Relaxing at Ranch 99, or This Little Piggy Went to Market

*** Some additional posts on 99 Ranch Market can be found here and here. And one silly post on "Chinese Spaghetti Sauce" can be found here.  

I know what you're thinking. How can a trip to Ranch 99 Market, that crazy, hectic, center for all things Chinese, supermarket, be relaxing?

I mean, if you're like us at all, you view your trip to 99 Ranch Market with some trepidation. Too crowded, lousy parking lot, small isles, cashiers that are burnt out, and basically dealing with a mass of humanity that's doing the same thing you do; get in, get what you need, and get the heck out of dodge, ASAP!

But when I'm able to, I get to 99 Ranch Market when the parking lot looks like this:

What I do on weekends is do my shopping at about 845 in the morning(there's another reason, keep reading the post). It's not opening time which is 8am, after all, you never want to be first in line and appear too anxious, right!

When the market is at this somewhat "empty" state, the walk to the produce department can seem to be oh, so far away……

What you hit first are the fruits, especially the "special" fruits, as in what's in season, what's popular, or what's on sale. Any any given day it could be Lychee, Jujube, Persimmons, Sugar Plums, or in this case, Longan:

99 Ranch Market also stocks some really great and interesting vegetables, like this one:

This is "Stem Lettuce" also known as Celtuce, Asparagus Lettuce, Celery Lettuce, Woo Ju, or Woo Chu. I'd seen this for many years, but never knew what to do with it. Until one night we were watching an old Chinese Movie called the Girl from Hunan. In that film, the characters are munching on this through the whole movie. Well my Father In Law is from Hunan, so on his next trip out, I asked him how to cook this. In short, peeled and sliced Stem Lettuce is great in stir fried dishes with smoked meats, makes sense, since smoked meats are one of the food items Hunan is known for. So stir fried with some garlic, soy sauce, green&red bell peppers, onions, and a smoked pork, chicken, or my favorite, duck, really brings out the celery-like taste. And if not over cooked the texture will be like a softer water chestnut. Stem Lettuce is also used in soups, though I've never tried using it in any of my soups.

The meat department is large and comprehensive. This is also where I usually get the "pork butt/shoulder" for my Kalua Pork:

But what many people come to 99 Ranch Market for is the full service Seafood/fish department, and at 9am in the morning, you have it all to yourself, especially if you want them to do any of this to your fish:

I like the signage at 99 Ranch Market. For some reason they make me laugh. Check out the one over the boxes of very live crab, I guess somebody has actually grabbed those by hand?

About this time, I'm finding that I'm really relaxed, and am kind of enjoying myself; at 99 Ranch Market no less! And just then I pass the bakery, and all the smells of the fresh bread:

Maybe some taro cake, or red bean cake in my future? No, not today. There used to be a shaved ice snack bar within the market, but it's been turned into a "deli" case with prepared cold dishes:

There's a pretty large selection on display, in fact it could almost be dizzying! The "smoked fish" (Su Shih Hsun Yuu ), looked especially enticing; but I'd already gotten what I needed, and made my way to the cashier, who although yawning and looking very sleepy, rang me up, and I was on my way…well almost. You see on my way out I saw this:

And I swear, the duck was actually calling my name…..in a very Stephen King-ish way:

You see Sam Woo opens at 9am, how convenient…..so I got a half duck($6.75). As I waited for my duck to be chopped, I heard something else calling my name:

Luckily, I ignored the call. Paid for my duck and was on my way.

So who needs meditation, visualization, and all those other relaxation techniques? Just give me 99 Ranch Market early on a weekend morning……..