Not to be confused with Wok With Yan, Yan Can Cook was a Chinese cooking hosted my Martin Yan. Martin had filled in for a chef for a 12-minute spot on a local talk show on CFAC-TV in Calgary. The general manager of the station saw Yan in action and asked him to do a half-hour on his own.

130 shows per season were produced in Calgary and syndicated in eight Canadian cities. In 1982, Yan Can Cook moved to KQED, a public television station in Northern California.

The third season tapings added cooking partner Dorothy Louie, a Chinese-Portuguese woman of exotic good looks and a quiet brilliance for original recipes and decorative garnishes.