Ken Hom


Ken Hom OBE is an American chef, author and television-show presenter for the BBC, specialising in Chinese Cuisine. In 2009 he was appointed honorary Officer of the Order of the British Empire for "services to culinary arts".

Early life

Hom was born in Tucson, Arizona, to Taishanese parents. He was raised in Chicago, Illinois, by his widowed mother, after his father died when Hom was eight months old. Hom 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 Ken Hom's Chinese Cookery was a huge success and the companion book became one of the best-selling cookery books ever published by BBC Books, selling more than 1.5 million copies. Today after numerous printings 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 series for KBS, a five-hour documentary on the history of the noodle, sold in 23 countries and won the prestigious Peabody award in 2010. In 2012 he co-presented the BBC series with Ching He Huang.

Charity

Since 2008, Hom has been an ambassador for Action Against Hunger, a humanitarian charity which works in over 40 countries helping families to feed their children and build a sustainable life. In 2010, he was diagnosed with prostate cancer and had proton radiation therapy in Japan. The cancer was successfully treated and he is now an ambassador for Prostate Cancer UK, building awareness for the early detection and treatment of cancers.

Awards and honours

In Ken Hom’s name:
Book awards:
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 home of Thailand since 2003.
Hom is an author of more than 20 cookery books. 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 addition, he is also well known for the Ken Hom wok which has sold over 8 million in 72 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 continues to travel extensively worldwide and divides his time between France and Bangkok. He is in demand by international television and radio stations and continues to make regular appearances worldwide, as well as working for a number of charities.

Television

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