Ken Hom

Ken Hom

Ken Hom
Born	May 3, 1949 (1949-05-03) Tucson, Arizona, United States of America
Education	University of California, Berkeley

Ken Hom OBE (born May 3, 1949 in Tucson, Arizona, United States) with ancestry from Taishan, Guangdong is a notable Chinese American chef, author and British television-show presenter. In 2009 he was awarded by HM Queen Elizabeth II with an honorary OBE for ‘services to culinary arts’.

Early life

Hom was born in Tucson, Arizona, and raised in Chicago, Illinois, by his widowed mother, after his father died when Hom was eight months old. He first learned cooking at the age of eleven when he worked in his uncle's Chinese restaurant. He went to California to study History of Art at the University of California, Berkeley.

During this time he taught Italian cooking lessons at weekends to supplement his college fees. This led him on to teach Chinese cookery classes. In 1977 he was invited to join San Francisco's new California Culinary Academy as an instructor.

TV career

In 1982, after a 2 year global search ,the BBC auditioned him for a Chinese cookery series. The resulting TV series named Ken Hom's Chinese Cookery was a huge success and the companion book became one of the best-selling cookbooks ever published by BBC Books, selling more than 1.5 million copies. Today after numerous printing it still remains in print.

He has since appeared in a number of prime time BBC TV series that have sold throughout the world. His latest series for KBS, a five hour documentary on the history of noodle, sold in 23 countries and won the prestigious Peabody award in 2010.

Business interests

Since 1986 Hom has had a base in Paris. In 1997 he settled permanently in south west France in a restored 13th century tower in Lot. Hom has also spent more time in his adopted homeland of Thailand since 2003.

Hom is an author of more than 20 cookbooks. Alongside his best known work on Chinese cuisine, his works also include topics on Cambodian, Malaysian, Thai, Singaporean, and Vietnamese cooking. He has worked as a consultant for hotels and restaurants and cooked personally for presidents, celebrities and royalty.

In additional, he is also well known for the Ken Hom wok which has sold over 7 million in 62 countries throughout the world. Hom’s range of ready cooked meals has sold over 60 million units. He has also developed an array of cooking sauces, ready cooked noodles and rice. However, these are available only in the UK.

Despite semi-retirement, he travels extensively worldwide and divides his time between France and Bangkok where he supervises his restaurant Maison Chin. He continues to make occasional radio and television appearances worldwide, as well as working for a number of charities.

On 12 September 2007, Hom received an honorary doctorate from Oxford Brookes University, England in recognition of his "outstanding success within the international food world".

In 2010, Hom was diagnosed with prostate cancer and has been receiving proton radiation therapy in Japan. It has been successfully treated and his is now an ambassador for Prostate Cancer Charity, building awareness for early testing and treatment.

Television

• Ken Hom’s Chinese Cookery (1984)
• Hot Chefs (1992)
• Ken Hom’s Hot Wok (1996)
• Ken Hom’s Travels with a Wok (1998)
• Foolproof Chinese Cookery (2000)
• Take on the Takeaway (2007)
• Noodle Road (KBS) (2008)

Books

• Hom, Ken (6 January 2011). My Kitchen Table - Ken Hom: 100 Quick Stir-Fry Recipes. BBC Books. ISBN 9781849901475. 
• Hom, Ken (27 January 2011). Complete Chinese Cookbook. BBC Books. ISBN 9781849900829. 

References

• Davies, H (2006-12-03). "Hom and away". The Times. http://property.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/property/overseas/article654320.ece. Retrieved 2007-10-07. 
• Frith Powell, H (2004-09-19). "French dressing". The Times. http://property.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/property/overseas/article484813.ece. Retrieved 2007-10-07. 
• "Chef biogs: Ken Hom". Food. BBC. http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/chef_biogs/g.shtml#ken_hom. Retrieved 2007-10-07. 
• Fletcher, S (2001-10-14). "Desert island dish". The Guardian. http://lifeandhealth.guardian.co.uk/food/story/0,,1613487,00.html. Retrieved 2007-10-07. 
• Clark, A (2001-04-14). "Wok coup". The Guardian. http://business.guardian.co.uk/story/0,,473166,00.html. Retrieved 2007-10-07. 
• Crace, J (2000-11-26). "My inspiration". The Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/guardianeducation/story/0,,373092,00.html. Retrieved 2007-10-07. 
• Millar, S (1999-03-16). "TV chef attacks Britain's mass-produced diet and urges conversion to 'nutritious' oriental food culture". The Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,,315916,00.html. Retrieved 2007-10-07. 
• McCurrach, I (2007-04-08). "Tasting places: Ken Hom on the countries he savours most". The Independent on Sunday. http://www.independent.co.uk/living/food_and_drink/features/article2433007.ece. Retrieved 2007-10-07. 
• "Ken Hom To Be Awarded With Honorary Doctorate". Food and Drink. Easier. 2007-09-07. http://www.easier.com/view/Lifestyle/Food_and_Drink/Events/article-138249.html. Retrieved 2007-10-07. 
• Sheldrick, G (2007-09-09). "Honorary survivor". Oxford Mail. http://www.oxfordmail.net/display.var.1675480.0.honorary_survivor.php. Retrieved 2007-10-07. 
• "Past winners of the Andre Simon Memorial Fund Awards". Andre Simon Memorial Fund. Easier. 2007-09-07. http://andresimon.co.uk/past.html. Retrieved 2007-10-07. 
• Nacheva, V (2001-05-17). "Woking up funds for charities". Sofia News. http://www.sofiaecho.com/article/woking-up-funds-for-charities/id_1834/catid_67. Retrieved 2007-10-07. 

External links

• KenHom.com
• Ken Hom on the My Kitchen Table website
• Ken Hom's Library at Oxford Brookes University contains all the books that he used throughout his career, with an emphasis on Asian cookery, including Chinese, Korean, Thai and Japanese, as well as memorabilia to do with his television shows and consulting work, including menus, invitations, photographs and artifacts.

• Ken Hom's restaurant Maison Chin