Taiwanese and Asian desserts
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522 S King St International District
206 / 682-0389
-closed Sunday and Monday
-going in just for dessert is fine!
Interview with owner, Henry Ku
After moving to Seattle in 2003, Taiwanese native Henry Ku tried several restaurants before Henry’s Taiwan in Chinatown took off.
“That time the restaurant so tiny, so small, only 20 seats, and only one chef: it's myself. One person. Only one person running. Then I needed to dishwash everythings and then come to take order.“
The restaurant’s specialities reflect Taiwan’s complex cultural and political history.
“The idea is, I try to do is like teriyaki. So you call it teriyaki house, everybody know. But however, Taiwanese, the cuisines, they have a similar, like teriyakis, because you know Taiwan belong Japan, leasing to Japan, 50 years. So there's a little bit bit, things, you know, culture, everythings learned from Japan a little bit. So they have some kind similar stuff. But the south is the Chinese style. But the put togethers, sometime, idea is similar.
“So I used those to try to create a new cuisine in Seattle. Then you know after I try I don't know if this works or not, so I just try. And it works. Because everybody take it. So the business, so far so good.”
Good enough for Henry to open a second restaurant in Bellevue, and then a third, just a few doors down from the original Henry’s in Chinatown. Henry’s Plus gives Henry a place to explore his influences and interests. Although he’s known for Taiwanese food, Henry’s formal training is in French cuisine:
“Then myself is major started cooking from French, French cuisine. So then I never use French cuisine in Taiwanese food; right? So then I have little bit ideas that I put in the third ones, Henry’s Plus. Then I just try to test the market.“
“The Taiwanese cuisine, that's, you know, my hometown food. So I only use my memory. The French cuisine that my teacher teach me, one things that's very important is: from heart. When you're cooking, ok, you don't need a recipe, you don't need anythings, but you need from heart. What you thinking, what you inside have. So then when you cooking, is create just like art. The art is no any standard things; everything is open mind...
“So I can do, if you give me a refrigerator, I can cook. I don't need you have any recipe or something, anything. Also, I can do one thing, is special order. Like if somebody who cannot have sugars, who cannot have soy sauce, cannot have peanut butter. Like so many things some people cannot eat.
“That kind of idea is from my father. Before he passed, he have cancer. The doctor say, Oh you cannot have that, you cannot have that--just so many! But my father, he loved to eat. So I say, Okay, no problem: we just take the limit, what we can have. Then I just used that to cooking the best.”
“You know: even you’re sick, you definitely need more love. What is the best cuisine? THe best cuisine you cannot put nothing but you cannot put your love in there. If you have love in your meal, people can feel what you give to them. A lot of people, you know they cooking, that's job. Ok, that's terrible. You know, it's not job. The chef, or cook: it's not job.
“I told everyone, worker: that's not job. Your art. Ok? You come here to prepare it's not food: it's art. It's to show off. To show people what you have. What you can do. What you done.”
According to Henry’s culinary philosophy, deserts are key.
“Dessert is most important things in the meal. When people, after dinner, they need something make you happier, is dessert. And you need make something, not just eyes open: smell; eyes; taste; everything come together. Ok? Then it's the beautiful art.”
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“They have a black jello; this is from herb. With red bean paste together, to mix. And with sweet rice ball. This public dessert in Taiwan.”
While rice balls and red beans are sweet staples in Japan and herbal desserts are common in China, Henry’s dessert features a “black jello” that’s specifically Taiwanese: “That’s only from Taiwan. The only one from Taiwan. Nobody have. “Shinsho”; some kind of grass. Then the juice they make black ink: totally black. They have a light smell. The herb is the summertimes, when you have that, they can cut down the temperatures from your bodies so you don't feel so hot; it can cool down your insides.
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| mango smoothie |
“And the cold things, I make smoothies. Twenty years ago I started to make, you know, all kind fruit, to make smoothie. Fresh fruit. And a lot of people didn't know the fruit to make smoothie can be taste so good.
“The smoothie is my favorite, actually. Because I like fruit. It's natural, and healthy. You have nothing wrong. Simple...There's nothing wrong with the fruit. Fruit, everybody have. You can have. That’s easy way to eat. But you just take an apple, just ‘crunch, crunch’: it’s not. And you walk down the street, just chewing an apple, it doesn’t look right.”
