Adventures in a Vietnamese supermarket

We have a Vietnamese supermarket very close to us – actually closer to us than any of the big grocery chain stores. Admittedly, I don’t go to it very often, but it’s always an enjoyable adventure when I do. Not long ago we had a big party and I wanted to make a big batch of mai tais beforehand. However, I refused to pay the five bucks for the small container of mint that Ralphs was selling. At the Vietnamese grocery I got a big mound of it for 69 cents! The other day I was at Ralphs and wanted to get limes, but they’re currently out of season and cost a dollar each. So I went to the Vietnamese store today and limes were 10 for a buck. Woo hoo!

I really don’t take advantage of the store as much as I should. Going down the aisles there were all sorts of coconut products, huge Asian pears, strange roots that I couldn’t identify, tanks of live fish and other sealife, a wide variety of juices of exotic fruit. They had big cans of sugar cane sticks. In some ways it’s overwhelming – whole aisles dedicated to rice and noodles. If there’s one thing that’s disappointing about the market it’s the booze selection. It has a variety of high end American spirits, but no Mehkong Whiskey or palm sap beer, etc. If you live near a big Asian supermarket and haven’t visited it, you really need to experience the fun in finding “sauce for broiled eel,” "duck with missing parts," “pork rinds in vinegar” and 75 kinds of green tea.

The first thing that will hit you will be the smell. It's a mixture of pickled Daikon radish, Durian, Fish, and some other things that people probably should not eat. I am at 99 ranch at least once a week, though. They have 8 varieties of brown rice alone! The Tea shelf is 100 feet long!

I saw some Haitian guy there recently, buying plantains and coconut milk. I chatted with him and he described an interesting stew he was going to make, sort of a curry.

Though the smell can be off-putting, there are great values and very interesting things to look at. I am particularly fond of the whelks....I won't eat them, but I like to watch them crawl around.

Living in Echo Park in LA, we are blessed with 'A Grocery Warehouse'. For us the best part is able to get supplies for our luau parties such as banana leaves to cover the tables with and simply decorate with those tiny bananas and lots of cheap pineapples. Those grocery markets are also great for weird tooth paste (i.e. Darlie tooth paste), soaps, etc.. Also, I never knew you could do so much with shrimp....

Living in LA, I too love Asian markets and their strange wares, like the Japanese one at the Yaohan center downtown. But this post, being already a little bit of a stretch as a Tiki subject, should really go over to Tiki Drinks & Food, folks.

Luckily for me living in Navy towns my whole life means a Filipino market (and it's delicious baked goods) is never far away.