Though you probably don’t realize it, you’ve been involved in a long-term relationship with the Tsue Chong Company (800 S Weller, 623-0801) for years. All those times you’ve slurped up sui kai noodle soups or chopstick-ed your way through a plate of chow fun at restaurants in the International District, Tsue Chong was there with you. And when, at the end of a meal, you broke open a fortune cookie with the tiny rose printed next to the words of fate on that little white slip, Tsue Chong–also known as Rose Brand–was also there. A family-owned business for four generations, Rose Brand was started in 1917 by Gar Hip Louie, and his grandchildren and great grandchildren still run the company today. For nearly 100 years, Rose Brand has been working quiet magic with flour and water, supplying Asian restaurants in Seattle (and beyond) with mass quantities of the most basic necessity: fresh noodles. As Nettletown’s chef/owner Christina Choi, who uses Rose Brand’s fresh egg noodles in her signature Nettletown noodle dish, says: “Most Asian restaurants in Seattle couldn’t live without them.” When asked about Rose Brand, Choi sighs. “Ah, Rose Brand. I love Rose Brand because it’s a family-owned company right in the heart of Chinatown–you can’t get much more local than that.” Plus, she continues, “They have fresh products, made that day, for insanely good prices.””Flat Rejects Fortune Cookies (Unfortunate)”Home cooks can also reap the benefits of Rose Brand’s reasonably-priced goodness. At the Tsue Chong factory store on the corner of 8th Avenue and Weller, you can purchase all manner of Rose Brand noodles, both fresh and dried: egg noodles, won ton mein, Hong Kong style steamed noodles, as well as won ton wrappers. Don’t be shy: though the bars over the store windows make the shop look perpetually closed and lonely, the atmosphere is warm. When the light streams in and hits the old white wooden shelves, the store feels like a place where time stands still. Noodles make up 75% of Tsue Chong’s business; the rest comes from fortune cookies, also available for purchase at the factory store. You could buy a bag of standard cookies for a special occasion, but why bother when you can special order cookies with your own customized fortunes for just eleven dollars a pound? For me, the real charm of the Tsue Chong factory store lies in the “Unfortunate Cookies,” flat reject cookies which hardened before they could be filled with paper slips and shaped into pretty packages of fortune. You can buy a one pound bag (about 60 cookies) for just $2.25, or a five pound bag for $7.25. It’s impossible to visit Tsue Chong and leave without taking some Unfortunates to a new home.