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Tylar Sutton
The 100-plus items on the menu at House of Hunan originate from a trade learned overseas and skills passed down a family tree.
Tien-shi Kung, who is from Shandong, China, started as a cook in the military and later opened a restaurant in Taiwan. After immigrating to the United States, he opened House of Hunan in 1983, which has locations in Fairlawn and Medina. He is now retired, and his daughter, Cheryl Suen, her husband, Lawrence, and their daughter, Deena, keep the spot and its Asian recipes alive. Lawrence, who learned to cook in Taiwan, has taken over as chef.
“I remember [Kung] was making all the dishes with different kinds of sauces, showing them to my husband,” Cheryl says.
Although the restaurant has adapted to fit its clientele over the years, House of Hunan still offers authentic cuisine in its restaurant and to-go. It focuses on quality ingredients, sometimes sourcing from New York and overseas.
The Tonkatsu ramen ($13.95) features traditional Chinese noodles that are handmade from unbleached flour. Vegetables, such as onions and ginger, and pork on the bone are boiled down for the broth. It is topped with a poached egg, wood ear mushrooms, scallions and a marinated pork cutlet that’s coated in breadcrumbs and deep-fried.
“We do use the bone to boil down for hours — days — to get the flavor,” Cheryl says. For carryout, the noodles and toppings are in a different box than the broth, so nothing gets mushy.
A well-liked dish that’s good for carryout is the pan-fried pork buns ($7.25 for four)that originate in northern China. This variation of traditional bao is filled with ground pork, then steamed and pan fried. The buns have an opening on top to let steam escape, and added soy and sesame oil make them mild in taste.
“At home, this is what we eat, three, four times a week, different kinds. We never thought that people would like what we eat,” Cheryl says.
House of Hunan is the kind of carryout that won’t make you feel bad later.
“Nothing is ordered from a package,” Cheryl says. “It’s all from scratch.”
My Favorite Carryout: Wood ear salad with garlic from Han Chinese Kabob & Grill in Cleveland. “It’s more homestyle,” says Cheryl Suen, the assistant manager of House of Hunan. “It’s something cold.”
Carryout, 2717 W. Market St., Fairlawn, 330-864-8215; Carryout or dine in, 18 Public Square, Medina, 330-722-1899; thehouseofhunan.com
