Markets & Grocers – Page 35

Road Trip: Shopping and Snackin’ in LA – Hong Kong Plaza Squared

August 27, 2005 mmm-yoso Desserts, Los Angeles County, Markets & Grocers, Road Trip

We had an appointment in Los Angeles this afternoon, so of course there would be some eating involved. And knowing our luck it would also just so happen to be the hottest day of the year. Geez! We left at a quarter after nine, and made great time getting to our first destination at about ten till eleven, too early for lunch (restaurant not open till eleven). So we decided to take a walk around, even though it was stifling hot.

Our destination – Hong Kong Plaza in West Covina. This huge mall didn’t even exist when we moved from LA 4 years ago. So it was quite a shock to see this huge mall here. This outpost of Hong Kong Supermarket was also a shock. We lived down the street from Hong Kong Market in Rowland Heights, and it was basically a Chinese Market. This branch was different and looked to be directed at the Southeast Asian population. It was fun walking down the isles and finding items like the frozen Mangosteen:

One isle was totally dedicated to various packaged seasonings and mixes, many of which I’ve never heard of:

After picking up some nice looking lychee (99 cents/lb – a great price), rejecting the jujubes (dry and looking old), and picking up some packaged snacks I went to the check out, paid and headed for our lunch destination. All the time counting my blessings – I got out spending under twenty bucks.

Hong Kong Supermarket
987 S Glendora Ave
West Covina, CA 91790

After lunch and our appointment, we headed to the "other" Hong Kong Plaza, and our "stinky tofu" destination; Shau Mei Restaurant. While waiting for our tofu, the Missus ordered a Taiwanese Shaved Ice with 3 "items" ($2.50):

Basically 3 items – in this case Lychee, sweet rice balls, and Mango Mousse, covered with a pile of shaved ice with some syrup. You can also order this with condensed milk or juice for an additional cost. In about 5 minutes it looked like this:

The mango mousse was terrible BTW. Standing in the suffocating heat, with a large bag (3 orders) of stinky tofu in my hand was a bit much for me, so I returned to the car to store the tofu while the Missus browsed through a pile of CDs and DVDs. I returned and considered myself lucky; she only bought 3 Andy Lau CDs for $3. She had spotted this sign though:

99 cent Boba – Bargain City! How can you resist a 99 cent Boba? So after a sharp right turn we headed into the snack shop and got a Taro Shake with Boba (Boba in a shake 25 cents). I’m not a Boba drinker, but took a sip. It tasted like a Taro Shake. The Missus said it was a bit sweet, but the Boba was good. So this was obviously worth $1.24.

So done with our short reprieve from the heat, we headed out into the parking lot, and suddenly realized why we like San Diego so much. We miss all of the options available to you in Los Angeles, but really don’t miss the 100 degree plus temps and the psycho drivers and traffic.

Here’s the sign of the day:

You too can go where the "Implants Hang Out"!!!

What about our lunch? That’s for tomorrow, when I’ve recovered from my heat stroke.

Nijiya Market – Our Dependable Standby

August 25, 2005 mmm-yoso Japanese Restaurants, Markets & Grocers

The San Diego location of Nijiya Market is our good dependable standby when we’re unable to decide what’s for lunch and sometimes dinner. Though both Nijiya and Mitsuwa Market are within a mile of each other, we usually chose Nijiya. I think the bentos are better and the prices are also better here. It wasn’t always that way though; Nijjiya moved to this location from a really small location across the strip mall (this used to be an Autozone), a few years ago, and the selection and quality has improved.

We’ll just stop by and pick up a bento (or two):

And of course a few snacks; though Mitsuwa has a better selection of snacks, you can’t leave here without getting some Pocky or arare:

This location of Nijiya features a bakery that bakes fresh bread daily, a tempura/fu-rai bar, organic produce, and of course sushi and bento’s. Though I don’t buy any sushi with raw fish from a market, I’ll purchase Kappa Maki (cucumber rolls) or inari sushi on occasion.

There are three bento’s that I’ll usually get here; the Chicken Katsu, the Chicken Karaage:

The chicken karaage has a nice shoyu flavor, and though not very crunchy by the time we usually get it, it still has alot of taste and is pretty moist. I also like the homemade kurobuta (pork) sausage that are sometimes included in the bento. Don’t ask me what the organic rice thing is, I ignore it. After all I can’t taste the difference.

Sometimes I’m in the mood for a combination bento ($6.99), which always includes a few croquettes, some nimono vegetables, and a main okazu(dish to eat with rice). A real quick hint; the best time to “hit” Nijiya is at about 11am, or thereabouts. Most of the varieties of prepared food is available and the crowds haven’t arrived yet.

In our opinion Mitsuwa features a better selection of snacks and other items, and they have wonderful “events and festivals”, other than that I’ll chose Nijiya most of the time.

Pretty clinical post, huh? Well of course I can’t end this way. I’ll add a very shameful secret. Most of the cashiers at Nijiya think I speak Japanese. I’ve fooled them to this point. I understand some Japanese, but will never speak. But 75% of the time I’m there I’m spoken to in Japanese at the check-out. So as they speak to me, I just nod, with an occasional “Hai”, “domo”, or “credit-to no” (credit card), but that’s it! Of course the Missus is standing next to me whispering “you’re such a fake”, and other terms of endearment….but I think I got ’em fooled here! Of course there is shame in living a lie! Go-men-nasai!!!

Nijiya Market
3860 Convoy St Ste 109
San Diego, CA 92111

Road Trip – Marukai Gardena and Harry’s Aloha Chop Suey

August 1, 2005 mmm-yoso Japanese Restaurants, Los Angeles County, Markets & Grocers, Road Trip

I made my way to Marukai Gardena from the Torrance Farmer’s Market. When I got there just at opening time, it was already quite warm, seems like it was going to be a "hot one".

Almost as big as an airplane hangar, Marukai Gardena is located right on Artesia Blvd. I remember the first time I entered this place; it had almost everything I needed. I had indeed reached the Ex-Pat food "Mecca". Redondo and Purity Portuguese Sausage, S & S Saimin, frozen Zippy’s Chili, Diamond Bakery Soda & Creme crackers, and Aloha Shoyu, to name a few, can all be found here. One of the first things you’ll notice when you enter is that for a place so large, it’s really somewhat cramped.

It can really get crowded in here, so we always plan to get in and out ASAP. The "wall of snacks" here is daunting.

There’s just so much here, I won’t go into it in too much depth. Just enough to say, it was a quick stop today, no maguro, no ogo for me. Just some snacks and alot of nice memories. Marukai is a membership market, but a daily membership ($1.00) is available – it’s cheaper than Disneyland, and almost as fun! So I shopped quickly loaded up my bounty, and headed back to my hotel room for a quick rest and to check out.

Marukai
1740 West Artesia Blvd
Gardena, CA 90248
Summer: Monday – Saturday, 9:00 a.m. – 8:00 p.m. & Sunday, 9:00 a.m. – 7:30 p.m.
Winter: Monday – Saturday, 9:00 a.m. – 7:30 p.m. & Sunday, 9:00 a.m. – 7:30 p.m.

*** Harry’s Aloha Chop Suey has closed

I than decided to hit Harry’s Aloha Chop Suey for a quick bite before hitting the road.

The definition of "hole in the wall", with only 6 tables, Harry’s has a small menu featuring hot table combinations (beef stew, fried chicken, etc.), cooked items (chop steak), and Saimin and Won Ton Mein. Call it a case of saimin insanity, today I decided to order what’s probably the most expensive item on the menu – a large size "Super" Saimin ($9.00).

There was a ton of Char Siu, several slices of kamabuko, what probably amounts to half a head of napa cabbage, carrots, and won tons. The best thing about the dish were the noodles, perfectly cooked, saimin (not ramen) noodles. The crunchy texture triggered many a memory of bowls of saimin and teriyaki beef sticks. The broth on the other hand was nothing to write home about, weak and almost flavorless, shoyu was a necessity. The other item I was thankful for was the watery "chinese mustard", just like back home. A swirl with the chopsticks to get a bit of mustard on it, place into the spoon, grab noodles and place in the spoon, consume – delici-yoso! I finished just about everything, enough to get a comment of "you did pretty good".

So great noodles, not the best broth, great service, and everything under $9.00 (actually most items are under $6.50). Not as good as I remember from my last trip here, but still worth the culinary trip down "memory lane". Enough so that I was willing to eat this even though the weather outside was clearly "heatwave" in nature.

Harry’s Aloha Chop Suey
1721 W Redondo Beach Blvd
Gardena, CA 90247

LA Road Trip – Marukai West Covina and Shau Mei Restaurant; Ogo and Smelly Tofu?

July 16, 2005 mmm-yoso Chinese Restaurants, Los Angeles County, Markets & Grocers, Road Trip

*** Note: Marukai West Covina is now Tokyo Central

Feeling really ambitious, I decided on a Road Trip to LA. The objective; Ogo from Marukai. I left at 715, and actually got to the Marukai in Gardena, 10 minutes before opening time (115 miles in 90 minutes – talk about making great time!). I decided to call the fish Dept and ask if they had Ogo; well they told me that they were out, and so it seems was I, out of luck that is! Well, just to follow-up I called Marukai in West Covina, and was told that they had Ogo. So I decided to go for it! What the heck, another 40 miles really wouldn't make a difference. When I drove into the parking lot of Marukai I noticed that there was alot of work going on the storefront.

I walked in, and there it was, Ogo – $7.98/lb. So basically a package of ogo cost less than 3 bucks. One really good thing about the West Covina branch of Marukai is that they are less busy and thus able to give really good service. I looked at the tuna in the fish case and none of them looked really good, plus all were less than 3/4 of a pound, and I wanted a larger quantity. So I asked the fish cutter if I could get a piece that was about a pound or more. His response "of course", and went and cut me a fresh piece. I also picked up a few goodies like One Ton Chips.

After grabbing a pretty huge lunch, I was ready to hit the road! But I decided to take a drive down Colima Road, through our old neighborhood of Rowland Heights, and there have been a ton of changes since I'd been here last. But Hong Kong Plaza was still there, and crowded and bustling as usual. You basically take your life into your hands when trying to park here on a weekend. We lived a half block away and used to walk here. In Hong Kong Plaza is the Taiwanese Deli Hsia Hsia Shau Mei Restaurant, home of the smelliest of the smelly tofu I've ever encountered!

So smelly, I can't even eat it! But the Missus loves it. This little deli/restaurant serves "hot table" dishes, has a menu of over 100 items, and also serves an array of Taiwanese "shaved ice", drinks, and snacks. Watching me place my order, was the stuff sitcoms are made of! You see I realized, that in all the times we'd been here, I had never placed an order, I let the Missus order in Mandarin. Also I don't really speak any Mandarin! So I tried to place my order for "Cho' Dofu", "huh?", "Cho' Dofu", she shakes her head and holds her nose, "No you don't want!". So I laugh and go, "than i want 2 order", and she laughs and rings it up (fried tofu w/odor, $3.50/ea). It was quite a wait, I really don't know why, everything else here is really "fast", but it must be something to do with the preparation. Come to think of it I really don't know much about Smelly Tofu at all. Here's a scientific article on "stinky tofu" courtesy of eatingchinese.org. She handed me the bag of Cho Dofu and I walked to the car and gingerly placed it far from everything. Unfortunately, some of the smell of the tofu had come off on my hand, ick! So what's the smell like? Well, if "Faces of Death" had "smell-a-vision"…. I arrived home and one order of tofu was devoured in a minutes flat, amazing! While reading the menu my wife noted, "hey look, they now have "Hot & spicy fried tofu w/odor", great, a double whammy…..

A couple of notes on Shau Mei, most of the business is conducted in Mandarin. Prices for most dishes range from $3.50-$6.00. We've received some really rude service here on occasion, especially when it's busy, most of the time it's just indifferent, today it was really nice. Don't let my story of Smelly Tofu deter you from trying this place. I've had many dishes here and some have been pretty good. I've also had smelly tofu at other restaurants, and have enjoyed it. It's only that this version is a bit much for me.

Hsin Hsin Shau Mei Deli
18438-1 East Colima Rd
Rowland Heights, CA 91748
626-964-1833

So what happened with lunch and what about the poke? Well I had the worst commute I've ever had on the '5' returning from LA – 3 hours! So I'm a bit tired, I'll post the other items in the (very) near future!

Homemade Tapenade

July 10, 2005 mmm-yoso Cooking, Markets & Grocers, Recipes

After eating my Muffeletta the other day, I developed a craving for some Tapenade. Nothing says summer like a nice Tapenade. So I marched over to the neighborhood market, which for us is an IGA; Keil's. They happen to have an olive bar with a nice selection:

When we first moved into this area I scoffed at the existence of Keil's, it really doesn't look like much from the outside, and I would make the extra trip to go to one of the major chain supermarkets. But when I finally did shop at Keil's I was thoroughly surprised. They carry everything from Boar's Head Deli Products to Tiparos Fish Sauce. Though I'm not impressed by the produce, Keil's is one of the few places where I will purchase ground beef. During the summer weekends they even have a smoker going with ribs, chicken, and corn for sale.

So I grabbed some pitted Kalamata olives and some Niscoise olives and the other ingredients and headed the few blocks home. Now in the days BFP (before food processor), if I wanted to make a tapenade I would have spent a good portion of the evening pitting the olives, than chopping everything, before finally mixing. Now that I can get decent quality pitted Kalamata's (I still have to pit the Nicoise) and can use the food processor, my time is cut by 80%.

Here's the recipe – all measurements are approximations. I basically "eyeball" everything, and go by taste:

Tapenade
2 cups good quality olives pitted
2 TB capers drained and dried
2 Anchovy filets
1/3 cup artichoke hearts preserved in brine – drained
1/3 cup sun dried tomatoes in olive oil – drained
Zest of 1/2 lemon
2 TB Fresh squeezed lemon juice
1/3 cup of Good Quality extra virgin olive oil

Separate half the olives and pulse 1-2 times in a food processor until you have larger chopped pieces of olive, remove to a bowl. Add the other half of the olives, capers, anchovy, sun dried tomatoes, and artichoke hearts, and pulse in the food processor. Add to bowl with olives. Add olive oil pouring slowly while mixing. Add lemon zest and lemon juice and mix. Refrigerate. Will keep up to a week tightly covered in the frig.

Slice ciabatta loaf in half, spread tapenade on bottom. Add a double layer of genoa salami, followed by a single layer of provolone cheese. Top with a double layer of Cappicola. Wrap sandwich in saran, place between 2 plates and press down; or use some other "pressing" method. Eat until olive oil oozes out of your pores, repeat as necessary.

Mardi Gras Cafe & Market Place

July 7, 2005 mmm-yoso Cajun, Southern, and Soul Food, Markets & Grocers, Sandwiches

**** Mardi Gras Cafe has closed.

I’ve driven by this place several times, so finally decided to stop by and see what this place was all about. This tiny “Cafe” and Market is located on Midway Drive near the Sports Arena.

What got my attention was the sign “New Orleans Muffulettas”. So like any sucker(?) I decided to give it a try. As I walked in the there was a huge “Wall of Fire over 300 Hot Sauces” sign, this immediately tripped all of the tourist trap alarms in my head. But by that time I had walked into the store and committed myself; retreat was not an option. The menu on the wall listed about a dozen sandwiches, Po’ Boys, Jambalaya, Gumbo, Shrimp Creole, and Crawfish Etouffe among other items. I stepped up and ordered the large “Specialty New Orleans Muffuletta” ($10.99). The counter help is very friendly, but S-L-O-W, so while waiting for my sandwich, I had a chance to look around and saw this sign; at least I know where to go if I have a sudden craving for Alligator Filets; it might be a long time coming though. There is also a healthy stock of Cafe Du Monde Beignet Mix and Coffee, Pecan Rolls, Pralines, and Zapp’s Potato Chips. As I looked over the menu/flyer, I had a little chuckle – it claimed the “Wall of Fire” had over 400 hot sauces, so that means sometime between the time the flyer was produced and when I placed my order, something had happened to “over 100 hot sauces”. About that time my sandwich was ready, I grabbed the bag and almost fell over, but righted myself and headed home. At home I unloaded the sub, it had been cut into four pieces, so I put them back together and took a picture; the darn thing was the size of a small pizza! What I did next was get some info on the muffuletta, not knowing what the “real thing” was like. Than I proceeded to eat. First of all I noticed that this sandwich suffered from TMB (Too Much Bread) Syndrome, and thought it would have no flavor. I was wrong, as the olive spread and the salami gave it a nice taste. I did not taste any capers, celery, or onions in the olive spread, but the taste of the sandwich was not bad. Also, there was regular ham in the sandwich instead of Cappicola. The bread was also a bit stale, which didn’t help the sandwich too much. But to put everything into perspective, this sandwich is easily two meals, and is more tasty than I thought it would be. So I haven’t ruled out another trip. The Alligator Sausage Sub($7.99) has gotten my attention, so I may give it another try. What has happened though, is that I’ve resolved to get to New Orleans soon to try the “real deal”.

MARDI GRAS Cafe & Marketplace
3185 Midway Dr Ste E
San Diego, CA 92110-4542
(619) 223-5501

Zion Market – Kalbi Time

July 3, 2005 mmm-yoso Cooking, Markets & Grocers, Recipes

***** I'm sure you already know that Zion Market has moved

After sharing a Kalbi recipe on Elmo's Site – Monster Munching, I became motivated and decided to do a batch of ribs for myself. So this entailed a trip to Zion Market:

Zion Market is a huge Korean Grocer with a wonderful selection of produce, meat, and various Korean grocery items. Today I picked up some very fragrant Donut Peaches at $1.49/lb. I also picked up some other miscellaneous grocery items, that I'll go into later. There is also a large selection of pan-chan – I call it the "Great Wall of Kimchee" as well as marinated meats. The quality and selection in the meat department can be mind boggling; for example, 3 "grades" of cross sliced short ribs and 4 grades of sliced rib eye. Maybe someone can explain the difference between 'A', 'B' and '10 up' sliced rib eye – some cuts look thinner and some are more marbled. The prices are also very reasonable $2.59/lb for short ribs is a bargain!

There is also a small "food court" and a fresh seafood counter, and a bakery within the Marketplace.

Zion Marketplace
4611 Mercury St
San Diego, CA 92111
Between Engineer Rd and Dagget St

When I got home I started on the Kalbi.

Here's my standard recipe:

2-3lbs Short Ribs
2/3c Soy sauce
1 c Water
1/2c Sugar
2 Tb grated, pureed or minced garlic
2 Tb grated, pureed or minced onion
2 Tb pureed ripe papaya or Asian pear
1/2 tsp pepper
1 large stalk green onion chopped
1 Tb sesame oil (optional)

I added a few twists – There were no ripe papaya's, and the Asian Pears looked horrible – so I decided to use kiwi. Now I had heard that marinating with kiwi can be a bit dicey as it has a tendency to over-tenderize the meat, but I thought I'd give it a try. So scratch the papaya or Asian pear, and replace with 2TB pureed kiwi. I had also heard that Malt Syrup gave kalbi a nice distinctive sweet flavor and gave kalbi a lacquered appearance, so I found and purchased a bottle. The Malt Syrup is amber in color, and tastes basically just like corn syrup. I replaced 1/2cup of sugar with 1/4 cup of malt syrup and 1/4 cup of sugar. I mixed the marinade, added the meat, and went to sleep. We'll see what happens tomorrow when I fire up the grill.

Local Kine Stuffs in San Diego – Redondo’s

July 2, 2005 mmm-yoso Local Kine Stuffs in San Diego, Markets & Grocers, yoso-silly

I had been told of this a while back – you can actually get Portuguese Sausage (Da’ Hawaii Kine – OK!) here in San Diego. Though it’s not Purity Brand, which is my favorite; in a pinch Redondo’s will do. For those that don’t know, back "home" in Hawaii, this is a staple – even them "Golden Arches" places sell Portuguese Sausage, Eggs, and Rice!

Orient Bowl Market on Convoy; formerly First Korean Market, stocks Redondo Portuguese Sausage ($3.99) and Hot Dogs ($3.79).

I know, that’s kind of expensive, but if you need it, you need it!

This is the same strip mall North of Jasmine Restaurant, that Dumpling Inn is located in. I’ve also seen S & S Saimin on a previous visit. All items are frozen, but I’ve had the Portuguese Sausage and it tasted ok.

Orient Bowl Market
4625 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111

Hogetsu Bakery

June 19, 2005 mmm-yoso Bakery, Japanese Restaurants, Markets & Grocers

I’m almost sure that 99.9% of the people in San Diego or Chula Vista have never heard of this place.

Located in another one of those non-descript strip malls strung throughout Chula Vista, Hogetsu Bakery makes excellent Manju and Mochi, and also sells Castella and other Japanese goodies.

A friendly, Family run operation, Hogetsu has been in business since 1983. So I’m still amazed that only 1 person that I’ve spoken to has ever heard of this place! Many people I know still drive to Los Angeles to get their Manju, or just buy them from Nijiya or Mitsuwa.

The prices are reasonable ranging from $.95 and up. And there are many varieties available. I purchased a small box of goodies ($9.00).

It’s amazing when you bite into a “fresh” Habutai; usually somewhat chewy, this one is softer, more delicate. It’s almost strange being used to store bought manju how different this was.

So there’s really no need to drive to Los Angeles for mochi anymore. It’s just down the street in Chula Vista.

Hogetsu Bakery
1210 3rd Ave
Chula Vista, CA 91911

Open Tues-Sat 10am-6pm

(619) 422-6677

One quick post-script – For fellow Chowhounds, Hogetsu Bakery is located in the same mall as the infamous Kaga Zushi…..

Kabul Market – Chapli & Kabobs

June 18, 2005 mmm-yoso Afghan, Markets & Grocers

*** Update – Kabul Market has closed.

For dinner last night we dropped by another place on our regular rotation; Kabul Market.

Within the market is the House of Kabob a nice little gem on Convoy St. in the Clairemont Mesa area. Here you’ll find some very tasty and reasonably priced Afghan food. In all honesty, I have no idea what Afghan food is. But I can truly say the food here is tasty. Today we had the Chapli Kabob (below) and the Chicken Kabob plate.

From what I can tell Chapli is basically (local standards) a Afghan Hamburger Steak very liberally flavored with various herbs and spices. It served with a green salad with a very tangy and tasty yogurt (again I’m guessing) dressing, rice pilaf seasoned with Sumac, Afghan Bread (Naan??), and a Chatni. All for $5.99!!!! Now I had no idea what Sumac is but here’s a good description of it, we now have it at home it’s an excellent additions to dressings, but like furikake’ also really good on a nice bowl of rice! (Sorry, but I’m ready to “bust-out” the Chaw-wan at the earliest sign of starch!)

The Chicken Kabob is also really good, and today it was in fine form! Soooo tasty, spicy, a little tangy, a little herbaceous.

Now service may be a little slow, but this is a Mom and Pop operation. So place your order, and shop around the market. All meat are prepared in accordance with The House of Halal, and there are many pastries, herbs, and other provisions available.

Kabul Market
4425 Convoy Street, San Diego, CA 92111
(858) 514-8682

Uh-oh…Food Coma…….