seen from Russia
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seen from China
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Taco Seasoning Mix
We love this taco seasoning mix for tacos as well as to kick up the flavor of vegetables. It may sound silly to create your own spice and seasoning blends, but have you considered how long some of those same seasoning packets have been on a shelf? Do you know what all the ingredients listed on them are? Continue reading Taco Seasoning Mix
Slow Cooked Corned Beef for Sandwiches This recipe makes delicious party sandwiches. Because brisket sells out so quickly, I always make two and occasionally three.
Toto, I don't think we're at Ralph's anymore...
To those who are familiar, there is a sense of comfort that is contained in the sticky, stylistically outdated walls of an Asian grocery supermarket. The raw, yet honest scent of fresh fish waifs through the air as you try to separate the mysteriously sticky steel shopping carts from one another with two index fingers, you are careful not to touch the handle more than necessary. A woman's voice announces something overhead. She calls for something in her native tongue, concluding with a scratchy sound of a dispatch.
Regardless if you are visiting for a weekly or quarterly trip, you file in and navigate the store similarly as you would the 405 freeway. Western manners though polite, have no place in an Asian market. My Caucasian stepfather found that out the hard way when he found himself holding open the steel pushdoor at our local Ranch 99 for 10 minutes while my mom zipped through two sections before he found the courage to step in front of a badgering grandma.
Ruthless or relentless - you decide.
Given that Los Angeles is seen as one of the country's largest melting pots of culture and cuisine, there are still a laundry list of items that I must trek to find at an Asian market (however, if you know where i can find lap cheung or dried shrimp in WLA, holla at cha' girl!!!).
Recent visits to Asian markets (Korean and South East Asian) have pointed out cultural variations that I found interesting:
Spice packets! American supermarkets tout taco seasoning, sunday pot roast seasoning, and turkey gravy mix - Ranch 99 carries spice mixes for Vietnamese BBQ and Asian Inspired Meat Roasts!
Korean Markets don't offer carry baskets, but instead, pull along ones! Americans have become highly segmented with their preferences in tomato sauce and ketchup, Korean Americans have become equally segmented in their choices of vinegar and cooking oils - so much to have an entire aisle dedicated to the condiment!
Turn a corner and boom - kimchee tasting bar!!!
Last but not least, have you ever noticed that there is an absence of mint gum at Asian supermarket check-out stands? Let alone, an absence of mint all together? No mint gum. No mint tea. Only mint for cooking. Mint is not used or viewed as a freshener the way it is with Western culture. Interesting? Yes. Disappointing? Only if you've ever wandered into an Asian market looking for gum after you've consumed a fish sauce laden dish...
