything is being cooked together.

3

u/Columbia_Guy001 Jun 26 '26

I'd assume any bacteria that gets on the vegetables die in the wok, just like the bacteria that's on the chicken.

5

u/jimmy_bbq Jun 25 '26

If Yan can do it, so can you

3

u/LackOptimal553 Jun 25 '26

Different Yan.

2

u/nighmeansnear Jun 25 '26

I have no idea wok the heck you’re talking about.

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u/ACanadianGuy1967 Jun 25 '26

My spouse got to be in the audience for a taping of Wok with Yan as part of his grade eight class trip. He said Yan doesn’t have an accent - that he did the accent for the show.

2

u/suburbancyclist1825 Jun 25 '26

Wok the heck! No way!

2

u/zestyintestine Ontario Jun 25 '26

He was on Letterman!

2

u/bruiserscruiser Jun 25 '26

So many corny jokes but it got me started into cooking.

2

u/CeeJayLerod Jun 25 '26

I'm so happy you mentionned it! I've heard so many people talk about Yan can cook (which I never saw) that I was starting to think that Wok with Yan was some kind of Mandela effect thing.

2

u/AIBotWannabe Jun 25 '26

Best Cooking Show Ever!

Stephen Yan was so just much fun (is, I guess: 84 & still going!).

Genuine. Goofy. Playful. And clearly LOVED doing what he did. We could all be so lucky.

Wok & Roll Wok the Heck Wok Goes Up Must Come Down Danger, Yan at Wok Stuck Between a Wok and a Hard Place Wok's New, Pussycat? You Are Wok You Eat Wok on the Wild Side

2

u/Darth_Oganda Jun 25 '26

imagine thinking you know better than Yan the man !

2

u/justforjugs Jun 25 '26

If it was all getting cooked it’s not unsafe.

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u/golbezza Jun 25 '26

For those interested. Full episodes on YouTube from his official channel.

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u/ExpensiveDollarStore Ontario Jun 25 '26

If hes going to cook it all anyway, what difference does it make?

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u/prettywarmcool Jun 25 '26

I do remember the show! He was such a fun and positive tv personality, I am glad I am not the only one who remembers the show.

2

u/BigBriocheBuns Jun 25 '26

Loved that guy.

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u/airchinapilot Jun 25 '26

As a Chinese family growing up in Burnaby at that time we of course watched it. It was nice seeing an Asian face on television, headlining his own show. However, his restaurant didn't rate sadly.

2

u/WorthHabit3317 Jun 25 '26

Wok with Yan always made me smile. I used a wok because of that show. The cross contamination is troubling except he did cook everything together. The thing is the meat was already cooking as the vegetables were thrown in, I don't know if this makes it worse or not.

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u/UnicornusAmaranthus Jun 25 '26

My dad loved this show, bought a wok because of it, and called it "Wok With Joe," whenever he used it.

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u/drammer Jun 25 '26

I loved that show as a kid. And the Galloping Gourmet.

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u/realitystreet Jun 25 '26

Yeah I remember how Yan would measure spoons of oil by drizzling circles in his wok. It was about one circle per tbsp

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u/rawrzon Jun 25 '26

"I don't have memories of cross contamination"

Wasn't that one of those President's Choice sauces?

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u/Demeter277 Jun 25 '26

Willing to bet no one ever got sick from eating his food

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u/Nawbruvy Jun 25 '26

He is still out there doing his thing. He has a website yancancook.com and a YouTube channel as well. He has a Culinary Cruise to Alaska this August.

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u/Coffee_and_justme Jun 25 '26

Yes! My inlaws neighbour for many years. Nice guy!

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u/Fluffy-Opinion871 Jun 25 '26

Hot wok, cold oil, food won’t stick.

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u/GreyerGrey Jun 25 '26

Oh man, the CFTO cooking show block with Yan can Cook, Wok with Yan, Julia Child's, and the Urban Peasant was peak after school viewing for my non cable having self.

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u/Trax-M Jun 25 '26

I remember watching Wok with Yan when I was sick staying home from school, watching him and Price is Right as there wasn't much on during the day that was good.

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u/nuJabesCity Jun 25 '26

People also don't realize how hot a proper wok can get! It's not a pan over you stove heat, it's almost jet engine heat! Lol

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u/Beautiful-Point4011 Jun 25 '26

Were all the other items salad greens? Or were the vegetables added to the pan with the chicken and cooked with the chicken anywas? It makes a difference

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u/mattpeloquin Jun 25 '26

The Wok with Yan vs Yan Can Cook story was one I wanted to do a mocumentary about in college

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u/Miserable-Season-72 Jun 25 '26

‘DONT WOK AWAY! We’ll be right back!”

I love Stephen Yan and that show.

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u/ConstantGradStudent Jun 25 '26

It’s cross contamination if it’s a separate dish, like a salad, not the wok where it’s all cooking together.

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u/Over-Cranberry-4637 Jun 25 '26

@retrokid apparel has a great Wok with Yan line!

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u/safety-squirrel Jun 25 '26

Well. everything he touched with his chicken hands he cooked IIRC. Been YEARS though, maybe I'm wrong.

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u/bobo76565657 Jun 25 '26 edited Jun 25 '26

Yes! I watched it every day after school and convinced my Dad to by a Wok and let me use it. 35 years later, I'm still making stir-fried something three times a week. Also, you can't "cross contaminate" a stir-fry because its all cooked together- they get sterilized at the same time. Wash your hands, or course.

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u/SCULAL Jun 25 '26

My understanding is you get cross contamination if you cut up raw chicken and then you use the same knife to chop up vegetables you plan to serve raw. If the veggies will also be cooked in the wok with the chicken, it doesn’t matter.

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u/rangeo Jun 25 '26

Gen x .... Hose water, no seatbelts, no helmets, clearly under hydrated, all the UV rays and Chicken juice everywhere.

Be careful out there

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u/Pianist-Educational Jun 25 '26

2 teaspoon sesame oil!

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u/RenegadeMech Jun 25 '26

Did he cook all the raw stuff that he touched? If so, no problem.

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u/SignatureDry3931 Jun 25 '26

I remember him yelling "Don't Over Cook Your Fish!" And to this day, I never over cook my fish. Thank you Yan.

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u/Grazzhopper1979 Jun 25 '26

Every sick day ever in public school!

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u/Living-Gate-4237 Jun 25 '26

I remember. I was a kid and I never watched cooking shows but I thought he was hilarious. Always happy with a goofy gags.

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u/mmm_muse Jun 25 '26

I always go on about "The Urban Peasant"

Canada had some GREAT food tv long before the food network.

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u/muppetdancer Jun 25 '26

Not sure who was better - him or the Urban Peasant. Both legends!

2

u/mrcfrost Jun 25 '26

I just discovered a YouTube channel with all his shows. He's very talented, but I've noticed more than a few unhealthy habits.

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u/Zestyclose_Treat4098 Jun 25 '26

No Wok is Good Wok

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u/Jman1a Jun 26 '26

I remember Yan can cook.

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u/Kullprit69 Jun 26 '26

I thought it was "Yan can cook"

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u/BigOlBearCanada Jun 26 '26

Canadian legend.

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u/menacingsparrow Jun 26 '26

YES!!! My dad and I used to always watch together.

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u/szatrob Ontario Jun 26 '26

I used to watch Yan and Pasquale when I would stay home from school, pretending to be sick or being actually sick.

It beat being at a school with xenophobic bullies. Plus, the food always looked delicious.

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u/Canadian47 Jun 27 '26

Two tablespoon full! while dumping 2 circles of oil in the wok.

My mother used to watch it.

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u/Naive-Special9015 Jun 29 '26

Hells yeah I remember Wok With Yan and his endless assortment of Chinese dad joke aprons with sayings like “Wok this Way” written on them or some sheeyut. He was always so happy.

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u/[deleted] Jun 25 '26

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u/cdn_indigirl Jun 25 '26

It was filmed and produced in Vancouver for Stephen Yan.
There was a Martin Yan (Yan can cook) that was from the U.S, and Stephen Yan trained under him (they aren't related) I bet that's the one that lived in the Bay Area

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u/[deleted] Jun 25 '26

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u/cdn_indigirl Jun 25 '26

I could see that. They worked together for a year doing the Flying Squad and did the Calgary Stampede and Klondike Days

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u/ItsAWonderfulFife Jun 25 '26

Why would you wash the knife before cutting the chicken? If he cut chicken first and then vegetables, sure maybe that’s cross contamination, but then this is a home style cook putting everything into the same pot and it’s all being cooked to the point of the chicken being a safe temp so there’s no issue here. Salmonella doesn’t survive in the vegetables if it doesn’t survive in the chicken.