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Doris Lam

Noodles are said to have been invented in China more than 4,000 years ago, with some accounts claiming Marco Polo brought them to Italy during the 13th century.
If this is true, Italian-Chinese fusion should feel like a natural pairing.
However, even slight deviations from Italian recipes have been known to spark fierce objections from traditionalists on the internet and beyond.
But for one MasterChef Italia contestant, the courage to blend the two cuisines and break from tradition was the thing that ultimately led her to victory.
In February, Italian-Chinese cook Anna Zhang Yilan was crowned the winner of the 14th season of MasterChef Italia. She was the first ethnically Chinese contestant to win the Italian TV cooking contest.

The 33-year-old is based in Milan, where she was born, and Venice.
Her parents, who are from Qingtian county in China’s Zhejiang province, moved to Italy soon after falling in love with the country during a visit in 1990.
“I spent a lot of time with my mother in the kitchen,” Zhang says of her childhood. “She’s a great cook and invented a lot of fusion dishes but she, of course, taught me how to make dumplings and congee. I grew up learning the traditions and values of both cultures without distinction.”
She adds that her identity is reflected in her cooking.
“I use Asian spices and sauces and prefer a bit of soy sauce instead of salt. I like Chinese vegetables such as daikon but I also use Italian ingredients.”












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Zhang made one of her signatures for her first dish on MasterChef Italia. My Journey featured tofu and shiitake mushroom jiaozi (dumplings) paired with goat cheese sauce, served alongside dollops of honey teriyaki sauce and walnut, chive and mint pesto.
“My mother taught me how to make tofu at home,” she says.
One of her final dishes, My Mother’s Smile, was also dumpling-based: ravioli filled with sea snails, oyster mushrooms and guanciale Italian salt-cured meat, with tobiko (flying fish roe) and saffron dashi.
Despite growing up surrounded by food, Zhang did not blossom as a chef until during the Covid-19 pandemic. With more free time on her hands, she threw herself into cooking and reading.
That was when she stumbled on a Chinese dietetics book and learnt that food can be used as a way of therapy and self-healing rather simply as nourishment.
“I understood that I could take care of people by cooking for them,” she says.
I’ve always been considered too Chinese to be Italian and too Italian to be Chinese
Anna Zhang Yilan
Before entering MasterChef Italia, Zhang spent a decade working in the fashion industry, as a sales manager and a model.
Her ease in front of the camera may be the result of posing for adverts over the years, but like many people within the Asian diaspora, having pride in her identity was something she had to grow into.
“They gave me a lot of nicknames growing up,” Zhang says, recalling that her appearance was often remarked on as a child. “I would try to look as Western as possible through fashion, make-up and even changing my hair colour.”

Italy’s Chinese community makes up only about 0.5 per cent of the country’s population.
According to Italy’s Ministry of Labour and Social Policies, in 2023, over 284,000 Chinese citizens were living in Italy, with the largest population concentrated in the Lombardy region. As of 2025, Italy’s population is estimated to be 59.2 million people.
The small Asian population meant that it was not only hard to find Asian representation growing up, but also Asian friends. “I actually don’t have any Chinese friends,” Zhang says.
What she does have is a tight-knit family. Her parents and brother made repeated appearances on MasterChef Italia to show their support.
As the series’ winner, Zhang received €100,000 (US$113,700) in prize money, which she immediately gave to her family.
“It’s a gesture that doesn’t even come close to everything that parents do for us. I know how much they have invested in me, my education and my quality of life.”

While this act of filial piety may seem rooted in her Chinese side, Zhang says she is as much Italian as Chinese, and that Chinese-Italians are no different from other Italians.
“I’ve always been considered too Chinese to be Italian and too Italian to be Chinese,” she says. “Fortunately, I always had my family and friends who made me think that diversity is not a limit, but a strength.
“It made me understand who I am under pressure. Now I know that I can accomplish a goal if I really want to.”
Zhang’s first cookbook, Pentole e Zodiaco, Il Mio Gioco da Tavola (Pots and Zodiac, My Board Game), was released on March 11. It gives a playful nod to the Chinese zodiac and includes game-like details in each recipe.












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A post shared by Yilan Anna Zhang (@annazhang_masterchef14)



“The book is fun, like me,” Zhang says with a laugh. The recipes stay true to her cooking style, such as the one for Maritobao – a Chinese spin on the classic Roman pastry maritozzi – which replaces the brioche bun with a Chinese steamed bao and fills it with the usual Chantilly cream.
As for the future, Zhang says, “I don’t want to open a restaurant right now, that’s for sure. I want to create an oasis.”
Zhang’s imagined “oasis” – which she hopes will be in Sicily, her favourite Italian region – will be a community space including a fine-dining restaurant and bistro, with activities that circle around art, wellness and sustainability.
“It’ll be a social project, at a local and national level,” she says.
It will include spaces for fitness classes, artistic activities such as Chinese painting, and live music played on the guzheng (Chinese zither).
“There are many things that fascinate me about China and I feel the responsibility to communicate it through cooking,” she says.


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MasterChef Italia season 14 winner Anna Zhang Yilan. Photo: courtesy of MasterChef Italia

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Zhang on MasterChef Italia. Photo: courtesy of MasterChef Italia

Zhang gave all of her €100,000 prize money from MasterChef Italia to her family. Photo: courtesy of MasterChef Italia

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Lifestyle

Food & Drink

Former model Anna Zhang Yilan, who wowed judges by fusing Italian and Chinese cuisine, talks about her childhood and cooking with her mother


Former model Anna Zhang Yilan, who wowed judges by fusing Italian and Chinese cuisine, talks about her childhood and cooking with her mother.


MasterChef Italia’s first ethnically Chinese winner Anna Zhang Yilan on food and identity

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Former model Anna Zhang Yilan, who wowed judges by fusing Italian and Chinese cuisine, talks about her childhood and cooking with her mother

Former model Anna Zhang Yilan, who wowed judges by fusing Italian and Chinese cuisine, talks about her childhood and cooking with her mother