Before Mario Batali and Alton Brown, there was Stephen Yan. And before Molto Mario, there was Wok with Yan.

Stephen who?

While reading up on Iron Chef America (one of the Food Network shows that is watched by almost my entire family), out of nowhere I remember Wok with Yan. If you know Wok with Yan, you are a child of the 8os. Shown in Channel 13, this show featured exclusively stir-fry Chinese dishes using the Wok (hence Wok with Yan). The show was also famous (or infamous, to some people) for puns on the word WOK in his aprons (a new pun every week). He cooked at least two dishes per show, created fancy garnishes (I cannot forget the swan made from apples and toothpicks, and the tomato flower, and melon basket), and cracked open a fortune cookie. There was always one lucky studio audience who got to eat with him at the end of an episode.

Back then, I made sure I got to see it weekly. I think it was shown on Sundays (before Sic O’Clock News, or was it Happy House?). He greeted the audience “Hallo!” with Chinese accent, and then wore the special apron. I couldn’t help but drool after each dish, and wondered how come Mom couldn’t cook like that, when she is full Chinese. Then I got envious of that lucky audience member getting to eat the food. All I could do was imagine how the food tasted. Yummy.

The show was very simple and not flashy, yet it appealed to me due to that simplicity, and of course, the way Stephen Yan talked (which I found funny at that time). Besides, I’m half-Chinese who had no inkling about Chinese cuisine, except for those very, very rare trips to a third-class Chinese restaurant in Monumento. And during All Saint’s Day, too. (That is another story.)

There is no lack of cooking shows. The Dazas had ruled the Philippine cooking shows; they had shows for decades. Is there a Daza cooking show still showing? The last time I saw one, it was shown at Channel 5 at 9AM. I also find those Chinese cooking shows funny, because I cannot understand any of them (and I always laugh when I see the frying pan or kawali used by the Chinese lady) and the set was tacky. Then, there’s Heny Sison’s show at Channel 13. The giant stations have their own cooking shows.

Then there’s Food Network (shown at the Lifestyle Network cable channel) that brings us Batali, Brown, Rachael Ray (we love her 30-minute meals), and of course, Iron Chef America.

Wok with Yan had since ended, and all I can do is remember the dishes, and the cook.