Martin Yan – A Chef’s Journey in Sydney - Masters of Malaysian Cuisine

Back in late 2023, my good friend Kenneth Lim – founder of Omnomnom Food Truck in Perth – got in touch to let me know about Martin Yan (host of Yan Can Cook)’s upcoming trip to Sydney. Martin was being flown over by the US Embassy for a scheduled appearance at SWSX, but that aside, his itinerary was pretty fluid.

So I rounded up a core team of people to join Paul Gray and me – this included Aaron Gan – founder of the Sydney Hills Makan Facebook Group, Tammi Matrouh – freelance chef extraordinaire and the person behind many a TV chef’s “here’s one I prepared earlier” dishes, and Adeline Lamond, Sydney’s queen of pop-up events – to help fill up Martin’s calendar.

Our team went to work immediately – Aaron was able to line up a hotel to sponsor Martin’s stay; he also nominated himself as Martin’s designated driver and tour guide for the duration of his tour.

We collectively organised the following which included a combination of ticketed and private dinner events, media interviews, tours, and filming (I’ve only now pulled this up from my archives and feel exhausted just reading what we did across the six days) –

Day 1: Wednesday 11 October

9am: Cabramatta Food Tour (4.5 hours) with Gourmet Safaris (sponsored by Fairfield City Council); visiting eateries with focus on Indochinese food; filming for documentary

Martin Yan with owner of Vinata's in Cabramatta — *Martin Yan with owner of Vinata’s in Cabramatta*

2.30-3.30pm: Filming with Gong Grocer, World Square Shopping Centre

3.30-4.30pm – Interview with 2AC Chinese Radio at World Square

6pm Dinner: Chef’s Gallery Macquarie Centre Dinner
Theme: Chinese Fusion VIP Experience
Ticketed Event
Menu –
Abalone, fish maw and chicken soup
Bak Kut Teh soup dumplings
Black truffle scallop dumplings
Peking Duck Roti
HK style fried Hamachi collar
Roasted pork belly slices braised with plum pickles
Rose lychee duck
Steamed kai lan with oyster sauce
Ginger shallot lobster spinach noodle
Steamed rice
Sweet soup with snow fungus and papaya
Walnut bun or yellow custard bun

*Dinner at Chefs Gallery Chatswood with Martin Yan*

Day 2: Thursday 12 October

6.45am – Filming at Holiday Inn (now Furuma Hotel) and b-roll of Chinatown

10am-12pm Cooking Demo at Westfield Chatswood

*Cooking demo at Westfield Chatswood with Martin Yan*

4.30pm Dinner at Noble Restaurant, Eastwood, with Chinese Parents Association of Children with Special Needs (50 pax)
Cooking demo – knife skills by Chef Yan
Meet & Greet of Chinese parents of children with special needs, plus filming for documentary
Menu –
Steamed Barramundi
Shandong Chicken
Deep-fried Pork Chops w/Salt & Pepper
Stir-fried Beef Cubes with Wasabi
Seafood Beancurd
King Prawns in Shell with Minced Pork & Vermicelli
Stir-fried Mixed Vegetables
Special Fried Rice
Stir-fried Chicken with Egg Noodles

*Martin Yan with one of the guests at Noble House Eastwood dinner*

Day 3: Friday 13 October

7am: Sydney Fish Market Tour with John Susman, plus picking up seafood Kai would need for his Chef’s Table; filming for documentary

*Martin Yan with John Susman at Sydney Fish Market*

1pm-2pm: Filming with SBS Cantonese

2:15-5:30: Filming with Adam Liaw for The CookUp (SBS Studios)
Behind-the-scenes filming for documentary

*Martin Yan on The CookUp with Adam Liaw*

6.30pm: Burwood Chinatown evening walking food tour; visiting specific stores with focus on China/Taiwan cuisines; filming for documentary

Martin Yan with a stallholder at Burwood Chinatown — *Martin at Burwood Chinatown*

Day 4: Saturday 14 October

9.30am: Moo’ed (Asian-flavoured Ice Cream) Gordon, short visit; filming for documentary

11am: Lunch: Ipoh Hawker Macquarie Park
Ticketed Event
Menu (Halal-friendly) –
Deep-fried Mantou Bread
Sambal Durian Prawns
Hainanese Chicken Rice with Rice Balls
Durian Beef Rendang with Kerabu (blue) Rice
Roti Canai with Durian Ikan Bilis Dip
Laksa Pipis
Sambal Kangkung

*Martin Yan ticketed lunch at Ipoh Hawker*

Demo: Laksa Pipis

1pm: Ticketed all-you-can-eat Durian Buffet
Cooking demo: Sambal Durian Prawns w/Martin Yan & Jackie M
Photo-ops & Filming
Book-signings

*All-you-can-eat durian buffet with Martin Yan & Jackie M.*

Day 5: Sunday 15 October

4-8pm: By Kai Surry Hills Smokehouse Visit followed by Chef’s Table Dinner hosted by Kai (5 pax)
Smoked trout tasting.
Cooking/preparing a dish using ByKai’s smoked trout and smoked lemon.
Chefs table with Martin, Jackie M, Tammi Matrouh, Sean Connolly, Michael Shafran (Brooklyn Boy Bagels)

*Chef’s Table hosts Pawitra and Kai Ellman of ByKai with Martin Yan*

Day 6: Monday 16 October
Daytime: Blocked out for SXSW & UTS events (no involvement at our end)

7.30pm: Curated dinner at Rockpool with Nathan Lovett, CEO of National Indigenous Culinary Institute (NICI) & Luke Bourke, sous chef at Rockpool & NICI alumni. Private dinner only; no filming allowed.

The video above was shot by Kevin Lipes, a South American documentary producer I found online, and edited by our very own Paul Gray. We are incredibly grateful to everyone who pitched in to help make Martin’s visit to Sydney a memorable one, from volunteering behind the scenes to buying tickets to our events.

A very special thank you to Kai and Pawitra Ellman, the founders of ByKai, for hosting the Chef’s Table where Martin and I were joined by Tammi Matrouh, restaurateur Sean Connolly, and Brooklyn Boy Bagels’ Michael Shafran to savour the delicacies prepared by Kai himself – the common thread among all of us being that we are all immigrants to this great country.

And, of course, finally, my deep gratitude to our team – Tammi, Adeline, Aaron, and Paul Gray – we chose to go big with Martin’s visit and we were able to pull it off thanks to your tireless efforts.

Jackie M.

JackieM.com.au