Martin Yan shows cooking can be key to vibrant senior lifestyle

Though it’s been 40 years since his first television cooking show — and many more since he began teaching cooking classes as a university student — chef Martin Yan’s message has never wavered: Cook and share. Turns out, that message applies to all eras, all cultures, all ages.

“In China, my mom always cooked and shared her food with neighbors. Others did the same,” he said during a phone interview last week from his San Francisco home. “Now, I travel about 200 days a year. When I return home, I invite friends and neighbors to come and eat.”

The point, he said, is to be active and social.

It’s an especially pertinent message for elders in the community, his audience on Sunday at an AARP Hawai‘i cooking event at the Ala Moana Hotel, where Yan expounded on the virtues of cooking, sharing and healthful eating, all while turning out delicious Chinese fare. Yan, an AARP “ambassador,” will also make a Maui appearance on Friday (all seats are filled).

While in Yan’s life cooking has been an all- encompassing presence, he said for seniors it can be a means for transitioning smoothly from work life to retirement. “When most people retire, their lives change drastically and require adjustment. Everything slows down. Some people have hobbies. Some don’t, and it can be challenging. The whole idea is using cooking as a tool to inspire members,” he said.

“I’m a member of AARP, and I’m well beyond the age of 50 or 55 (almost 70, he says). I want to show them that life can be fun and colorful. Moving on, cooking can be part of it. You have to eat well. If you don’t eat well, you’re not in good health. And without health, nothing else matters.”

If a person is able, Yan suggests doing what he does — cook a simple meal and bring others together to enjoy it. The rewards of sharing come back to you, he said.

It’s a lesson, learned as a food-science student at the University of California, Davis, that fueled his career. Yan taught cooking through the school’s extension program.

“I could see the spark in the eyes of students I was teaching. They lit up when they talked about cooking what I had taught them. Whether you’re an artist or a chef, when everyone adores what you do, it inspires you to do more,” he said.

“Cook for family and friends. Make them happy, and you make yourself happy. That’s the whole idea of longevity.”

TIPS FOR COOKING AT HOME

For Chef Martin Yan, good food isn’t about fancy preparations or special ingredients. Rather, it’s about using what’s fresh and local.

“I travel all over the world and say, ‘If Yan can cook, so can you.’ Everything I do is fast and easy, and I use what’s available. In 20 minutes, when the rice is done the whole meal is done. I can do several dishes at once.”

Of course, not all of us can offer up an array of dishes in 20 minutes, but he believes that most people can manage to cook a healthful dish for one.

Here are some of Yan’s tips for how to do that with ease.

WEEKLY POT OF BONE BROTH

Homemade broth, said Yan, is much healthier than store-bought, which can be loaded with sodium. Homemade bone broth is rich with collagen, minerals and other nutrients. Once a week, the chef makes a bone broth reduction that provides enough starter broth to feed four people daily.

Go to the meat department of your supermarket, or to Chinatown, and purchase a chicken carcass, pork bones or beef bones. Add these to a stock pot along with aromatics such as carrots, celery or ginger if you have them, then fill the pot with water. Bring it to a boil, then lower the heat and let the pot simmer 6 to 8 hours. Skim the top occasionally. Cook until liquid reduces into a rich broth. Strain, cool and chill. The next day, skim the fat off the top. Divide the broth into 7 containers.

Each day, add water to the concentrate and cook with different seasonings, vegetables, dumplings or meats. Think egg flower, vegetable, miso or dumpling soups, said Yan. A pot should feed about four people.

BRAISED MEAT

“Braising is always very good because leftovers taste better the next day,” said Yan. “Always have a container of braised meat on hand.”

He recommends making a pot of braised meat, such as stew meat, then portioning it out and freezing it. This can be especially convenient if you live alone. When you have little time to cook, thaw out some meat and warm it up with vegetables. Serve over rice or noodles for a complete meal.

CONVENIENCE COOKING

In the old days, a cook had no choice but to wash, peel, slice and dice anything they wanted to eat. Today, cooking is much easier, with markets providing preprepped meats and vegetables, said Yan.

Some markets sell sliced vegetables by the pound, or veggie mixes are prepackaged, ready to toss in the pan. Likewise, the meat case includes offerings of meats cut in bite-size pieces.

Another great option for prepped veggies is a salad bar, where you can pick exactly what you want.

“It’s the cutting that people find challenging,” Yan said. “The elderly are not always as mobile, and washing, cutting, etc., can be difficult.”

Cooking this way is particularly beneficial for those cooking for one.

“You cannot buy one quarter of this (vegetable), one quarter of that. But you can go to the seafood department and get a couple of shrimp, a couple of scallops,” said Yan.

“This way, even someone in a wheelchair can cook. In this case, do a one-dish meal — don’t do a 10-course dinner — and put it over rice or noodles,” he said with his trademark humor.

STIR-FRIED MANGO CHICKEN

Courtesy Martin Yan

• 3/4 pound boneless, skinless chicken, cut in bite-sized pieces
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon minced ginger
• 1/2 cup fresh mango chunks
• 2 tablespoons roasted, unsalted macadamia nuts, coarsely chopped

>> Marinade:

• 2 teaspoons cornstarch
• 2 teaspoons soy sauce

>> Sauce:

• 2 tablespoons fresh mango juice
• 3 tablespoons Thai chili sauce
• 1-1/2 teaspoons cornstarch

Combine marinade ingredients in a bowl. Add chicken and stir to coat. Let stand 10 minutes.

Combine sauce ingredients in a small bowl; mix well. Set aside.

Place a stir-fry pan over high heat until hot. Add oil, swirling to coat sides. Add ginger; cook, stirring, until fragrant, 10 seconds. Add chicken; stir fry 3 minutes. (Vegetables such as bell pepper may also be added).

Add sauce; cook, stirring, until sauce boils and thickens slightly, about 20 seconds. Stir in mango; cook 30 seconds to heat through.

Transfer to a serving plate. Sprinkle with macadamia nuts. Serves 4.

Approximate nutritional information, per serving (based on half breast and half thigh): 230 calories, 13 g fat, 1.5 g saturated fat, 65 mg cholesterol, 200 mg sodium, 8 g carbohydrate, 1 g fiber, 4 g sugar, 19 g protein. Nutritional analysis by Joannie Dobbs, Ph.D., C.N.S., Department of Human Nutrition, Food and Animal Agriculture and Human Resources, University of Hawaii-Manoa.

Find Martin Yan’s latest television series, the 13-week “Taste of Malaysia with Martin Yan,” at 5 p.m. Saturdays on KHET, premiering in Hawaii Feb. 16.