♪ >> Art is an expression of creativity and imagination.

In Chengdu, it is not confined only to museums and operas.

People in this town express it freely -- dancing at night in town squares, singing a cappella in the park, and, yes, preparing a festive meal at home for family and friends.

Fine arts and fine food in Chengdu -- 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.

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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.

♪ >> Just right outside Chengdu, in Pujiang township, is the famous Bright Moon Village art colony.

Groups of renowned artists set up their studios right here in the village.

[ Breathe deeply ] [ Conversing in Chinese ] You know, look, men do not live on art alone.

Even artists have to eat.

So this was just harvest -- fresh bamboo, fresh and tender.

I called it "Mother Nature's most creative work."

First, we show you you can have a bamboo salad.

This is bamboo -- slice it up, boiled it up, and slice it.

Mmm.

[ Conversing in Chinese ] Mmm!

[ Smacking lips ] You let it soak in the refrigerator overnight.

>> [ Speaking Chinese ] >> Tender, moist, crunchy.

I love it.

Mmm!

It turns out that Master Li is not only a famous artist -- he knows his way around the kitchen.

His specialty is a chicken baked in clay.

First, we'll marinate a chicken with chili powder.

Leave it in there for awhile.

Let the flavors soak in.

>> [ Speaking Chinese ] >> Then you add leeks and soy sauce.

[ Conversing in Chinese ] Then, before you wrap it up, add dry lemongrass.

And let's not forget to add some water.

This is important to make sure that it's moist when it's done.

Now you wrap it up and encase it in clay.

This is actually the fun part.

♪ [ Both grunt ] And off to the kiln -- I mean the oven -- we go.

Now, this darn thing is so heavy -- a lot of wrapping, a lot of clay.

The temperature can reach up to 1,300 degrees centigrade.

That's almost 2,400 Fahrenheit!

That's amazing.

But today Master Li is gonna bake this chicken at a much lower temperature, 300 degrees centigrade -- about 575 degrees Fahrenheit -- for 4 hours.

This is our personal oven.

[ Both grunting ] [ Conversing in Chinese ] That's it.

Let it bake for 575 degrees Fahrenheit for 4 hours.

Let it keep in the oven for another 3 hours.

That means you're basically, literally, cook it for 7 hours.

[ Conversing in Chinese ] ♪ >> [ Chuckles ] >> Ah!

Ah.

Look at this clay.

Local clay.

Master Li use the same clay to make all kind of pottery.

>> Oh, yeah.

>> Ow!

Very hot.

Open it up.

>> [ Vocalizing ] >> Wow!

Look at this!

Amazing!

Now, this is the final product, that sometimes it can go well with all the other thing.

And then we sit down and enjoy, eh?

I would to take this opportunity to introduce Master Zhang.

He is also an artist.

He's 80 years old.

He has been practicing the pottery art for 71 years.

Wow!

Chángqí, yeah?

And he's one of the local masters, and all the young artists move in this area, Pujiang, they all respect him very much.

Now... [ Speaking Chinese ] Mm.

This is the principal act of today.

We come here for the really hot chicken.

Mmm!

>> [ Speaking Chinese ] >> I'm not kidding.

It melts in your mouth.

It's so moist, so juicy, so succulent.

And the Sichuan peppercorn and the leek and all the wonderful lemongrass flavor really permeate into the entire chicken.

>> [ Speaking Chinese ] >> It's the champion of clay-baked chicken.

[ Conversing in Chinese ] Thank you so much, Master Li.

And I hope I'll be returning here again in Pujiang and learn how to do this again and enjoy that with you.

Truly a master.

>> [ Speaking Chinese ] >> Art is an essential element to Chinese history, as well as civilization.

So it is no surprise that there is much artistry in the Chinese culinary life.

So today's dish is truly inspirational, but is it art?

You be the judge.

So, today I'm gonna show you how to do a classical Chengdu dish.

Here I'll bring this to a boil, and I'll put a tiny bit of salt, okay?

And a tiny bit of Sichuan peppercorn powder.

So, I sprinkle this, okay?

And then a tiny bit of green onion.

I want to flavor my pork, okay?

And then ginger.

And then this is the side pork.

Now, of course, you can use lean pork, but pork fat is what flavor it.

When this bring to a boil, you dump it in.

This is already flavor.

They got the ginger, Sichuan peppercorn, and I forget something.

Alcoholic beverages -- wine.

Now, this is good flavor.

This is what you call the "drunken pork."

Poached drunken pork with spicy garlic sauce.

And I'm gonna wash my hand.

And then we show you how to do the next.

You crush the garlic.

Done.

[ Laughter ] And I'm going to do a couple more things.

I'm going to use this, and I go one... And all of this, I use it for salad.

Here is a piece of poached pork in the spicy sauce already.

Then, I slice it thin.

So, when you cut -- look at this -- very thin slices, gonna have to cut through this skin.

Look at this slice.

I put it right here.

After that, thin slice of this.

Okay?

Put it right here.

Thin slice of pork.

A very classical dish, very famous dish, very popular in most Sichuan restaurant.

And I have two pieces.

And, then, we slice some of the cucumber, and I cut into strips.

This will be also used, and all together, and then we will put some of these here.

It's like this, straight.

And then you roll it up.

And then you roll it up here.

Roll it up.

And then, towards the end... >> Beautiful.

>> Huh?

[ Applause ] Let me show you how to make the sauce, okay?

Very simple.

Garlic, chopped garlic.

Sesame seed oil.

Tiny bit of Sichuan peppercorn.

Tiny bit of sugar.

Tiny bit of soy.

Tiny bit of chili oil.

Look at this.

This is chili oil.

Just a sprinkle, a tiny bit of these here.

Then you mix them all up.

Mix them all up.

And I have some make ahead of time, so I put this all together.

See, because we have about 200 people in the studio.

And then I put the sauce -- Isn't that amazing.

I put the sauce right here.

Look at how cute this is.

I put the sauce right here.

Look at that!

Look how cute this is.

This is a dipping sauce.

And then I put three over here.

Because you know why three?

Three is a good-luck number.

You do not use four, always three.

[ Laughter ] Final product.

Look at how cute this is.

This is a work of art.

Jonathan, since you have never tasted anything, taste it.

And, Grace, taste one piece with the sauce.

I think it's very, very unique.

Dip it in and... >> Mmm.

Wow.

>> You're supposed to have two bite, not just one bite.

[ Laughter ] This is inspiring as an art.

The dish looks great, smells great, and tastes great.

So, I don't know about you, but this is mighty inspirational.

♪ This is a well-kept secret of Chengdu, the restaurant called Yu Zhi Lan.

What?

You don't see the sign?

[ Chuckles ] That's the idea.

>> [ Speaking Chinese ] >> Ah.

Hey!

Ni hao, ni hao, ni hao.

[ Conversing in Chinese ] The genius behind this place is Chef Lan, a Chengdu native who had plenty of work experiences around the world.

Chef Lan decided to follow his own instinct, his own vision of fine dining, by inviting diners to his kitchen, literally to his home.

[ Conversing in Chinese ] ♪ Only the egg yolk, the duck-egg yolk.

Ah.

Okay.

♪ The bamboo is not too far from the dough.

Otherwise, it would not be as flat.

♪ You have to be very patient, do it a step at a time, one step at a time.

Very thin.

Whoa!

190 grams -- you can come up with a sheet of noodle this big.

Less than 200 grams of flour.

Now ready to cut.

Put it so it won't... A tiny bit of cornstarch.

Everything about Chef Lan's cuisine is about details as fine as this.

So, they all come -- Financial Times came, CNN came, foodies from all stripes came, and now...me.

>> [ Speaking Chinese ] >> Wow.

[ Conversing in Chinese ] Tea.

[ Slurps ] This is not just drinking tea for the purpose, drinking tea.

It's to cleanse your palate before you have something so refined.

[ Speaking Chinese ] Smell.

Mmm!

[ Speaking Chinese ] [ Slurps ] Mmm!

>> [ Speaking Chinese ] >> [ Smacking lips ] Chef Lan explain his philosophy of preparing this simple noodle dish.

First, make with clear consommé so the flavor of this would not overtaken that fine texture and the element of this noodle.

And then, at the same time, use a minute amount of cured meat or ham, the best quality ham.

So just do enough to flavor it just enough so, when you drink it, the smell, the aroma... from the ham.

And then yet not overpowering.

So every drop is a perfection.

And that is an artist's rendition of a simple ingredient to perfection.

[ Exhales deeply ] [ Smacking lips ] When one combine artistic vision with culinary precision, one is a true artist in our profession.

Chef Lan is such a master.

In most of my "Yan Can Cook" show, I aim to teach and show.

Here in Chef Lan's kitchen, I come to learn.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ [ Chuckling ] Hey.

Ni hao, ni hao, ni hao, ni hao, ni hao, ni hao, ni hao, ni hao.

[ Speaking Chinese ] >> Mm.

>> Ah.

The tradition of pottery making in Sichuan dates back to the Shang dynasty, thousands of years ago.

This school is not only for the gifted protégé.

Everyone is welcome.

The student work hard on their own projects, which they get to display properly before showing everybody at home.

Appreciation for fine art can never begin early enough in life.

Friends of mine just told me about this pottery school for kids outside of Chengdu.

Instead of soccer and ballet, hey, how 'bout teaching your kids how to get their hands dirty?

♪ [ Conversing in Chinese ] Oh!

My favorite part -- lunch.

♪ Whew!

Lot of kids are hungry.

Time to serve.

Look at how beautiful this is.

In the meantime... Ah!

Look at that.

Beautiful.

Everybody gonna love it, particularly the kids.

I know they're hungry, so I'm gonna take it over there and share with them.

[ All chanting in Chinese ] [ Speaking Chinese ] >> [ Laughs ] >> [ Speaking Chinese ] Mmm!

The kids love it.

They said it's delicious.

This is home cooking at its best.

[ Smacking lips ] So simple.

Everything is grown right outside in the vegetable patch.

Everything is harvest right before we prepare the meal.

This is healthy diet.

♪ [ Grunting ] You know, this is a historical kiln.

The oven was first built some 500 years ago.

These days, it's only fired up twice a year, and it use up to 6 tons of wood.

So today is a very special day.

We're lucky.

[ Grunts ] [ Grunts ] [ Grunts ] ♪ Look at this.

This kiln was built, constructed, almost 500 years ago.

You know, if you love pizza, you can probably do about 2 million pizza here in this kiln.

Pottery took root here thousands of years ago because the fine clay found in this region.

What began as a handicraft have pretty much remained that way after all these years.

The talented master potter here still makes each urn by hand.

He's guided by a few basic tools and his eyes.

♪ When I was a little kid, my mom never liked me playing with mud.

Hey, pity she never knew about this place.

[ Laughter ] >> [ Speaking Chinese ] >> 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.

♪ ♪ ♪