Brad Wong covered business at the P-I, but it was always clear he had a natural inclination toward food writing, whether coming up with stories about a Seattle fortune cookie company, or sustainable sushi, or a food bank’s rice shortage. So let me present to you Brad’s new solo blog, “Tofu Watch.” It is, yes, a blog about soybean cake — among other “essential topics.”

First entries out include a look at his favorite mapo tofu (it’s at Old Sichuan in Kent), garlic stems (he was first introduced to them when pedaling his mountain bike south of Beijing), and a little tofu history, courtesy of a document translated from Chinese.

Why a tofu blog? Wong wrote me that he’s long wanted to write about food, history, and China: His grandparents are from Southern China, and his mom makes great Cantonese food with tofu.

“When I’ve traveled in China and had free time, I would wander through the backstreets of the big cities. If a kitchen door was open, I would stop and watch the cooks prepare food. It was great. Flames from stoves would shoot high. Food would rock in the woks. The cooks would be talking. Restaurant staff would be walking in and out. Fans would be buzzing.

I would always try and figure out what the cooks were making.”

Look for him here, and, remember, if you’re looking for other former P-I staffers, here’s the list.

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