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What foods do you crave from your local Chinese market?


True Blue

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For me, every time I go to the local Asian food market (sells Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, Thai foods) with my wife (which isn'tt often, maybe just once every 2 or 3 weeks) I head straight for the Lao Gamma Black bean sauce. My wife goes to the market every week and balances shopping between the Asian market, a supermarket, Walmart, a shopping club etc. She often shops during the week while I work so I usually only accompany her on weekends.

 

I love Lao Gamma and also the salty pickled vegetables that go in my congee ( she calls congee Zhou?..sound like joe to me so that's what I call it too.

 

So what are your favorite indulgences that are only available at your local Chinese/Asian market or that you must have shipped to you from friends and relatives in China?

 

And for you expats, what foods do you crave from the US that you seek out at specialty markets near where you live? I always wondered what US foods expats would have a hard time finding. Cheese (see my previous post about Xian) was one thing I saw missing/tiny choice from Chinese supermarkets.

 

Best,

True Black Bean Sauce Blue

Edited by True Blue (see edit history)
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I am an inveterate tea drinker and I like to try the various teas from all over the world. I settle on a few choices for a while and then get experimental.

 

The best thing about an Asian market (we have Korean, Viet, and Chinese, which really have a lot of Indian, Indo, and Japanese stuff as well) is the vegetables. There must be 8 different kinds of mint for the Viets and some Chinese. I always choose a bunch to take back. There are radishes of all kinds and mushrooms. You won't find those in a Kroger.

 

The only place to get real seafood is at an Asian market here. All kinds from all,. over the world are sold, and fresh. Some live tilapia are available and there is no place to get squid or octopus as fresh as at the Asian market.

 

Of course, she chooses the milk fish, and grunt and croaker that when put in a pan, stink up the house for days. Reminds me of Vietnam. Thank God she does not like nuc muam, that terrible fish sauce they pour over everything. Here it is mixed with anchovy which is not bad. But over there, they take the sild, or the oil and crud that leeks into pans that are under the fish on a tripod and sit out in the sun. (Retch.) The Norwegians do the same thing with cod but it takes better. They use the sild to put in sardines and some tuna.

 

They say if you like sild or lutefisk, you ;like eating pu$$y. Hehe. I would agree.

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I bought some beans from Asian Market to fill up a pillow for myself. That kind of pillow massages your brain and it feels cooler in summer than American regular pillow.

 

I also buy a kind of green peas called British Beans. I boil them with much water for a drink. It becomes protine drink. How to spell protine ?

 

I buy some Asian turnips. I eat them raw. The turnips are like an apple for me lol Chinese chives are also a favorite. I wish I could have a chance to cook Chives cake for all of you!

 

I buy some herbs as tea to drink. Such drink eases my throat if I don't feel good with the throat or voice.

Seaweed is also a choice. It provides idiom, ideam? My spelling goes backward after I come to America.

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LOL, I was meaning "Iodine", a substance necessary to our health. Not idiom, :) Seaweed doesn't give us idioms. I'm learning idioms every day, such as "hold your horses" :happydance:

At Asian market, we can get some vegetables that you can't see at Walmart. Some Asian snacks are sometimes alluring. If you need to make a cross-culture gift, that place is also a choice.

 

One thing I don't understand. I went to different Asian market in different cities. It seems none of them very clean. None of them is as clean as Sprouts, AlDi or Walmart and other American stores. I don't want people judge Asian market but why don't they keep the market very clean? They are in America now.

Edited by Catherineli (see edit history)
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I don't know the answer to that Catherine but it seems to be the norm all over the country. Liren's first trip to America was in San Francisco and she wanted to go to China Town and walk through that archway and we did but she was appalled at the lack of cleanliness. She didn't want to stay long. That is the reason that the wife will not go to them and I don't get any great home cooked Chinese food their lack of cleanness. She is a clean freak for sure.

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LOL, I was meaning "Iodine", a substance necessary to our health. Not idiom, :) Seaweed doesn't give us idioms. I'm learning idioms every day, such as "hold your horses" :happydance:

At Asian market, we can get some vegetables that you can't see at Walmart. Some Asian snacks are sometimes alluring. If you need to make a cross-culture gift, that place is also a choice.

 

One thing I don't understand. I went to different Asian market in different cities. It seems none of them very clean. None of them is as clean as Sprouts, AlDi or Walmart and other American stores. I don't want people judge Asian market but why don't they keep the market very clean? They are in America now.

 

I notice that Asian markets are often in a run down buildings in a poor area of town because the owners do not want to pay high rent. These areas are often poorly maintained and the markets are very busy and understaffed so they are...well....dirty.

 

I also learned from my wife that much of Chinese cuisine is not for eating pleasure but for health benefits. For example, she cooks and serves some dried chewy mushroom for us to eat about once a week. It doesn't taste bad. It doesn't taste good either. It adds nothing to the flavor of the meal. It's purpose is to clean the liver. Sometimes at meal time I feel like a car on the rack, brought in for oil change, windshield wiper fluid, brake fluid and steering fluid.

 

Eating many vegetables, vitamins and herbal supplements that are "good for me" to maintain my health but not too delicious in terms of taste. Mainly they have little or no flavor - good or bad - just necessary to keep the body running well. I eat most of the things my wife makes. Bitter melon was apparently a favorite food of Mao Zedong, though it is not one of my favorites. Drops the blood sugar and helps the heart, but is one food I don't mind skipping. I am happy when the local market runs out of stock for this vegetable..

 

Most of the Chinese and Asian snacks that I have tried like seaweed and sunflower seeds aren't particularly flavorful or tasty to me. I would much rather eat some fruit, nuts or berries. I do like the Wasabi peas though. They sting my tongue and numb my taste buds but they make you want to eat more.

 

Like you, we are also Aldi fans. The prices are good and the fruit and vegetables are plentiful if you get there on the 1 day of the week that the new fruit and vegetables are delivered.

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I bought some beans from Asian Market to fill up a pillow for myself. That kind of pillow massages your brain and it feels cooler in summer than American regular pillow.

 

I also buy a kind of green peas called British Beans. I boil them with much water for a drink. It becomes protine drink. How to spell protine ?

 

I buy some Asian turnips. I eat them raw. The turnips are like an apple for me lol Chinese chives are also a favorite. I wish I could have a chance to cook Chives cake for all of you!

 

I buy some herbs as tea to drink. Such drink eases my throat if I don't feel good with the throat or voice.

Seaweed is also a choice. It provides idiom, ideam? My spelling goes backward after I come to America.

 

 

Chives. That's it. Not chives like you buy as a slightly oniony flavor and use in small amounts for the cream cheese spread. When Chinese are talking chives they mean CHIVES, like grass you just picked out of the lawnmower. When you cook it in a wok or in a pan of water, it smells like a thousand lawnmowers parked in the front lawn after they spent all day cutting grass.The wife stuffs it into bao zi or anything she can hide it in.

 

And just like eating turnips raw, it comes out later as a gaseous air emanating from a relaxation of the sphincter muscle. (I did not say fart.)

 

But it's why we love her. Eat and smile. Smile and eat.....(no offense Catherine. I will try the cake.)

  • Like 2
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I bought some beans from Asian Market to fill up a pillow for myself. That kind of pillow massages your brain and it feels cooler in summer than American regular pillow.

 

I also buy a kind of green peas called British Beans. I boil them with much water for a drink. It becomes protine drink. How to spell protine ?

 

I buy some Asian turnips. I eat them raw. The turnips are like an apple for me lol Chinese chives are also a favorite. I wish I could have a chance to cook Chives cake for all of you!

 

I buy some herbs as tea to drink. Such drink eases my throat if I don't feel good with the throat or voice.

Seaweed is also a choice. It provides idiom, ideam? My spelling goes backward after I come to America.

 

 

Chives. That's it. Not chives like you buy as a slightly oniony flavor and use in small amounts for the cream cheese spread. When Chinese are talking chives they mean CHIVES, like grass you just picked out of the lawnmower. When you cook it in a wok or in a pan of water, it smells like a thousand lawnmowers parked in the front lawn after they spent all day cutting grass.The wife stuffs it into bao zi or anything she can hide it in.

 

And just like eating turnips raw, it comes out later as a gaseous air emanating from a relaxation of the sphincter muscle. (I did not say fart.)

 

But it's why we love her. Eat and smile. Smile and eat.....(no offense Catherine. I will try the cake.)

 

I very much like the Chinese chives in Chinese dumplings, either vegetable dumplings or pork or shrimp dumplings. Only problem is I like them too much and it is hard to stop eating them. A little like potato chips - once you eat one, then you want more.

 

Chinese food is too good. I like pretty much any Chinese food I have eaten except for Moon cake. For me, Chinese moon cake is the equivalent of American fruit cake. Looks good, makes a great gift and then you want to re-wrap it and re-gift it to your elderly aunt or grandmother... Not that I would ever think of doing this...hahaha!

Edited by True Blue (see edit history)
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