Category: Markets & Grocers

After laboring through making Xiao Long Bao, we decided to stick with eating them in restaurants, or purchasing them frozen. The problem was trying to find decent frozen XLB. On a recent trip to Rowland Heights, we visited one of our favorite snack shops, Yi-Mei Deli.

We used to live a block away and I still love the steamed buns and other snacks, and breakfast items at Yi-Mei Deli. So on this trip we bought frozen Xiao Long Bao (50 for $16). And when we made a batch, this is what they looked like.

They were very disappointing. The meatball, didn’t taste right, and there was very little "soup" in the dumplings. Also, most of the dumplings leaked, and the soup ended up in the steaming liquid. Not good eats. We’ll still be visiting Yi-Mei when in Rowland Heights, but definitely won’t be buying the frozen XLB from them.

Yi Mei Deli
18414 Colima Rd
Rowland Heights, CA 91748 

After that experience I pretty much thought that we’d just be having them at Shanghai City, or on my visits to San Gabriel, and Mei Long Village, or some other restaurant. I recently received an Email from Stephanie, who recommended a source for frozen Xiao Long Bao in San Diego. And so here we were……..

Or were we? Where was the Xiao Long Bao in this generic office building in Sorrento Valley? Stephanie told me the place to find was the San Diego China Center & Chinese Institute.

We took the elevator up to the third floor, and walked to the only open door. It was quite obvious, that this was the right place.

We arrived at 11am which I guess is when various "classes" were getting out. Children, and sometimes whole families were entering and exiting the office. We could hear the music from a piano in the background; there were some obvious "oopsies" so I’m guessing there were some lessons going on. A studious and serious Young Lady walked past me, holding a violin case and music stand, walking right behind her mother. Yes, I’m guessing that we’d found the right place.

The Missus walked up to the table, and spoke to the Lady in Mandarin. Another lady walked into the "lounge" and opened up a freezer, and brought us a bag of Xiao Long Bao. I gave her $12(for 50), and viola, we had our Xiao Long Bao. It seems that the SDCCCI purchases frozen Xiao Long Bao, Jiaozhi, and other items from a source in Los Angeles for resale here in San Diego. You can view an entire list(it’s in Chinese), here.

So last night I made the XLB. I noticed that these XLB were really round, and "tight".

After steaming for 12 minutes, I tried them out using a mixture if Chiangkiang Vinegar and julienned ginger. Only 2 of the XLB had burst, the rest had expanded and were fine. The meatball was nice and tasty, and there was a decent amount of soup in the dumpling. These were even a bit better then some XLB I’ve had in restaurants.

So thanks to Stephanie, looks like we’ve found a source for Xiao Long Bao in San Diego. Thanks for making my weekend Stephanie.

Some notes on SDCCCI: It’s fairly hard to find, located next to a Storage Facility, and no obvious sign except for the building address. The selection is quite large, we’ll probably just stick with the XLB since the Missus can make most of the other items. The hours for selling frozen food is between 430pm – 630pm Monday thru Friday and from 1000am – 200pm Saturday.

San Diego China Center & Chinese Institute
10505 Sorrento Valley Road, Suite #390
San Diego, CA 92121

If you’ve been reading this blog for a while you know that the Missus goes through periods of extreme food obsession, whether it’s something as simple as eating Her way through a flat of strawberries every other day, or as extreme as going through 10 different types of feta cheese over the course of a week. But when there are several overlapping obsessions, we’re in line for some major shopping. So on a recent weekend, food obsessions intact we did some shopping. Luckily, the area West of Fairmount Avenue and either University or El Cajon Boulevard is filled with Markets. There is practically a different market, or produce stand, about every two blocks or so. And we’re not talking about "chain" supermarkets, either. So here’s a typical morning…..

Stop#1 – World Foods Supermarket

Obsession – Purple Sweet Potatoes. The Missus, says this years crop is very good, and tastes even better then Her beloved Okinawan Sweet Potatoes:

She simply roasts them in the oven, and eats them. 7 Pounds of Sweet Potatoes later we’re off to our next stop.

World Foods Supermarket
5245 El Cajon Blvd
San Diego, CA 92115

Stop#2 – United Oriental Food Market

I hadn’t been back to United Food Market in some time. And made sure to check out the hot table items.

But the Missus had something else in mind. She got a large ($5.00) Green Papaya Salad, which was made on the spot.

This ended up being a large tub of Papaya Salad, though ordered medium, it was pretty spicy. Well, no time for Satay’s today, we got one other item on our list, so we’re off…..

United Oriental Food Market
5349 El Cajon Blvd
San Diego, CA 92115

Stop #3 – Minh Huong Supermarket

At the Cambodian New Years Festival, the Missus developed one of Her latest obsessions, green mango. This came into full bloom, when I showed Her how ate it "back home", simply green mango with Shoyu and Sugar. She was hooked. We did stop at a few places before this market, which we had never been to, even a market called Minnehaha Food Market, with no luck. As we entered we headed straight for the small but well stocked produce department.

While I wandered around the market…..

The Missus found what she was searching for:

And not a moment too soon. I was about to steal this sign and use it as a name tag:

Minh Huong Supermarket
4770 University Ave
San Diego, CA 92105

Funny thing, the Missus always tells me she hates shopping in markets, and I usually have to shop solo. Unless there’s a obsession that needs to be filled.

Here’s the latest. This past week a local supermarket chain has got corn on sale for something like 12 for $2. Now the corn is really not of the greatest quality.

But it’s perfect for my Stovetop Smoker:

2 tablespoons of Alder and 18-20 minutes later, and viola!

Pretty decent smoked corn. So it’s been 3 days and 9 ears of corn! Hmmm, another obsession in the making????

"So whaddaya feel like for dinner tonight?"
"Some feta cheese would be nice."
"Okay, feta and….."
"Feta"
"Feta and Feta?"
"Maybe some bread would be nice…."

This called for a visit to North Park Produce:

Located on the corner of  El Cajon Boulevard and Wilson Street, North Park Produce is quite unique, even when ethnic markets are the subject. North Park Produce is sort of a combination Middle Eastern – Mexican Market, and covers alot of ground in between.

Along with the reasonably priced and great variety of produce:

There is a small but good meat department.

All the meat at North Park Produce is prepared using the standards of the House of Halal. North Park Produce is also on of the few Markets that constantly provides fresh ground lamb, as well as other "fresh" lamb cuts.

A look at the variety of  "breads" available at NPP also clearly illustrates the diversity of products.

The tortillas are located on the shelf right above the lavosh.

You can imagine the great variety of snacks and confections.

The great wall of olive oil.

After wandering around the market a bit, I headed to the Deli counter to see what the Missus was up to.

The Missus was still waiting for Her feta, so I got to check out the nice variety of olives, as well as the 11 different varieties of feta cheese.

In a few minutes I was handed 6 small bags of feta cheese. The Missus had ordered a variety of feta cheeses! When I asked Her which 6 She chose, she told me, "The six on the right. Next time I’m getting the five on the left!" You gotta love it!

So the Missus had a feta tasting dinner this evening. From left to right; Romanian, Akhcvi(not quite sure of the spelling), and Bulgarian.

From right to left; Deli Feta, Sandek, and Classic Feta.

All of this along with some Lavosh, snacks, and produce? $12, not bad! In what was a very interesting occurrence, both the Missus and I enjoyed the Romanian feta the most (nice slightly creamy taste and texture, good salt, with a slightly tangy finish), with the Bulgarian coming in second.

For dessert the Missus had some prickly pears:

So next time you’re in the area, you might consider dropping by North Park Produce. Who knows, you may end up getting some good feta(or six).

North Park Produce
3551 El Cajon Blvd
San Diego, CA 92104
Store Hours: Mon-Sat 9am-7pm
Sun 9am-5pm

12342 Poway Rd.
Poway, CA 92064
Store Hours: Mon-Sat 9am-8pm
Sun 9am-6pm

We made our way to Hong Kong Plaza in Rowland Heights after deciding to stick around LA after our dinner at Sushi Gen. We marveled at all the "new" buildings and restaurants in the area. As we drove around all those street names; Colima, Nogales, Hacienda, Gale, brought back memories of the almost 5 years we lived in the area. During that period we lived within walking distance of Hong Kong Plaza, and shopped regularly at Hong Kong Supermarket.

The first thing that struck us were all the new restaurants and businesses that we hadn’t noticed on our previous visits. When we lived right down the street Hong Kong Plaza could have best been described as a bit worn, dirty, and a bit seedy looking. In the years since, efforts have been made to clean up, with somewhat mixed results. Hong Kong Supermarket has been totally renovated though, and is no longer as "fragrant", nor as dirty looking.

A couple of things hadn’t changed though, and one of them is the terribly rude service. Ah, don’t you just love consistency! The Market was humming, even at almost 9 pm! We really couldn’t remember seeing it this busy so late in the evening. In fact, the entire mall was almost completely full.

We headed for the snack aisle, and the Missus made several selections.

One thing I do miss from the "older" version of Hong Kong Market, are the fresh deli items. The Market used to have good smoked duck and chicken, and the best Dao Ko Chicken I’ve ever had, all made in-house. These have been replaced.

What I find interesting about Asian Markets is the availability of both packaged meat:

As well as a meat counter, I guess they want to cover all bases.

And requisite fresh seafood department.

What caught our attention is an aisle marked as "Gourmet Chinese", of course we had to check it out. XO sauce flavored items seem to be in fashion.

As well as about eight brands of XO Sauce.

And other "stuff".

For some reason, I get a bit paranoid around all the fermented tofu. All it would take would be a single cracked jar….and you get the picture, right?

Can you see the Missus flagging me down with a bag of garlic?

There’s a reason for that. Here’s a good example of prices in Los Angeles.

Sheesh, just 49 cents for a whole bag of garlic!

After making our purchases, we headed to our favorite places. The Missus went over to the "Jerky" stand.

The Lady here is always very nice, and it is also one of the few places that gets an ‘A’ grade in the whole plaza!

The Missus always gets a nice variety.

Meanwhile, I was across the hall at Yi-Mei Deli.

I have great memories, of grabbing the steamed buns for breakfast. You’d pay and the Lady would heat them up, and you’d have a nice breakfast.

I grabbed several pork and a couple of mushroom and meat. I did notice that the price of these had gone up from 75 cents to a dollar since I last visited, but it’s still good cheap eats. And somebody has to pay for the ‘B’ restaurant  grade, the last time I was here, they had gotten a ‘C’ – just kidding of course!

Looks like Hong Kong Plaza is doing well. We’re planning on several meals in the area in the near future. For another example of good cheap eats in the plaza, check out Elmo’s post on Hong Kong Fishball House.

Hong Kong Supermarket/Hong Kong Plaza
18414 Colima Rd
Rowland Heights, CA 91748

After a recent lunch at Pho Ca Dao, I decided to take a short walk across the parking lot and check out World Foods Supermarket which shares the strip mall with Pho Ca Dao and several other businesses.

As I walked in to the market and began my usual "perimeter walk", two things struck me. First off, much like Pho Ca Dao, World Food was alot smaller then it appears. And second of all, I was surprised at how clean and "smell free" the whole market was.

As I walked through the produce department all the usual suspects were apparent, like some really nice mint.

And though the quantity and variety of produce could not match that of Vien Dong III, there was still a nice assortment of produce and herbs. That’s fresh turmeric on the left and galangal on the right:

Though I found that these peppers were labeled as "Jalapenos". If someone actually thought these were Jalapenos, they’d be in for a BIG surprise!

As with most markets, the meat and seafood section stretched along the entire back wall of the market.

The meat looked fresh, and all the more "specialty" cuts like Pork snouts and ears were available, even some things that really had me stumped.

The seafood section was very clean, and your sense of smell is not attacked by the pungent smells that are sometimes associated with certain Asian Markets. The smells emanating from most markets doesn’t bother me much, but I know it bothers some.

Here’s some really fresh looking shrimp for $3.99/lb.

And as I passed the live seafood tanks…..

I met up with this proud and regal looking fellow:

Surprisingly, World Foods was fairly empty on this Saturday morning, probably because it was the weekend after Tet. World Foods is worth a stop if you’re in the area and need to stock up; the market is clean, and the produce looked pretty good. As with many "International" markets, World Foods, also stocks a variety of items. Check out the hot sauces.

World Foods Supermarket
5245 El Cajon Blvd
San Diego, CA 92115

This past Monday was the Martin Luther King Holiday for me. It was also the coldest day so far this winter, 45 degrees in the early morning according to the Bank Thermometer! Best to go out and grab some pho’ or other soup. But of course the Missus had other ideas!

She: "I want a burger"
Me: "Okay, what do you want? In N Out…."
She: "No I want a home made burger."
Me: "Okay, I go buy some hamburger and I’ll fry some up"
She: "Ummm, no, I want a grilled burger."
Me: "Are you kidding me! It’s freezing out there."
She "Forget it then……"

So a half hour later, there I was driving down the freeway to Iowa Meat Farms, our favorite meat market.  Siesel’s is closer, and both Iowa Meat and Siesel’s is owned by the same Parent Company the Cohn Group. But I’ve always thought that the meat and service at Iowa Meat was better. Case in point, once when I needed a Beef Tenderloin, and I couldn’t find one of appropriate size in the "case". The Cutter actually took me into the back and showed me a bunch of tenderloins, helped me pick one out, cut, trimmed, and tied me a 2 1/2 pound piece off of the tenderloin. Such is the service at Iowa Meat Farms, at least when they aren’t busy.

A quick look at this makes it pretty clear at what Iowa Meat sells:

And it’s "No Bull". Iowa Meat is one of a handful of markets where I trust the quality of the ground beef. USDA prime beef is also sold at Iowa Meat; and I’ll usually spring for a prime cut for special occasions(like Sammy and Frankie’s Birthday). Since we don’t eat alot of beef it’s worth splurging on. There is also a Prime Sirloin Cut called the Cattleman’s Cut that is about 2 inches thick. Grilled over direct heat, on a covered grill, this cut is amazingly tender and tasty for a sirloin. According to what I’ve been told, it is believed that the thicker the cut of sirloin, the more tender. I usually makes this once or twice during grilling season. Meat here is not cheap, but is worth every penny to me.

So I got 2 1/2 pounds of  ground beef, enough for 6 patties(5 for us, 1 for the boys), and soon enough I was grilling. By that time the sun was out, it had warmed to the mid-50’s, and the hot grill felt good. Nothing like grilling in January. All was well in our household:

I like my burger with lettuce, tomatoes, onions, and some brown mustard. The Missus enjoys it the same way, sans the mustard. She tells me, "I want to taste the beef". She ate a double patty (that’s about 10-12oz) burger, then went to take a nap.

Iowa Meat Farms

6041 Mission Gorge Rd
San Diego, CA 92120

Oh yes, the story! During my "College Days", during one of the many Business type classes I had to take, another student was giving a presentation. Now, this "Dude" used always tell us about working at a certain "Fast Food" joint, you know the type, he lived for working at this place, always talking about his "career path" to fast-food Manager. Yeah, whatever! For this story let’s just call this place Xxxxy’s. So he’s going over business plans, and I’m just totally spacing out, staring blankly into the distance. All I hear is; "waa-waa-waa, waa-waa,waa". So during the Q&A session following the presentation, the Instructor, who noticed how little attention I was paying to the presentation, called on me, and asked "Kirk, can you tell me, based on the information given; what is the secret to Xxxxy’s success?" Now I hadn’t heard a word! "Ummmm-ummmm…." I could feel a drop of sweat rolling down the middle of my back, my mind racing, trying to come up with something, anything. And suddenly it all became so clear! In a example of improvisational genius, I blurted out; "Yeah, yeah, yesterdays’ burger is todays’ chili!" And the whole class cracked up, even the Professor. He later told me that I’d summed up the entire 15 minute presentation in one short sentence! Oh, and I was sure that my display of "business prowess" was the reason I got an ‘A’ in the class.