- Hi Sheldon.
- Hey!
- Welcome here.
- I'm excited to get warmed up
with some Chinese food.
- You're at the right place to come then.
- I heard that Tai Tung is the oldest
Chinese restaurant here in Seattle.
- Yeah we are.
Since 1935.
- Yeah. - 82 years now.
(electronic music)
- The international district in Seattle
started off as the city's Chinatown in the 1800s.
Harry Chan is a third generation owner
of this iconic Seattle culinary institution.
What dish are we gonna be cooking first?
- We are gonna cook Bruce Lee's favorite dishes.
- Okay. - Oyster sauce beef.
- [Sheldon] So we use flank--
- [Harry] Yeah, we use a flank steak.
- Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.
(electronic pop music)
This cutting board is amazing.
Pure wood, I can see that it's been used for many years.
- [Harry] Oh yeah...
(laughing)
We have been here a long time. - Yeah.
- We use that every day.
We marinate the beef...
- [Sheldon] Salt, little bit of magic...
(laughing)
- [Harry] White pepper, sesame seed oil,
little bit baking soda.
- And then a little bit of corn starch,
little bit of margarita mix--
- There we go.
(laughing)
- Showing me the secrets, huh?
- Oh yeah.
(laughing)
- [Sheldon] And that goes right into the flank steak.
(sizzling)
- Hey, you're doing good Sheldon.
- All right.
(laughing)
(electronic pop music)
- Hey, that looks beautiful!
Wow.
(clapping)
High five!
All right, yeah.
- Is it good?
(laughing)
I got approval from the team.
Whew. (laughing)
That was one of my best experiences right there, serious.
Everyone's been working here a long time.
- Oh yeah, how long you been work here?
- 38. - 38 years.
- 38 years. - Yep.
- 12 years. - 12 years.
- Huh?
- 32. - 32 years.
- 32 years?
(laughing)
Good boss?
- Yeah, good boss.
- Yeah!
- [Harry] That's why one thing good about our dishes here.
It's consistency.
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- [Sheldon] Chop suey, egg foo young...
- A squid Chinese style,
that's Chinese broccoli with oyster sauce.
(pop music)
Bruce Lee, when he was in Seattle,
this corner, the corner table he always liked to sit.
- Well I am honored. (laughing)
Hopefully I get some of those moves
after I finish up some of these dishes.
(pop music)
- Hey.
- You're here usually every single day.
- Every day.
(laughing)
You know, I like what I'm doing
and my hobby is working.
- [Sheldon] Oh yeah!
- When it's snowing out there, sleeping bag,
I will be here.
- So you sleep here?
- I sleep here.
Because I want to make sure the door's open.
- Tell me about this,
where the restaurant is located in this district.
- 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.
- You've never laid off an employee here?
- No, we never lay off people. - Yeah.
- That's why we may have an employee work here
more than 50 years.
Some of them, later on, to open their own business,
open their own restaurant, you know?
- Chinese restaurant classic, always to have this.
The chop suey, oyster sauce beef,
so simple yet so, so delicious.
Your grandfather came here from--
- South China.
He's called Canton.
- How did he come to Seattle?
- 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) One by one - wow!
You gotta know the whole kitchen.
Now I have my nephew, also helping out the restaurant.
My grandson he start working at the restaurant now.
Fifth generation working here.
- Here in Tai Tung, that is...
That is a testament to your family right there.
- Yeah.
- Did Bruce Lee live in Seattle?
- Yes. - Okay.
- Back in the early 60s.
And he go to school here, you know,
hung around within Chinatown.
- Yeah. - One of
my friends who had been work in the kitchen before--
- Mhmm.
- And he was a roommate with Bruce Lee for two years.
- What kind of person was Bruce Lee?
- Well, don't make him mad!
(laughing)
Otherwise you'd get in trouble.
- Get the food on the table, quick!
- Ha, yep.
All the waiters, they know-- - 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)
- So you came here when you was just 22 years.
Tell me how the city has changed from back then to now.
- Seattle used to be a quiet city.
The last five, 10 years, Seattle is growing a lot.
But one thing, Tai Tung never change.
We're still at the same location,
same family operated, and same recipe
from the beginning.
- Where do you see the future of Tai Tung?
- 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!"
- Yeah.
- You know and I said, don't worry.
- Don't worry--
- Don't worry.
- I will be here.
As long as I'm here, the door is open.
- Sheldon I hope you brought your knives.
- I brought everything from my star chef.
(laughing)
- We're cooking bo tai chanh,
a cured beef salad...
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