''Wok with Yan'' was a

Chinese cuisine Chinese cuisine encompasses the numerous cuisines originating from China, as well as overseas cuisines created by the Chinese diaspora. Because of the Chinese diaspora and historical power of the country, Chinese cuisine has influenced many ot ...

cooking show starring

Stephen Yan Stephen Yan (born in Hong Kong) is a Canadian television host. He hosted the Canadian television cooking show for CBC Television, '' Wok with Yan''. The Vancouver-based chef moved to Canada in the 1960s and owned two Chinese restaurants in Vancou ...

. The show was first produced in

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

by CTV affiliate CHAN-DT in the late 1970s, before moving to CBC in 1980 (but shot at

CJOH CJOH-DT (channel 13) is a television station in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, part of the CTV Television Network. It is owned and operated by network parent Bell Media alongside Pembroke-licensed CTV 2 outlet CHRO-TV (channel 5). Both stations share ...

) and continuing there until 1982. The show then moved into syndication, running until 1995 in that format. Later sources have occasionally confused the show with ''

Yan Can Cook ''Yan Can Cook'' is a Chinese oriented cooking show starring Chef Martin Yan that featured recipes for stir fried foods and an assortment of various other traditional Chinese meals and cooking techniques. The series first aired in Calgary, Alberta ...

'', an American series hosted by

Martin Yan Martin Yan (; born 22 December 1948) is a Hong Kong chef and food writer. He has hosted his award-winning PBS-TV cooking show ''Yan Can Cook'' since 1982. Early years and education With ancestral roots in Taishan, Yan was born in Guangzhou, ...

which also aired during the 1980s.Louise Leger, "TV chefs whip up entertainment as they tempt the palate". ''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of approximately 2 million in 2015, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on weekdays and Saturdays, although it ...

'', July 31, 1993.

Format

A running gag featured on the show was Yan's wearing of an apron featuring a different pun on the word "

wok A wok (; Pinyin: ; Cantonese ) is a deep round-bottomed cooking pan from China. It is believed to be derived from the South Asian karahi. It is common in China and similar pans are found in parts of East, South and Southeast Asia, as well as ...

." Some examples are: *Wok & Roll *Wokking My Baby Back Home *Danger, Yan at Wok *Wok Around the Clock *Wok the Heck *You Are Wok You Eat *Wok Goes up Must Come Down *Wok's New, Pussycat? *Wokkey Night in Canada *Stuck Between a Wok and a Hard Place *Raiders of The Lost Wok *Eat Your Wok Out *Moon Wok *Wok Your Butts Off *Jailhouse Wok *Superior Wokmanship *Wok-A-Doodle-Doo *Wok Before You Run *Wok Me Amadeus *Wok up Little Susie *Wok Don't Run *Don't Wok The Boat *101 Ways to Wok the Dog The humorous aprons also complemented his humour that consisted of spontaneous one-liners spoken with his trademark

Cantonese Cantonese ( zh, t=廣東話, s=广东话, first=t, cy=Gwóngdūng wá) is a language within the Chinese (Sinitic) branch of the Sino-Tibetan languages originating from the city of Guangzhou (historically known as Canton) and its surrounding are ...

accent or him playing with his food or cookware. That, combined with his energetic personality, endeared him to Canadian viewers. Prior to him preparing his stir fry cuisine, the show usually featured a vignette of Yan travelling to different vacation spots from around the world (e.g., Thailand). He always invited an audience member to come up and eat with him near the end of each episode (there was a ticket draw in the studio audience to sit with him), and had a fortune cookie reading before the meal (first done in Cantonese, then translated in English).

References

External links

IMDB.com pageTVarchive.ca page
1978 Canadian television series debuts 1995 Canadian television series endings CBC Television original programming Television shows filmed in Vancouver 1970s Canadian cooking television series 1980s Canadian cooking television series 1990s Canadian cooking television series {{food-tv-prog-stub