Vishal Gupta

 Harry - Hi Shelodon Sheldon - Hey ! Harry - Welcome here Sheldon - I’m excited to get warmed up with some Chinese food. Harry - You’re at the right place to come then. Sheldon - I heard that Tai Tung is the oldest Chinese restaurant here in the Seattle. Harry - Yeah we are. Since 1935. Sheldon - Yeah. 82 years now. The International district in Seattle started off as the city’s Chinatown in the 1800s. Harry Chan is the third generation owner of this iconic Seattle culinary institution. Harry - What dish are we gonna be cooking first? Sheldon -We are gonna cook Bruce lee’s favourite dishes. Harry - Okay Sheldon -Oyster sauce beef Harry - So we use flank Sheldon -Yeah , we use a flank steak. Harry - Whoa, Whoa, Whoa, Whoa. This cutting board is amazing. Pure wood, i can see that it’s been used for many years. Sheldon -Oh yeah...We have been here a long time. Harry - Yeah Sheldon -We use that every day. We marinate the beef. Salt, little bit of magic Harry - White pepper, sesame seed oil, little bit baking soda. Sheldon -And then a little bit of corn starch, little bit of margarita mix Harry - There we go. Sheldon - Showing me the secrets, huh? Harry - Oh yeah. Sheldon - And that goes right into the flank steak (Sizzling) Harry – Hey, you’re doing good Sheldon. Sheldon – All right ! (Music) Harry – Hey, that looks beautiful! Wow. (Clapping) High five! All right, yeah. Sheldon – Is it good? I got approval from the team. Whew (Laughing) Sheldon – That was one of my best experiences right there, serious. Everyone’s been working here a long time. Harry – Oh yeah, how long you been working here? 38. 38 years. Sheldon- 38 years Harry – Yep Harry - 12 years. Huh? 32 years. Sheldon – 32 years? (laughing) Good boss? Yeah, good boss. Harry – That’s why one thing good about our dishes here. It’s consistency. (Music) Sheldon – Chop suey,egg foo young... Harry - A squid Chinese style, that’s a Chinese broccoli with oyster sauce. (Music) Harry – Bruce lee, when he was in Seattle , this corner, the corner table he always liked to sit. Sheldon – Well I am honoured. Hopefully i get some of those moves after I finish up some of these dishes. (Music) Harry – Hey Sheldon – You’re here usually every single day. Harry – Everyday. You know I like what I’m doing and my hobby is working. Sheldon – Oh yeah! Harry – When it is snowing out, there, sleeping bag, I will be here. Sheldon – So you sleep here? Harry – I sleep here because I want to make sure that door’s open. Sheldon – Tell me about this, where the restaurant is located in this district. Harry – We are located in Chinatown. Early 30s that’s when we first opened. They used to have a lot of Chinese community because the people, they come here to work and most of them are men and single. So they live here and they eat here and they work here. Sheldon – You’ve never laid off an employee here? Harry – Yeah, we never lay off people. Sheldon – Yeah Harry – That’s why we may have an employee work here more than 50 years. Some of them, later on, open their own business, open their own restaurant, you know? Sheldon – Chinese restaurant classic, always to have this. The chop suey, oyster sauce beef, so simple yet so, so delicious. Your grandfather came here from- Harry - South China. He’s called Cantton. Sheldon – How did he come to Seattle? Harry – That time is hard to find work in China. So he come over America. After the gold rush, he have to look for a job so he started in 1935. Then later on my father and my brother they came over from China. Yeah , I came over here when I was 20. So I started with the dishwashers. That work, you know how hard to peel the pea pod? (laughing) Harry – One by one - wow! You gotta know the whole kitchen. Now i have my nephew, also helping out the restaurant. My grandson he started working at the restaurant now. Fifth generation working here. Sheldon – Here in tai Tung, that is ...That is a testament to your family right there. Harry- Yeah Sheldon – Did Bruce Lee live in Seattle? Harry- Yes Sheldon – Okay Harry – Back in the early 60s. And he go to school here, you know, hung around within Chinatown. Sheldon – Yeah Harry – One of my friend who had been working in the kitchen before and he was a roommate with Bruce Lee for 2 years Sheldon – What kind of person was Bruce Lee? Harry – Well, don’t make him mad! (laugh) Harry - Otherwise you’d get in trouble. Sheldon – Get the food on the table, quick! Harry – Ha, yep. All the waiters, they know what he want, so all he do, he come in, he sit here, and then they keep him with a tea, water, and a bowl of soup, you know? And then oyster sauce if he likes it. And of course they give him a bill. Make sure he pay. Laughing Sheldon – So you came here when you was just 22 years. Tell me how the city has changed from back then to now. Harry – Seattle used to be a quiet city. The last 5 – 10 years, Seattle is growing a lot. But one thing, Tai Tung never change. We’re still as the same location, same family operated, and same recipe from the beginning. Sheldon – Where do you see the future of Tai Tung? Harry – I have to take care of my employees and I have to take care of the customer that they love the Tai Tung food. So I have a lot of customers tell me, “Don’t close it !” Sheldon – Yeah Harry – You know and I said, don’t worry. Sheldon – Don’t worry Harry – I will be here. As long as I’m here , the door is open Sheldon I hope you brought your knives. Sheldon – I brought everything from my star chef. (Laughing) We’re cooking bo tai chanh, a cured beef salad (Music)