A typical meal for a Qing Dynasty Chinese emperor consisted of eight main dishes, four side dishes, two or three hot soups, hotpots, and plenty of steamed buns, rice and cakes.

Ask me, you don’t have enough Weight Watcher points to eat like that here — especially our fatty, uninspired American derivative of Chinese food. Even if you purchased eight Chinese Lean Cuisines and skipped the side dishes, you’d just be hungry an hour later and forced to repeat the process, thus ballooning into a former Hollywood hottie now pitching Jenny Craig’s crap. Didn’t Confucius say, “American Chinese food a healthy person does not make.”



OK smarty-pants, true, too much food in China, like here, can make you fat, but on your way to a Buddha belly in China, it’s going to taste a whole lot better. Believe it or not, Chinese food tastes exquisite there. I took a trip to the red country in February for what I thought would be a “seeing” experience only to be flabbergasted and pleased to eat my way around the country, discovering that Chinese food actually embodies freshness, fire, flavor, and frivolity. Flying home I promised myself I’d either find these flavors in the South Sound or convince someone to open a real Chinese restaurant.

One recommendation? Really?

Lo Sun “Lotus” Perry, co-author of Taiwan Today (Cheng & Tsui Co.) and a professor in the University of Puget Sound’s Chinese Program, says Tacoma Szechuan (9601 S. Tacoma Way, Lakewood) “has become a place where Chinese families will go every week.”



When Perry arrived in Tacoma during the mid-’80s, Yen Ching on the South Tacoma Way was “THE Chinese restaurant to go to,” she explains.



While Yen Ching still serves, food reviews in this rag and others appear to agree that Tacoma Szechaun may be Tacoma’s ONLY authentic Chinese restaurant.

“Every time I go, I see Chinese acquaintances of mine from all over in the area,” Perry adds.



How could Tacoma, well known for stellar and authentic Thai, Vietnamese and Korean restaurants have only one real Chinese haunt?



For the same reason Tacoma, unlike Vancouver, B.C., Seattle, Portland and San Francisco, lacks a Chinatown? Apparently your forefathers (not mine) ran them out at the end of the 19th century on the very rails the Chinese helped build. Talk about cutting off the hand that fed you.



“Chinese were not allowed to settle in Tacoma until after the 1920s,” Perry adds, “and many didn’t come to this city until the ’70s due to its ‘notorious reputation’ among the early Chinese immigrants.”



Perry knows a little bit about that too. She works with the Reconciliation Foundation, a group formed in 1993 via the Tacoma City Council to promote peace and harmony in the community following the formal apology the city made that same year regarding Chinese expulsions and mistreatments. The group continues to build a park and bridge as a center point of resolution along Ruston Way.



Without a Chinatown, however, we find ourselves surrounded mostly by American Chinese cuisine that was modified to fit general tastes and then multiplied for generations. According to Wikipedia, it happened in the 19th century when Chinese cooks working on the railroads looked for a way to survive into the future, opened restaurants, but modified meals to find an American (albeit paying) clientele.

Chop suey, General Tso’s chicken, Mongolian beef — they don’t exist in China.

Back to Tacoma Szechuan

Chef Wei Xhong stands alone in the South Sound; not speaking English but making all the conversation he needs through his culinary creations. We chatted last Thursday with Perry interpreting after the lunch crowd left.



Xhong arrived in the United States eight years ago. He cooked in Chicago for several years then gave Seattle a try for 18 months before being recruited to Tacoma. Tacoma Szechuan is owned by three sisters (Min, Cydie and Maureen Xie) who opened the spot after living three months in the United States — they had absolutely no restaurant experience. They didn’t even know that their menu was unique to the area until after they opened.



The Xie sisters and Xhong hail from Chengdu in Central China, a region known for its spicy, Sichuan (or Szechuan) style cuisine. It’s all about the special chilis and peppercorns that come from that area, which to make Tacoma Szechuan authentic, Xhong must import to get his dishes right.



Xhong chose his menu knowing most Tacomans would need to adapt.

“If you taste Sichaun food, your taste buds will change,” Xhong promises.  He didn’t pull any punches or try to Americanize his menu. “I want to share my best dishes.”



Hot Pot, a Chinese favorite epitomizes both Sichaun cuisine and Tacoma Szechuan. Practically hedonistic, the fondue-like meal of meats and veggies dripping with orange oil from the chilis brings the table together in conversation and camaraderie. I’d start there with a group of friends, then return to TS often, traveling through the menu like Marco Polo, experiencing China without the 17-hour plane ride.



Thankfully, Xhong and the Xie sisters are more than just part of the reconciliation process for Tacoma — They offer us a chance to finally accept an authentic Chinese experience. They want to feed our souls.



I know I am giving them mine.



[Tacoma Szechuan, 9601 S. Tacoma Way #102, Lakewood, 253.581.0102]

[Yen Ching, 8765 S. Tacoma Way, Lakewood, 253.582.3400]