[ Train horn blaring ] >> This is the new Silk Road.

A thousand years ago, European found their way to China on the ancient Silk Road.

Towns and settlements along the way became prosperous by the trade.

Chengdu was one of them.

Today the new Silk Road connects Chengdu to Europe by high-speed train.

"One Road, One World" next on "Yan Can Cook."

♪ >> [ Speaking Chinese ] ♪ >> [ Speaking Chinese ] ♪ >> "Yan Can Cook: Spice Kingdom" is brought to you by... >> ♪ Yeah, yeah ♪ >> Circulon cookware.

Circles for life.

>> Monogram.

A full line of professional appliances designed for food and entertaining enthusiasts.

♪ ♪ By Melissa's.

The freshest ideas in produce.

By Lutian.

Tasting the essence of lotus.

By Granite Expo.

Offering a wide selection of cabinet and countertop solutions.

And by B&G Group of Malaysia.

♪ Building Malaysia's tomorrow.

♪ >> For thousands of years, China prides itself as the Middle Kingdom, a central civilization where all other nations come and pay their tribute -- much the same way as Athens and Rome.

Chengdu was one of the Western gateways.

Today, under China's leadership, that Road has been revived.

♪ What once was the route where spices enter China for tea and silk, today we have containers of English cheese, Spanish wine coming East, and loads of electronic gears heading to the West.

Improved cargo transportation will put China on a more competitive footing as a trading partner with the rest of the world.

Goods from Western China can now reach major European ports, such as Rotterdam, in a matter of days.

♪ As a chef, you use the freshest and the best ingredient.

It doesn't matter where it come from.

Today we're going to show you how to do a traditional Chengdu favorite -- Kung Pao, but we'll use foie gras.

♪ [ Speaks indistinctly ] Aha.

Fry the second time around with intense high heat.

>> Okay.

>> [ Speaks indistinctly ] Of course, Sichuan peppercorn.

Chili.

Garlic and ginger.

Shallot.

[ Sighs ] Okay.

[ Speaking Chinese ] Cashew.

Apple.

♪ International trade is an academic discussion until we can see tangible results.

Look at the table.

We have products from all over the world along One Belt, One Road.

Here you see European brandy, red wine from Spain, vodka from Russia, and beer, and, of course, Polish sparkling water.

French goose liver is also one of my favorites -- American wild rice, Spanish ham, and also they have potato chips.

Ha.

Cookies and pastries, and my favorite, chocolate.

Ah, foie gras from France.

Now we have apple from Washington State.

Mmm.

Delicious.

Ingredients from all over the world.

From the ancient Silk Road to One Belt, One Road, peace and prosperity on Earth.

Gan bei.

>> Gan bei.

>> Welcome to San Francisco.

Tonight the Mayors of San Francisco and Chengdu are joint-hosting a gala event to celebrate the first Chengdu Food and Culture Festival in America -- a truly historical event on an iconic stage, the City Hall of San Francisco.

Mayor Ed Lee and First Lady Anita Lee were the gracious hosts of the spectacular gala at San Francisco's City Hall.

You cook it for five minutes.

The whole idea is, you partially cook the soft, silken tofu so it firm it up, and when you stir-fry, they don't break as easily.

Here we're doing Soup of the Day.

Look at that -- will be served individually.

Look at that.

Beautiful.

The soup is right inside here.

Look at that.

All the soup is right here.

♪ Great chefs cooking in the great outdoors.

This sums up the kitchen experience for this event.

♪ Food and wine brings the people of Chengdu and our citizens of San Francisco together.

Cheers!

[ Cheers and applause ] ♪ >> [ Speaking Chinese ] >> We want to give you something that San Francisco made.

>> How beautiful.

>> [ Speaking Chinese ] >> So welcome, everyone, to Chengdu culture.

♪ >> ♪ Oh, oh ♪ ♪ Oh, Oh ♪ ♪ Oh, oh ♪ ♪ Oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ Oh, oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ Oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ ♪ Oh, oh ♪ >> The gala dinner in the San Francisco City Hall was a smashing success thanks to the gracious and generous support of our Mayor, Ed Lee, and the First Lady of San Francisco, Mrs. Anita Lee.

Mayor, do you occasionally have time to relax and spend some time in the kitchen cooking?

>> I sure wish so.

>> [ Laughs ] >> You know, being Mayor of San Francisco is a great honor, and I want to thank you for inviting Anita and I on your wonderful show.

We watch it a lot, and we learn a lot, but Anita is creative.

She does the cooking.

As you can tell, I do the eating and I do the dishwashing afterwards.

So that's what Mayors do.

>> [ Laughs ] >> You're too humble.

But, anyway, how do you like salmon?

Look at how fresh.

>> Oh, wonderful.

>> Salmon.

We have salmon, and then what we're going to do is we also wanted to do something very, very healthy.

So we use barley.

Mrs. Lee, you can help me to trim this.

This is Chinese broccoli.

Let's trim it and have something like this.

>> Okay.

>> And then, in the meantime, I'm going to work with Mayor Lee, and then what I'm going to do is, we make the broth first.

>> Okay.

>> And while you're making the broth, I'm going to do the salmon.

Now, here is some chicken broth.

>> Mm-hmm.

>> Put some chicken broth there, and then...

Yes.

Yeah.

And then put a tiny bit of oyster sauce and a tiny bit of this.

We have a little spoon here.

>> Mm-hmm.

>> Yeah.

Some oyster sauce.

Just some extra flavor.

Tiny, tiny bit.

Then also get some color.

Okay.

Good.

And then some chili and Sichuan peppercorn and star anise.

>> Mm-hmm.

>> Yeah.

That's it right there.

A tiny bit of chili sauce.

Just enough.

Yeah.

Good.

Yeah.

Star anise.

And Sichuan peppercorn.

Now, Sichuan peppercorn is really, really the must, particularly in Sichuan cooking and Chengdu cooking.

And we're going to put the salmon in.

Let's come over and let's show you that you can actually cook it.

Tie this up.

The great thing about this is, you can use a bag.

Just cook it about 125 degrees.

Put it over here.

You see?

Just snap it.

>> Just snap it right here?

>> Yeah, just snap it right here, and snap another one.

And then all we have to do is turn this on, and this probe -- Look at this.

This probe controls the temperature.

The temperature is totally constant.

That's good.

While we are cooking this, it is on already, right?

So, we're cooking this, and we're going to do the Sichuan, Chengdu flavor-inspired broth.

>> Mmm.

>> Put a tiny bit in my stock -- really good soy sauce to enhance the color, as well as the flavor.

This will enhance the color.

A couple extra drops of -- This is my stock -- of sesame seed oil.

And then we filter this because it's really flavorful.

Okay.

And this is a really rich broth.

You see, all these things comes out.

See?

>> Do I put...?

>> Yeah, let's put it in.

And we shut it off.

[ Stove knob clicks ] Okay.

Now, this broth is going to be really, really flavorful.

And then put it back, and then we reduce it.

>> Mmm.

>> Flavorful.

This is already flavorful.

Now, this is nice and crispy.

>> Mm-hmm.

>> That's why we kind of brown a little bit.

Now we let it cook, okay?

We're going to do the risotto.

Now, stir this a little bit.

In the meantime, we're going to remove these.

Let's do it here.

Okay.

Oh.

Mrs. Lee, let's stir this a little bit.

Let's stir a little bit.

And then this is ready.

All of these are ready.

This is for garnishing.

♪ >> So, you hear that growling, Martin?

That's not the pandas on your shelf.

It's my stomach.

>> [ Laughs ] >> Mine, too.

Mine, too.

♪ Amazing.

This is really amazing.

>> Oh, gosh.

>> Beautiful.

>> I don't get to do this at home.

I get my hands slapped.

>> [ Laughs ] ♪ Now, Mrs. Lee, it's done.

♪ I'm going to put the fish right on top right here.

Beautiful.

And then put it right here.

Right here.

Now, let us garnish it.

>> Okay.

>> Yeah.

>> Well, we'll begin with this, huh?

>> Yeah.

Put a tiny bit of these.

Yeah.

Very good.

>> Some color.

>> That's good.

>> All right.

>> Creative.

Put it right on top.

Put one piece on the side.

So this way you have -- Yeah, right.

Perfect.

A little bit of this.

Then it will be perfect.

>> All right.

>> Yeah.

Ah.

A little bit will be better than a lot.

[ Laughter ] Yes.

This is not public speech.

This is public cooking.

[ Laughter ] Okay?

>> You know politicians.

We always overdo it.

>> Oh, no.

Let us come over here, and we sit down and enjoy.

Please, please.

Enjoy.

And, of course, we'll have some wine.

Here is to the friendship of all the wonderful people from San Francisco and Chengdu.

>> Hear, hear.

Friendship cities.

>> Friendship cities.

What a lovely creation.

From San Francisco to Chengdu with love.

>> Maybe when we get to Chengdu next time... >> Yeah.

>> ...we'll have this on the menu.

Thank you, Martin.

>> Cheers.

>> Thank you.

♪ >> San Francisco is only one of many stops on Chengdu's journey of global outreach.

In recent years, this UNESCO culinary mecca has been spreading its fame to countries far and wide -- such as Spain, Italy, South Africa, and Australia -- building international friendship through cultural exchanges.

♪ ♪ Fans of pizza in Chengdu don't have to go far for a good and delicious pepperoni pie.

Welcome to Mike's Pizza.

Ni hao.

>> Ni hao.

>> Ni hao.

>> Ni hao.

>> And you guessed it.

This is Mike.

♪ Mike's Pizza is a story of a student from Toronto, Canada, who came to Chengdu as an exchange student and stayed for the pizza -- his own.

Oh, there are actually other international element to this story.

Mike was taught by some of the finest pizza masters in San Francisco and Las Vegas.

He get his firewood, tomatoes, and Parmesan from Italy, and his mozzarella from Wisconsin.

>> We had these little, old Chinese ovens set up on the balcony.

Yeah, and it was just delivery only, so, in the old days, I would actually wear my roller blades and deliver the pizzas at the same time as I was answering the phone and taking the next round of orders.

>> A man of multi-responsibility and job title.

>> It is becoming easier and easier.

As Chengdu has grown over the last little while, we've become more of a market for all of these international exporters.

When I first started -- no.

I couldn't get arugula.

I couldn't get prosciutto.

I couldn't get real Parmesan cheese from Italy.

>> Wow.

>> I couldn't get anything.

>> In Sichuan, Chengdu, everybody love hot and numbing, spicy Sichuan peppercorn.

So, how you deal with it?

>> Well, I do have a few pizzas that are spicy.

>> Oh, really?

>> I use those little Sichuan peppers that are really spicy.

>> Oh, wow.

For about three or four minutes.

That's all?

>> Yeah.

>> Yeah, it's good.

>> Yeah, just pull that up.

>> Okay.

>> And it's really good that these doors open upward.

It keeps a lot more of the heat in.

>> Yeah, that's true.

Mike, now, you know, your place has been from a little apartment, a little home kitchen, now growing to a pretty big-sized enterprise.

You do a lot of delivery.

So, where do you get some of your ingredients?

Is it easy?

>> It's not easy, but we're kind of better at it now that we've got seven years under our belt.

>> Yeah.

>> I will say a big part of it has been my mother-in-law.

She's amazing because everything that we find out that we need -- of course, I'll look for it in all the supermarkets, and I'll decide that it does not exist in Chengdu, and then my wife will have a talk with her mother, and she'll be like, "Yeah, I know where that is," and she'll go to all these markets that no one else even knows exists, and she comes back with all of our arugula or all of our basil or -- you know, everything under the sun that I thought was impossible to find in Chengdu, and she -- And no matter what, when I buy it, I pay too much.

No matter what price I pay, no matter how much I bargain for, when I come back, she's going to tell me that I paid too much.

[ Both laugh ] >> I have the same experience.

>> [ Laughs ] >> So make sure you ask your mother-in-law to go out to shop for you.

>> All right, so... >> Now it is like the Olympic philosophy.

Now it's actually one world, one dream.

It's global.

We're global citizens.

You're a global citizen.

I'm a global citizen.

We travel all over the place.

How amazing, huh?

>> Yeah.

It is actually really special to be able to be part of bringing that to Chengdu.

>> Yeah.

I'm so glad.

I'm so happy for you.

Congratulations.

You have a wonderful career, wonderful family, and, most important, you have a wonderful mother-in-law that can look for things for you that you cannot even find it yourself.

>> Oh, I never could have done it without her.

>> This is so beautiful.

Nice and crispy, I can tell.

Look at this.

>> This one's a lot heavier.

[ Crispy dough scratching ] Yeah.

>> Huh?

Can you hear?

[ Crispy dough scratches ] Beautiful.

[ Crunches ] Mmm.

[ Chuckling ] Mmm.

>> Yeah, that Wisconsin cheese is real stringy.

>> I love it.

♪ >> Welcome to Ubisoft Chengdu.

This is where we make all of our games.

>> Interesting character.

>> Would you like to take a look inside and see what we do?

>> Definitely.

>> All right.

Great.

>> What's life like for an expat in Chengdu?

Here are a couple of examples.

>> Basically, I was in Springfield.

I was working at a hospital there, and I wanted to try something different, kind of move up, so I applied at an MBA program through a university that was based in St. Louis, and I saw they had a program in Chengdu, and I thought, "Why not?

I'll give it a try."

I went in, applied, and came here, and then I got an internship with Ubisoft and been working here ever since.

I love it here.

It's really amazing.

The people are great.

The food is great.

The weather's mostly great.

>> Yeah, regarding enjoying my work here in Chengdu, and, actually, Chengdu, I came to Chengdu because it has Ubisoft Chengdu, and it's not very crowded, and the food of Chengdu, it's Sichuan.

♪ ♪ >> [ Singing in Chinese ] ♪ >> Wow.

So nice to see you guys.

How beautiful.

Mmm.

I just got here, actually.

>> Welcome to Chengdu.

>> Welcome to Chengdu.

>> You welcome to Chengdu!

I was born in China, for God's sake.

Mmm.

I'm a little bit hungry.

>> I'm a little bit hungry, too.

You guys want to order some pizza or something?

>> Yeah.

I got an app for that.

>> Okay.

I can have two pizza, actually.

>> Two pizzas?

>> Three.

>> I'll order three just in case.

>> Okay, good.

Order three.

>> All right.

>> Instant delivery!

>> That was fast.

>> Instant delivery!

Wow.

Mike's Pizza.

Oh, oh.

Let me check.

Here is something?

>> Those are Sweet Monkey Knots.

It's like cinnamon knots.

Save those for dessert.

>> Sweet Monkey Knots are for dessert.

Okay.

And then we have pizza.

>> Yeah, that's just a plain pepperoni and sausage.

>> Classic pizza.

Wow.

Since you're so hungry, enjoy.

They drive fast and they eat fast and drink fast, and then they deliver the pizza very fast.

It's amazing.

This is speed.

This is the speed of Chengdu.

So, Chengdu has great food -- spicy and wonderful.

>> Yeah.

>> Though, occasionally, coming from America, a pizza will really do the job.

>> Yeah.

You got to mix it up sometimes.

>> So this is one of the most important entertainment for expats.

>> Yeah.

>> So, what's next?

We're all here.

In order to get a full treatment of the life of an expat in Chengdu, I have decided to invite my whole crew for a night out on town.

Tonight, we're going to the max.

The word "moderation" was left back at the hotel.

>> ♪ Ohh, ohh ♪ ♪ Ohh, ohh ♪ >> Cheers, cheers, cheers, cheers, cheers.

Cheers!

Having fun!

Eat.

Good food.

[ Speaking indistinctly ] >> Yeah.

>> Gan bei!

>> Gan bei.

>> Gan bei!

♪ >> Oh!

Whoo!

>> Ugh.

>> [ Speaking indistinctly ] Friends, good food.

>> Cheers to that.

>> Gan bei!

Gan bei!

>> Gan bei!

>> Gan bei!

♪ >> It was very nice to meet you guys.

See you guys.

>> See you.

>> [ Speaks indistinctly ] >> Enjoy.

>> Thank you.

See you guys.

>> Hey, don't drive, guy.

>> I'm sure.

No.

>> We'll continue.

♪ ♪ Boy.

You know what?

What a night.

You know, people in Chengdu work hard, and they play even harder.

I hope you're not driving today.

>> Oh, no, dude.

I don't drive.

>> You don't drive.

Okay.

We'll say goodbye, huh?

Car.

Come.

Workday tomorrow?

>> Dude, welcome to Chengdu.

♪ [ Grunts ] >> ♪ Oh, oh ♪ >> You can visit our website to learn more about Martin and his travels, get information about upcoming events, find and print selected recipes, provide e-mail feedback, and more.

It's all at yancancook.com.

"Yan Can Cook: Spice Kingdom" is brought to you by... >> ♪ Yeah, yeah ♪ >> Circulon cookware.

Circles for life.

>> Monogram.

A full line of professional appliances designed for food and entertaining enthusiasts.

♪ ♪ By Melissa's.

The freshest ideas in produce.

By Lutian.

Tasting the essence of lotus.

By Granite Expo.

Offering a wide selection of cabinet and countertop solutions.

And by B&G Group of Malaysia.

♪ Building Malaysia's tomorrow.

♪ ♪ ♪