tofuwatch.com

Worth trying: Fried stuffed tofu in Seattle

 

For all the years that I’ve lived in the Seattle area, there has been one Chinese restaurant that I’ve visited when I wanted pretty authentic Cantonese food - Hing Loon.

It’s located at South Weller Street and Maynard Avenue South.

It stays open late – sometimes later than bars and even on major holidays. The waitresses remember you. On some days, the hustle-and-bustle is so nice that it reminds me of Asia.

The food is tasty. And that could be for good reason: The cooks are from Hong Kong, Guangzhou and the Taishan area of Guangdong province.

And my grandparents were from Guangdong province.

The restaurant’s fried stuffed tofu with shredded pork dish (Menu Item No. 174, $9.95) has always been a winning meal for me. My wife and I order it when we’re too tired to cook but don’t know what to order.

I’m sure vegetarians can ask for the dish without meat. It still would be tasty.

I like this dish because the cook takes fresh tofu – I think it’s the kind sold in a tub of water – and stuffs it with pork. At some point, the fresh tofu piece gets fried.

That leaves the outside crispy but the fresh tofu remains soft, similar to custard. Inside the tofu, the pork flavor gets absorbed.

You’ll know if a cook used store-bought, pre-fried tofu for the dish. The inside of the tofu piece will be dry.

Already, I’m hungry. And I’m typing this late at night.

There are additional steps. The cook places sliced mushrooms, carrot slivers, green onion chunks and cut yellow onions on top of the fried stuffed tofu. There are slices of pork, too.

Then, gravy is added.

Combined, you end up with food that offers a pleasing combination of softness, texture, pork flavor and the subtle crunchiness of carrots and onions. Several fried stuffed tofu pieces come with the meal.

Dish it up with a bowl of white rice and, well, I’m pretty happy.

The portion is moderate. I’m sure you can always find a less expensive Chinese dish.

I like the down-home feeling of the place, too. Once, I saw an older Chinese woman walk in, sit down and start talking with the waitresses. She had a piece of fruit and offered them pieces.

When I was a newspaper reporter, I sometimes worked the late night police shift on a Friday or holiday. At the time, I lived in an apartment on top of Uwajimaya, the nearby big Asian food store.

So, I would go home and head to Hing Loon for a late dinner at 1 a.m. or so. Customers would still be streaming in for meals.

Each year, the restaurant typically closes for a week. The staff and their families take vacations together. Near the cash register, look for staff vacation photos.

If you like Bruce Lee, look outside at the building kitty-corner from Hing Loon. The martial arts star used to train in the basement.

And taped to the walls, written in Chinese and English, at Hing Loon are signs for special dishes (that didn’t get into the menu) and their prices.

 

 

So, let’s see here.

If the fried stuffed tofu doesn’t appeal to you, you can order the steamed tofu with scallops in a black bean sauce ($11.95). That sounds nice.

I’ve never ordered the bean sheet pocket with vegetable ($9.95). But that dish has always interested me. The deep fried tofu with mushroom sounds like another good pick.

I’d tell you the price. But I didn’t capture all the details when I took the picture.