Popularity: 3
Vote:   | A lot of people don't enjoy their job, they may even hate it, but I am lucky enough to be able to make a living through my passion. |
Popularity: 1
Vote: | Anyone that has come to America past the age of eighteen will be able to understand when I say that you can never shake your accent. |
Popularity: 0
Vote: | As long as the food is well prepared and not overdone, I think it tastes good. It doesn't matter if it's Chinese, Japanese, anything. |
Popularity: 4
Vote: | At thirteen, when I arrived in Hong Kong after leaving China, I made a living by working in a restaurant. |
Popularity: -1
Vote: | Because normally with Western cuisine, you'll serve vegetables separate from the meat, so kids will eat the meat and never touch the vegetables. |
Popularity: 1
Vote: | But for me, I am satisfied simply knowing that what I do touches somebody. |
Popularity: 2
Vote: | Chinese culture has a lot of virtues that are tremendously valuable to not only us as Asian-Americans, but also the world in general. |
Popularity: -4
Vote: | First of all, I can't really claim to be a great chef. |
Popularity: 4
Vote: | Happiness is within. It has nothing to do with how much applause you get or how many people praise you. Happiness comes when you believe that you have done something truly meaningful. |
Popularity: 6
Vote: | I also get many emotional responses from people who thank me saying that their departed father, mother, or grandmother used to love my show. |
Popularity: 0
Vote: | I also have a lot of preserved foods, things that will keep for a long time like dried fish, seaweed or lotus seed. |
Popularity: 5
Vote: | I always tell people that, as minorities in this country, we have to learn to accept a lot of things, but at the same time we each have our own identity and can never, never forget our roots. |
Popularity: 5
Vote: | I am just a normal professional with a great job and a great life. |
Popularity: -3
Vote: | I can represent my culture while helping not only the Chinese-American community, but also the community at large. |
Popularity: 3
Vote: | I don't like the travelling part of it; travelling nowadays is very stressful, but I have to travel in order to make a living. |
Popularity: 1
Vote: | I don't like to waste anything. Any food left over from the night before is always eaten the next day. |
Popularity: 2
Vote: | I don't need to be number one to be happy. I was never number one, but I always stayed on the very top. |
Popularity: 1
Vote: | I enjoy the quiet life. |
Popularity: 1
Vote: | I have a little herb and vegetable garden and a small greenhouse at my home. |
Popularity: 1
Vote: | I have a lot of cooking tools. In fact I have a whole drawer full of knives. Cooking tools, especially cutlery, are my toys. |
Popularity: 6
Vote: | I live a very low-key life. |
Popularity: 2
Vote: | I love seafood in general, whether it's raw or steamed or deep-fried. I love steamed fish. Anything seafood love, even more than meat. I eat a lot of vegetables. |
Popularity: 2
Vote: | I love the smell of lemongrass, tangerine peels, and pummelo peels. They're almost like perfume in your kitchen. |
Popularity: 2
Vote: | I normally don't eat junk food. |
Popularity: 1
Vote: | I personally don't have any role models, but I do look up to anyone that is successful, like Tiger Woods and Michael Jordan. |
Popularity: 0
Vote: | I remember when I was in college, I used to watch Julia Child's cooking show during dinner and joke with my roommates about becoming a TV chef. |
Popularity: 1
Vote: | I think a lot of times it's not money that's the primary motivation factor; it's the passion for your job and the professional and personal satisfaction that you get out of doing what you do that motivates you. |
Popularity: 7
Vote: | I think being famous is more of a hindrance, a constraint, than just letting yourself be free. |
Popularity: 5
Vote: | I think, just like with any profession, whether you're considered to be a great chef or a great athlete, it's the love and passion for your work that keeps you coming back. |
Popularity: 3
Vote: | I've come a long way, been in the business a long time, and I'm still enjoying myself. |
Popularity: 2
Vote: | I've never considered myself a celebrity or even part of the entertainment business. I'm a cooking teacher. |
Popularity: 4
Vote: | If I could only have one type of food with me, I would bring soy sauce. The reason being that if I have soy sauce, I can flavor a lot of things. |
Popularity: 4
Vote: | If people think I have that status, I'm honored, but I don't really pay attention to it all. I'm just having fun. |
Popularity: 5
Vote: | In general I love to eat anything. I enjoy anything that is well prepared, a good spaghetti, lasagna, taco, steak, sushi, refried beans. |
Popularity: 3
Vote: | It's the personal stories, the opportunities for people to share, that re-energizes me and gives me enthusiasm. It makes me want to do more. |
Popularity: 1
Vote: | It's tough so if you don't love what you do, it doesn't matter how much money you make. It doesn't matter how famous you are. Sooner or later you'll get burnt out. |
Popularity: 0
Vote: | Just like if you were brought up on a farm, you would most likely carry on your father's business as a farmer; I was brought up in the kitchen and ended up becoming a chef. |
Popularity: 3
Vote: | My father owned a restaurant in China before I was born, and even though the business was taken over by someone else after my birth, I still hung around the restaurant kitchen all the time. |
Popularity: 2
Vote: | People who don't travel cannot have a global view, all they see is what's in front of them. Those people cannot accept new things because all they know is where they live. |
Popularity: 6
Vote: | So basically, I have been working with the foods sciences, restaurants, food, and cooking all my life and I just happened to have the opportunity to be on television. |
Popularity: 1
Vote: | So I look up to anyone who is successful in their field because I know they have paid their dues with hard work and determination. |
Popularity: 1
Vote: | So when I do Chinese cooking, I mix everything together, then the kids have to eat their vegetables. They won't have the patience to pick them out. |
Popularity: 0
Vote: | Some people are just never content no matter how much fame or money they have; they just continue to push, push, push. But the Chinese philosophy is to be content with what you have. |
Popularity: 5
Vote: | Some people never contribute anything positive to society, they may even drain our resources, but most of us try to do something better, to give back. |
Popularity: 0
Vote: | Soy sauce is really a multi-purpose seasoning. |
Popularity: 4
Vote: | The hoopla, the applause, the praises have never excited me. |
Popularity: 5
Vote: | The most important thing is that you believe in yourself and trust your instincts. |
Popularity: 2
Vote: | The only thing that counts is if you know how to prepare your ingredients. Even if with the best and freshest ingredients in the world, if your dish is tasteless or burnt, it's ruined. |
Popularity: 3
Vote: | The problem with a lot of Chinese is that they put up divisions between Taiwanese, Hong Kong natives, mainlanders. We are never united. I really hope that the Chinese can be more united. |
Popularity: 4
Vote: | They don't know anything about my background, that I was born and raised in China, that English is my second language. |
Popularity: 1
Vote: | Well, I can't say that I consider myself a role model and I didn't really intend to become role model when I started out. |
Popularity: 1
Vote: | Well, you know, if you get into the profession because you think you can make a lot of money, you can never become successful. |
Popularity: 4
Vote: | When I retire or pass away, I will be able to look back and say that this has been an exciting life. That's all that matters. |
Popularity: 2
Vote: | When you enjoy what you do, work becomes play. |
Popularity: 4
Vote: | When you have a good stock, you can make a good soup. |
Popularity: 2
Vote: | When you travel you are able to see and experience the beauty and suffering of this world; you can understand the contrast of human life. |
Popularity: -1
Vote: | When you travel, you experience life and you are more open minded. |
Popularity: -1
Vote: | Why is America such a great country. It is because we stand united. |
Popularity: -2
Vote: | Yes, I do a lot of consulting for restaurants, hotels, and food companies. I studied food science in college and basically just work with the restaurants, staff personnel, and wineries. |
Popularity: -5
Vote: | You can do almost anything with soup stock, it's like a strong foundation. When you have the right foundation, everything tastes good. |
Popularity: 3
Vote: | You don't have to show people how successful you are. |