Chinese Cook Lesson #101

– by Don Warrener

Chinese Cook 

Restaurant Lesson #101.

This one is a bit embarrassing but my teacher at the time was Benny Allen and he was training in the bowels of Toronto's China Town with several different Chinese masters and especially one named Paul Chan.

Paul was a Hungar teacher and one of the first to teach non Chinese in all of Canada and this guy had arms like tree trunks and he was famous along with Sammy Wong for doing feats that were unbelievable. There was a photo of Sammy Wong actually drilling his finger thru a real brick he had so much internal power apparently. 

But i heard that Paul Chan was the head cook at the Golden Harvest Chinese Restaurant in Old China town so off I am a friend went to see if we could see him and see how he trained. This was in the summer of 1966 before Woodstock about when the Beatles were at their prime and Bob Dylan was fast becoming a legend.

So in we went to the Golden Harvest and we both sat on the same side of the table even facing the kitchen hoping for a glimpse of Paul Chan doing something and sure enough he was back their cooking our Cantonese Chow Mein and just like a movie he did some fancy foot work while cooking and I think our heads nearly exploded as we thought we had seen the secret.

Yes we were kids not even 20 years old yet and yes we were passionate as anyone ever was and yes a little naive also.

But no more then today when I at 68 sat and watched some super rare footage of Bruce Lee and Elvis Presley and a smile came to my face like I was 17 once again and the guys I was with one in his upper 70's and one in his early 60's did the same stupid smile on our faces that I must have done back then in 1966.

I guess I am guilty as charged still a karate bum 51 years later and still practicing my reverse punch in my kitchen in my under wear when no one is looking.

Keep the faith my friends and "Mo Ichi Do" One more punch.

Don Warrener