Road Trip: Hunan Seafood - Rosemead (Los Angeles), CA - And we get the answer to an Urban Legend.

**** Hunan Seafood has closed 

Ever since reading this post on Eileen Likes to Eat, I've been waiting for an opportunity to check out Hunan Seafood (formerly CrownCafe). It had been an uphill fight from the beginning. You see, the Missus'sFather is from Hunan, and I've marched ourselves to a few "Hunan" restaurants that have been anything BUT Hunan.  When the Missus first heard the name of this place, She scoffed, "Hunan Sea-food? Yeah, right....." You see Hunan Province, is landlocked, bordered by mountains on three sides, and the Yangtze river on one(I don't think Dongting lake qualifies). She explained it to me this way; "Iowa is located on the Mississippi River....would you eat at a place called Iowa Seafood Restaurant?" But the combination of the photos on Eileen's Blog, and the good mood the Missus was in after our "first lunch" at Food Cabin put Her in an amiable state fo mind.

Hunan Seafood Restaurant appears very bright and clean from the exterior, but is starting to show signs of wear and tear in the interior. The service is typical SGV, all business, order quickly, don't ask questions......

We started with something near and dear to the Missus's heart; the Steamed Hunan Ham, Smoked Duck & Fish ($10.98):

   

The Missus clearly recalls visiting Her Paternal Grandmother in Hunan when a teenager. For a city girl it was quite a shock. No electricity, no indoor plumbing, the potty being in the same shed as the family pigs (totally freaked out, She held out for several days....until Her Dad rescued Her, taking Her into the city to potty), and the very hard life of Lily Blossom farmers. Funny thing is, we now pay thousands of $$$ to experience nearly the same thing nowadays - does anyone else notice the irony? There were of course, the great memories as well....... the wonder of lying on the drying slab and clearly seeing the Milky Way for the very first time. But, as a teenager, being the nice, plump, fresh meat for the local mosquitoes was not much fun.And toothpaste being the only available remedy for mosquito bites..... I can barely restrain myself mentally picturing the Missus covered with blots of toothpaste....wearing Her Jimmy Choo shoes with Her Gucci bag in tow.....

The scent of smoke was very strong when the plate literally hit our table. Looking at the plate, I was quite sure that it had hit quite a few tables in its time.  Steaming both moistened the meat, and really brought up the fragrance. The La Rou (smoked pork) had a great texture, the fat soft and buttery, and the meat while smoky in flavor was much milder in saltiness than the preserved stuff you buy in markets. It also lacked the somewhat artificial flavor. The duck was good, but it was the fish that I enjoyed the best:

 

Salty and intensely smoky, the Missus said this was just as good as the stuff Her Grandmother used make and send Her Dad in China. The fish was slightly dense and chewy, though not as tough as jerky. The Missus had to call Her Father immediately after tasting this.... it brought back many memories.

And then it happened. We had heard of "it" happening before, but had never seen it in person. While waiting for our rice, the Missus murmured, "oh..... my .... God! I don't believe it!" When I asked Her, "what's going on?" The Missus stage whispered; "they're recycling rice....taking the leftover rice from one of the tables and dumping it back into the pot." The ricepot in Hunan Seafood is out for all to see, and as I turned to look, they dumped yet another container of leftover rice from another table into the ricepot...mixed it up a bit and put it into a rice container, which made its way to our table...... I should've taken a photo, but was too stunned. I wish I hadn't seen that....the meat was nice and salty, and I really wanted some rice..... You know, we've drunk Chicha de Jora made from maize germinated in the mouth of the maker, so reused rice doesn't sound too bad.... but for some reason I just couldn't bring myself to eat this rice! I had heard of rice being recycled, or maybe reused for fried rice, and wasting rice is a sin.... however, faced with eating this? So I guess the urban legend of reusing rice is true.

Meanwhile, the wonderful looking Toss Fried Mutton with Cilantro ($9.98) made it to our table.

 

Just as with the unapologetic reuse of rice, this was an in-your-face spicy. Such is Hunan food; no goofing around with sweet, sour, or numbing flavors. The mutton was moist and tender, but was just overwhelmed with the red chilies (you didn't think those were red bell peppers did you?) and cilantro. You really couldn't taste anything else. Whomever cooked this showed some good cooking technique, but the dish seemed out of balance.

  I'd gladly eat food from Hunan Seafood again, ummm.... well, maybe just some take-out, or even better, I'll just force myself to NOT look at the ricepot. We'll probably even bring the Missus's Dad here when they visit, but face him away from the ricepot. But at least we now new the answer to that old urban legend; "do Chinese Restaurants reuse uneaten rice?"

Hunan Seafood Restaurant
8772 E Valley Blvd
Rosemead, CA 91770

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Comments

[Penny]

OMG...ok, why is the rice pot out in an area where everyone can see? They are going to have the Health Dept. on them if someone complains! It's not the reality of recycled rice, it's more the idea. Let's keep everyone happy, and if you're going to recycle rice, at least do it discreetly. I don't think I could have eaten it either Kirk, which is a shame because the other dishes looked good. blarghhh...

[Kirk]

Hi Penny - You hit it right on the head.... it's the idea that kinda freaked me out.

[kat]

whoa...places have gone out of business here in Japan for doing stuff like that...

[Sandy]

So do you remember what was the letter grade from the Health Department for this place? SGV Chinese restaurants are notorious for having less than stellar grades. I still remember one place that didn't have a letter, only a number: 61/100. And the place was packed.

Sometimes, it's better not to know.

[Carol]

Ugh, of all the times I visited my uncles' restaurants, they've never recycled rice. But I've seen other things where I could no longer order a couple dishes at other restaurants, even to this day. But if it's really really good, I can block it out, I think. :-) Those dishes look fantastic! (land locked, heeheehee)

[Kirk]

Hi Kat - I would think just the rumor of it would cause a major disturbance in Japan!

Hi Sandy - The grade was a typical (for the SGV) 'B'. You gotta remember we lived in the area for 5 years.... and never, ever saw anything like this.

Hi Carol - I just wished I never saw that.

[Cathy]

Mental Note: Order noodle dishes.

[Kirk]

Bad news Cathy - Hunan is China's "rice bowl"... ;o)

[Passionate Eater]

That is a really unsanitary thing to do. When food gets handled by non-professionals, who knows where their hands have been. The warm rice could literally be a disease transmitter and a bacteria haven. Especially if someone double dipped their spoon into the rice bowl. No more eating there!

... But, on another note, Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to you and the Missus (and the Boyz)!

[foodhoe]

hmmm, can you just sneak your own rice in? but then I'd just wonder what else is compromised if they openly do that with the rice... too bad cuz the food looks good

[stephen]

Ohmygod, that is disgusting! I'm surprised you stayed and ate there. I would have walked out.
Over this last weekend, I went to Amarin Thai in Hillcrest. They seated me on the little walkway that serves as the patio. When I looked up, just up the way was a couple with an enormous white dog. Every time it stood up, its tail bumped the guy at the table behind him. The dog wouldn't sit still. I got up, told the hostess that I was leaving and that I thought it was unacceptable to have a big dog there, and walked out. It was NOT a service dog, and I won't go back, even though I thought the food pretty good last time. And that HAD to be a health violation, just like the recycled rice. You could get really sick from that.

[sawyer]

wow....just wow. when i read the urban legend, I thought it was going to be something cool, like a story about a hitchhiker or some delicious treat...
I can't say that I'm surprised though...when my parents came back from Korea a few months ago, they told me that there was this big thing in how some restaurants reuse their banchan....I know it's a waste of food, but honestly, I find that disgusting and very unsanitary. the best place to eat is at home...
so glad you guys caught that, but I feel bad, you couldn't have any rice with your meal!

[the office goat]

In the words of Jeff Spiccoli (or Crash the sea turtle):
"Whoa, gnarly!!"
I've had a cockroach run across the table in front of me at a tasty Korean restaurant in SD (we cocooned it in a napkin, gave it to the server and kept eating), but that's not in the same ballpark as a wholly human-based own goal as recycling commercial food in a non-famine environment.

[the office goat]

Oops, that would be "Crush" the sea turtle. What would my kids say?

[小胖子]

这不像真正的湖南菜。。。我比较喜欢你的川菜照片。下次有机会再去那些川菜馆子吗！

[Kirk]

Hi PE - You know after some of the stuff we've eaten over the last few years......

Hi FH - The food was good....

Hi Stephen - After eating in SEA, this doesn't sound too bad.

Hi Sawyer - Wasting is a sin... but it kinda freaked us out...

Hi TOG - I once had a rat bounce off my foot at a drinking/eating establishment in Hawaii..... I kept on eating and drinking.

Hi "Little Fat Guy" (小胖子) - Welcome, and thanks for commenting! First off I think I need to be clear... at no time did I use the word "authentic", anywhere. I can tell you that the flavor of that smoked fish was "on point" based on my Wife's experience in Hunan(And I thought the smoked fish tasted great). My FIL is also from Hunan, so we'll see what he says when he tries it out. Authentic is not a word I'll use in my posts.... perhaps you've been in Hunan recently, and the food is not like this, however, much has changed since the Missus was there 20+ years ago, both in Chinese Society, and economically. So why don't you try this place out, and tell me what you think? Food is dynamic...so what I'd deem authentic, would not be someone else's authentic. Therefore, I never use it. OK, off my soapbox..... Happy holidays!

[elmomonster]

Hmmmm...chipped plates = recycled rice? I'm going to have to keep an eye out from now on. I share you and the Missus' disgust.

[Eileen]

OMG! Seriously? They recycle rice? I didn't notice it the few times we were there. Now I really wonder if all Chinese restaurants recycle their rice....

[royaljester]

Kirk I'm always impressed at your adventurous pioneer spirit. Thanks as always!

[Kirk]

Hi Elmo - LOL! I don't think we were as much disgusted, than shocked! BTW, the food was good.

Hi Eileen - I dunno..... but maybe they should do it a bit more discreetly.

Hi RJ - No, thank you for all the wonderful posts you've done of CH over the years.