Season 1 2002

Martin seeks out innovations in East/West cuisine in Honolulu with two chefs who use their Chinese heritage to create modern masterpieces. In-studio recipes include: duck-filled sweet sesame balls; char siu quesadillas; roast duck nachos and beer-battered ahi rolls.

Martin tours the legendary Chinatown markets in San Francisco. Then he enjoys a meal at the Pearl City Restaurant owned by his friends. In-studio recipes include: drunken shrimp soup; four-mushroom beef; five-flavor chicken and eggplant.

Martin explores the variety of food in Toronto’s Chinatown and cooks with a local Macanese family. In-studio recipes include: okra with shrimp paste; slow-cooked seven-flavor pork; stir-fried soybean sprouts with bean thread noodles and Chinatown-style sponge cake with berries and cream.

Martin tours Yokohama’s Chinatown with his friend and dines in a Beijing-style restaurant on a tatami mat. In-studio recipes include: Nanjing “surf and turf” stir-fry; sweet and tangy lotus root salad and Mongolian beef.

Martin calls on the fishermen in the Coloane Village on Macau and feasts on the fruits of their labor, including a unique “hanging fish”. In-studio recipes include: Shanghainese wok-seared fish in wine sauce; black bean sauce clams with fresh basil and cracked crab in ginger-wine sauce.

Martin tours and samples delicacies from the sea at the Sydney Fish Market in Australia. Then he dines on the finest seafood with a fifth-generation Chinese-Australian. In-studio recipes include: wok-fried garlic crab in butter-wine sauce; steamed oysters on the half-shell and nori-dusted flounder bundles.

Singapore was once a major seaport during the height of the spice trade. Martin picks spices from the garden of his friend Kwan Lui who has a cooking school there. They use the spices and the fresh ingredients found at the Tiong Bahru Market to prepare extraordinary dishes. In-studio recipes include: double-ginger fish; egg-flower soup with lemongrass and mushrooms and fluffy cloud in lime syrup.

Martin tours New York’s Chinatown with the help of his old friend Henry Chung, “The Mayor of Chinatown,” and learns about the history of chop suey from Professor Jack Tchen of New York University. Then he’s off to Ping’s Restaurant for a soup that does not need a pot. In-studio recipes include: country-style black bean spare ribs; eight treasures melon bowl soup and tricolor melon salad with coconut prawns.

Martin tries the art of noodle making at the Lee Family Restaurants in London’s Chinatown. In-studio recipes include: Jia Jiang noodles; Shang Dong stir-fry soup noodles and Gum Lo rainbow wontons with a seafood sweet-and-sour sauce.

Martin explores the effect of the Portuguese influence on Chinese cooking in Macau, dines outdoors and visits the Miss Macau restaurant. In-studio recipes include: beauty queen beef; spicy clams with pork sausage and Macau clay pot with rice.

Martin explores the new Chinatowns in and around Toronto. In-studio recipes include: emerald chicken with grapes and kiwi; crispy halibut with miso vinaigrette and fried ice cream with ginger-caramel sauce.

Martin and Chef Chen sample everything from haute cuisine to simple street fare in Singapore. In-studio recipes include: steamed king prawns with cilantro pesto; crispy seafood and mango packets and white cloud wok-seared scallops.

Martin tries traditional Chinese cuisine in Melbourne — from the quick and inexpensive, to dishes with an elegant flair. In-studio recipes include: Chinese doughnuts; shrimp and scallops with Chinese doughnuts and flower drum crab baked in the shell.

Martin drops into San Francisco’s Harbour Village Restaurant, tastes the blend of East/West cuisine created by Chef Andy Wei and learns about wine pairings with Chinese food. In-studio recipes include: lemongrass lamb with minted orange sauce; Dungeness crab with basil San Francisco-style and three-pepper game hen.

Martin visits a 24-hour teahouse in Singapore and introduces Chef Susan Tieng, one of the few women chefs in Singapore. In-studio recipes include: steamed buns with Buddha bun vegetarian filling; shrimp and tropical fruit rolls and golden baked buns with shrimp-scallop filling.

With the help of his friend Chef Tse, winner of the “Iron Chef” competition, Martin discovers the food of Yokohama’s Chinatown. In-studio recipes include: sweet and tangy catfish fillets; pepper steak in soy-red wine sauce and sweet Chinese herbal tea.

Respect and Confucian beliefs come into play as Martin reunites with his teacher and childhood friends from China who now live in New York. In-studio recipes include: stir-fried beef with bitter melon, braised fish fillet with tofu puff, Daikon and bean thread noodles.

Martin discovers the Chinese legacy in Honolulu and tries some of Hawaiian restaurateur Sam Choy’s favorite dishes. In-studio recipes include: tofu puff with long beans and mushrooms; Sam Choy’s whole fish with fruit salsa; Okey Dokey Poke and luau stew.

Martin pays a visit to a tag team of father and son chefs and discusses dim sum and the local menu in Toronto’s Chinatown. In-studio recipes include: wok-braised lobster tails in creamy rum sauce; steamed fish with mushrooms and baby bok choy and mushrooms and baby bok choy in garlic soy sauce.

Martin illuminates the harmony between generations as he samples classic Cantonese dishes in Honolulu and San Francisco and visits a New York Chinatown Senior Center. In-studio recipes include: big pot war wonton soup; velvet oysters with ginger-green onion sauce and triple-decker egg fu young.

The Portuguese influence on Macau has produced a culture called Macanese. Martin visits Macau and tries some Macanese cooking courtesy of Chef Dona Manuela. In-studio recipes include: spicy grilled chicken thighs à la Macau; Macau-style stuffed prawns and tamarind braised pork.

Martin samples the offerings of street vendors in Chinatowns around the world. In-studio recipes include: cold peanut noodles with chicken; Mandarin scallion pancakes and wontons in a hot-and-sour chili sauce.

Martin introduces Cantonese dishes inspired by the first Chinese settlers in San Francisco. In-studio recipes include: “Year of Good Fortune” fish salad; trout stuffed with fish mousse and Cantonese clay pot rice.

Martin visits Damenlou (“Big Door”) restaurant, the haunt of Singapore’s legendary and beloved character, Mr. Fish Head. In-studio recipes include: Singapore’s fish head soup and family-style fish with bean sprouts.

With the help of a few experts, Martin explores the subtleties of Chinese tea in New York, Yokohama and Singapore. He then tours bake shops in Chinatowns around the world. In-studio recipes include: pineapple buns; sweet bride’s delight cakes; jade scallop dumplings and nori-sesame shrimp toasts.