LA Road Trip - Marukai West Covina and Shau Mei Restaurant; Ogo and Smelly Tofu?

*** Note: Marukai West Covina is now Tokyo Central

Feeling really ambitious, I decided on a Road Trip to LA. The objective; Ogo from Marukai. I left at 715, and actually got to the Marukai in Gardena, 10 minutes before opening time (115 miles in 90 minutes - talk about making great time!). I decided to call the fish Dept and ask if they had Ogo; well they told me that they were out, and so it seems was I, out of luck that is! Well, just to follow-up I called Marukai in West Covina, and was told that they had Ogo. So I decided to go for it! What the heck, another 40 miles really wouldn't make a difference. When I drove into the parking lot of Marukai I noticed that there was alot of work going on the storefront.

I walked in, and there it was, Ogo - $7.98/lb. So basically a package of ogo cost less than 3 bucks. One really good thing about the West Covina branch of Marukai is that they are less busy and thus able to give really good service. I looked at the tuna in the fish case and none of them looked really good, plus all were less than 3/4 of a pound, and I wanted a larger quantity. So I asked the fish cutter if I could get a piece that was about a pound or more. His response "of course", and went and cut me a fresh piece. I also picked up a few goodies like One Ton Chips.

After grabbing a pretty huge lunch, I was ready to hit the road! But I decided to take a drive down Colima Road, through our old neighborhood of Rowland Heights, and there have been a ton of changes since I'd been here last. But Hong Kong Plaza was still there, and crowded and bustling as usual. You basically take your life into your hands when trying to park here on a weekend. We lived a half block away and used to walk here. In Hong Kong Plaza is the Taiwanese Deli Hsia Hsia Shau Mei Restaurant, home of the smelliest of the smelly tofu I've ever encountered!

So smelly, I can't even eat it! But the Missus loves it. This little deli/restaurant serves "hot table" dishes, has a menu of over 100 items, and also serves an array of Taiwanese "shaved ice", drinks, and snacks. Watching me place my order, was the stuff sitcoms are made of! You see I realized, that in all the times we'd been here, I had never placed an order, I let the Missus order in Mandarin. Also I don't really speak any Mandarin! So I tried to place my order for "Cho' Dofu", "huh?", "Cho' Dofu", she shakes her head and holds her nose, "No you don't want!". So I laugh and go, "than i want 2 order", and she laughs and rings it up (fried tofu w/odor, $3.50/ea). It was quite a wait, I really don't know why, everything else here is really "fast", but it must be something to do with the preparation. Come to think of it I really don't know much about Smelly Tofu at all. Here's a scientific article on "stinky tofu" courtesy of eatingchinese.org. She handed me the bag of Cho Dofu and I walked to the car and gingerly placed it far from everything. Unfortunately, some of the smell of the tofu had come off on my hand, ick! So what's the smell like? Well, if "Faces of Death" had "smell-a-vision".... I arrived home and one order of tofu was devoured in a minutes flat, amazing! While reading the menu my wife noted, "hey look, they now have "Hot & spicy fried tofu w/odor", great, a double whammy.....

A couple of notes on Shau Mei, most of the business is conducted in Mandarin. Prices for most dishes range from $3.50-$6.00. We've received some really rude service here on occasion, especially when it's busy, most of the time it's just indifferent, today it was really nice. Don't let my story of Smelly Tofu deter you from trying this place. I've had many dishes here and some have been pretty good. I've also had smelly tofu at other restaurants, and have enjoyed it. It's only that this version is a bit much for me.

Hsin Hsin Shau Mei Deli
18438-1 East Colima Rd
Rowland Heights, CA 91748
626-964-1833

So what happened with lunch and what about the poke? Well I had the worst commute I've ever had on the '5' returning from LA - 3 hours! So I'm a bit tired, I'll post the other items in the (very) near future!

Comments

[clare eats]

Wow... I have only ever heard about smelly tofu. How does the smell compare to ripe washed rind cheese???

One ton chips *grin* that is hilarious.....

I thought I would start the swim in the morning... :P

[Kirk]

Hi Clare - To quote my wife "it smells like it came from a dark, damp, smelly place", only thing is she wasn't talking about Cho Dofu! I'm trying to figure out what to relate this to! But it's not "cheesy". You should find a Taiwanese Restaurant and try it yourself! Or start doing the backstroke-backstroke ;)

[Jo]

My dad & I happened upon smelly tofu centuries ago. There was a market at the corner of Narbonne & what, Crenshaw? Hawthorne? Lomita Blvd? I don't know for certain but kitty cornered from the market was a Carl's Jr. Anyway, this market had all kinds of "unusual" food stuffs. We bought our first "Top Ramen" noodles from this place. My dad and I are, well, adventuresome, in our eating habits with emphasis on anything fried. Fried tofu SEEMED to be right up our alley! Boy were we ever wrong wrong wrong! ::laughing::

[Kirk]

Hi Jo - Let me tell you, this smelly tofu, is really smelly. BTW, I think they still sell a frozen version - though it might be an urban legend - I've been looking for it for a while now...

[Reid]

Hi Kirk,

I've never had the stinky tofu, but I'm going to look for it on my next visit to SE Asia. Should be coming up next Feb/Mar. I'm really trying to either go to Malaysia or to Shanghai. We'll see how that works out.

[clare eats]

hmm I havent seen it at any but I will look next weekend when I am in chinatown!

I have linked you cause u r too funny kirk :P

[Kirk]

Hi Reid - I had never heard of Sticky Tofu until I moved to the Mainland - it's everywhere in Monterey Park - Mostly a Tainwanese thing. Wow/Malaysia or Shanghai! Can't wait for the pic's, and the reviews of Xiao Long Bao.

Hi Jo - Thanks much - I love your cat photo's! I believe it's called "Cho Dofu", good luck!

[Jo]

Cat photos??? ::pondering:: cat photos... ::cocks head:: cat photos??? ::wanders away across lawn of B&B::

[Kirk]

Ooops, smelling too much tofu! It's Clare's cute cat - Kiri. Better get my room at the B&B ready!

[Jo]

::roaring:: OK, that's better. I thought I was REALLY derrainged. Not a stretch by any means. Yep, we are prepping a nice cozy spot for you here. By the way, since you won't give us time to haul you around "From Here to Eternity", I might have to use you to trial some of the recipies Clare just gave me. Would you be a willing inmat... ummm... err.. ::laughs nervously:: guest?

[dailygluttony]

omg, soooo funny about the stinky tofu! my whole family loves that stuff, i tried it once and couldn't get over the smell. it smells like ass.

[elmomonster]

Kirk, you were up in my hood! Or at least my hood during the weekend when I visit my parents.

That corner where Hsau May reeks with the stinky tofu stench. There's a stall with open windows down the alley where a poor guy is frying the stuff up in a big wok. They sealed him off from the rest of the restaurant, but I don't think that strategy works since the smell finds it way into every nostril in sight.

Haven't had stinky tofu yet, but I love reading about it...especially the way Eddie Lin describes it in his Deep End Dining piece.

http://deependdining.blogspot.com/2004/10/stinky-tofu-star-lunch-chinatown-san.html

[Kirk]

Hi Jo - I'll gladly be a test subject "inmate"...

Hey Pam - I'm wondering just what kind of "ass" it smells like two-legged one's or the kind with 4 legs...HA! LOL! You made my day!! :) So you're the stinky-tofu-Black-Sheep of the Family, huh?

Elmo - We lived about a half block or so from here for almost 4 years. I hadn't been back for over a year and I'm really surprised at some of the changes in the neighborhood.I got the smell of the tofu on my hand and couldn't get it off, I was worried that I'd pass it to my steering wheel and it wouldn't come off!

[alan]

You've got me wondering... how did that poke turn out? Can you get good ogo in LA?

[Kirk]

Hi Alan - I'll post the Poke this week - it came out good - I did two types of poke. The ogo we get in LA is not great quality - it's the real think Limu, but it''s better than nothing.

[clare eats]

hmm this might be a stoopid question but how is poke different to sushi/sushimi?

[Kirk]

I think Alan from Ma'ona summarizes poke in his usual eloquent style:
http://maona.net/archives/2005/04/poke.php
I'll post on my poke later this week.

[Jo]

And THAT Clare, is how they are different! ::laughing::

[Gary Soup]

Sorry, the link from my website to the scientific article on stinky tofu was broken. Here's one that works:

http://www.biologics-inc.com/pdf/Counters/CLC1028.pdf

[Kirk]

Hi Gary - Thanks for the update, I've revised my post to reflect the update!