Shopping in Chinatown

These were some of the foodstuff we bought at Chinatown last week on our way out of San Francisco. We enjoyed the shopping and had lots of fun doing it. We bought fresh veggies, fruits, poultry and seafood . And guess what? We got them all for a good price plus they are much better than Costco! Why? Because the chickens are cleaned right between our eyes, the pork and beef are freshly grounded that's why! The mangoes are great, too, almost like the ones we have back home in the Philippines. They are almost as sweet as those and I love the shape, like the real Philippine mangoes-but these were from Mexico!


Crabs and fish are still alive when sold, so they are very, very fresh! The shrimps have heads~ yahoo! I love them! We Filipinos love them as they are quite tasty and sweet; the best part of the shrimp, in fact. But the Westerners raise their eyebrows on this fact and cultural practice we Asians have but that's the way we are~ we eat the head of the shrimp! And it is delicious!

Well, for someone who loves to cook like I do, it was heaven shopping in Chinatown.We went to shop early around 8 AM and it took us only about 30 minutes to get all we needed for our two week's supply then we headed back to our hotel. We even bought pork buns and dropped a box in San Leandro at our friends' house (the Andersons).

In Chinatown where we shopped for shrimps, salmon and crabs, I especially liked the huge crab we got; was still alive when we purchased it and it was remarkably huge! I dumped it in the cooler filled with ice while still in SFO and guess what? When we arrived in Ripon, it was still alive! At the kitchen, I put it in the sink and let its eyes blinked. Each time I turned on the faucet, it kicked! Well then, after a while I unloaded the grocery bags, re-packed the stuff in ziplock bags then placed them all in the freezer and vegetable compartment of the fridge. By the time I was done (about an hour), Mr. Crab was still kicking! Finally, I placed it in the casserole, sprinkled with salt, and let the fire on. After 15 minutes or so- I opened it, Mr. Crab is finally cooked. At last. Ha-ha! Smelled yummy, too! So we had him for dinner (laughs), served with butter, lemon and garlic! I didn't use vinegar with crab (this is the Pinoy way) but ate it a'la Americano with butter and lemon. I cooked "shrimp sinigang" as well (husband's favorite) in tamarind broth served with steamed rice. As we ate, husband could only say, "Oh, this is soooo good!" Surely, the shortest way to my husband's heart is through his stomach. Now he is working on it- to flatten it as before, so now the Bowflex is being used regularly for this reason (laughs).

RIGHT: The tea pot set I bought in Chinatown~I thought they were cute; priced for $11.95 total! This bunch didn't really come as a set but was sold individually. I just got 4 cups since it is just husband and I whoare home. Now we use this set during our tea time after each meal and in between meals in lieu of the coffee mugs and regular cups we have and always used before. It makes us feel so aculturized now with the Chinese culture...haha! My latest concoction for tea- a combo of oolang plus jasmine makes a perfect tea with the right aroma to taste! It gets a kick out of me! Husband did comment that this was the same kind of tea he remembered drinking at a Chinese restaurant in Sparks, Nevada while working as a young boy during his summer break. Amazing, isn't it-on how the scent of things~ of food, of people, places~ could bring back memories of long forgotten dreams? Wow, ha!