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)
In 1982, after a 2-year global search, the
BBC auditioned him for a Chinese cookery series.[4] The resulting TV series, Ken Hom's Chinese Cookery, had a companion book published by BBC Books.
He has since appeared in a number of prime time BBC TV series. His series for
KBS called Noodle Road is a five-hour documentary on the history of the noodle. It sold in 23 countries and won the
Peabody award in 2009.[5] In 2012 he co-presented the BBC series Exploring China: A Culinary Adventure with
Ching He Huang. He has made some of his many appearances on the BBC's long-running weekly show Saturday Kitchen with Huang. Since 2023 he has his own YouTube channel 'Ken Hom'.
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 (formerly known as The Prostate Cancer Charity), building awareness for the early detection and treatment of cancers.
Annual Ken Hom Lecture series at Oxford Brookes University
Ken Hom Writer in Residence Fellowship at Oxford Brookes University
The Ken Hom Collection at the Oxford Brookes University
Book awards:
"Ken Hom’s East Meets West Cuisine" (Macmillan, 1987) Shortlisted for Andre Simon Memorial Book of Year
"Easy Family Dishes: A Memoir with Recipes" (BBC Books, 1998) Winner of the Andre Simon Memorial Book of Year
"The Taste of China" (Pavilion Books, 1990) Shortlisted for Andre Simon Memorial Book of Year
"Ken Hom’s Quick Wok" (Headline Books, 2001) Cookbook of the Year from Food and Wine magazine, USA
"Truffes" with Pierre-Jean Pébeyre (Hachette, 2001) Shortlisted for Prix Litteraire de la Gastronomie Antonin Careme
“The Taste of Leicester” (John Wagstaff Books, 1991) Shortlisted for the Big Dave Award
"Exploring China: A Culinary Adventure" (with
Ching He Huang) (2012) Gourmand International Awards 2013, Paris Cookbook Fair – ‘Best in the World’ award for the Culinary Travel Category. Short listed for The Guild of Food Writers Awards 2013 for both the Food Broadcast of the Year Award and the Award for Work on Food and Travel
"Truffles with Pierre-Jean Pébeyre (Serindia 2014) Winner Gourmand World Cookbook Award 2015 for Best Mushrooms (USA)
The Best25 (25 years of cookbooks) The Gourmand Awards: Exploring China: A Culinary Adventure By Ken Hom & Ching He Huang 2021 in at Paris Cookbook Fair
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 2009, Hom entered into an exclusive agreement with British supermarket chain
Tesco to launch a 32-product range of Ken Hom branded Chinese ready meals.[6]
Despite semi-retirement, he continues to travel extensively worldwide and divides his time between France and Bangkok.
^Steen, James (July 2019).
"A Portrait of Ken Hom"(PDF). Waitrose & Partners Food (Interview of Ken Hom about his "life-changing audition" for BBC.). pp. 39–42. Retrieved 23 October 2022.
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.