mmm-yoso!!!

El Cajon Market/International Mediterranean foods and Deli and Bakery in El Cajon

mmm-yoso!!! is what you are reading-the blog.  About food.  Blogging is done mostly by Kirk, ed (from Yuma) and Cathy, along with a few others.  Today, Cathy is back.  Talking about yet another meal and where she acquired it.

Hello again, I am blogging about a meal The Mister and I got in the bakery and deli section of a small Market which has been in El Cajon for a number of years.  Nondescript storefront, good prices on Mediterranean staples inside.  A limited, but fresh, produce and fruit section with great prices (On June 8, Romaine was 3 heads for $1, Persian cucumbers were 2 pounds for 99¢, Roma tomatoes 69¢ a pound, parsley bunches were 3 for $1).

I was unable to take a photo of the store front when nobody was standing around (look at my posts; I try not to have any people in the photographs).  The Market is on the North side of Main Street, just East of the Avocado/Ballantyne intersection, walking distance from the courthouse and City Hall, if you ever have Jury Duty (or happen to be let out of the Jail, or are visiting someone in the Jail) and the wording you see on the front is "International Market" but the store receipt is "El Cajon Market"...

Inside there are a great many Mediterranean staples in the three main aisles and along the back of the store, there is a small deli selling fresh Feta, olives, hummus, baba ganoosh, meats and pickled goodies.  Along the side where the entrance and exit doorway is, there is a small deli and in back of that, a baking area.  We decided to pick up lunch here.  As I said, I don't take photographs of people and almost everyone else in the store was speaking a different language than English to each other.  But everyone behind the counters are very nice and helped us.  We have been here before.

For our lunch, we decided on the following items:

A piece of fresh made (still hot) leavened bread-you have to walk in and see the lady in the back making this...she takes a piece of the risen dough and flattens it, places it onto a curved cloth covered disc with handle on opposite side and slaps to dough into a deep circular oven, poking holes in it if it is bubbling and pulling it out as it is finished cooking- in about 30 seconds.  This piece of bread is easily 18 inches across and costs all of 99¢.  There is a stack of the breads on the counter right next to a stack of large paper bags.  You will see people walking up and placing three or four pieces in a paper bag.

The hummus is in the deli section in the back, prepackaged and ...oh, yes...homemade.  Not quite smooth.  Chickpeas and tahini, garlic and -oh you can taste it- olive oil.  This was a prepacked one pound container for $3.99 and it is the best hummus I have ever tasted.  (I have tasted a lot of hummus in my time, by the way).

We decided on five kebabs ($5)(yes, $1 each) which are grilled fresh over low heat after you order.  The meat is ground beef and the spices have a slight kick of heat to the flavor.  Just enough to make it wonderful.  The kebabs are very juicy, not dry at all.  We had two leftover kebabs from this meal.

We also got a pound of lamb and beef Schawarma ($4.49).  Cut off the spit, the spices and freshness are something I crave.  They also have a spit of chicken Schawarma.   The amount of meat here is the same as in the five kebabs, as was the amount of leftovers for the two of us.  

We also got (left) 1/2 pound of chicken Biryani (Basmati rice, chicken, sliced almonds, raisins with  curry) ($2.49) and 1/2 pound of bulgur made with Ghee (clarified butter) ($1.99). Again, extreme fresh good flavor and, I must say, I could eat the Biryani as a meal any day.

There are a lot of prepackaged, Baklava in the store, with labels from where they are made (Southern California).  But on the back refrigerator counter, there is a tray of these filo covered 4 inch long honey covered goodies.  Obviously made here.

But, they aren't nut filled.  It has a creamy, non-tangy, not sweet cheese, kind of chunky, like a milky ricotta.  I am not certain.  It's only $1 and I am happy with the flakiness of the filo and sweet of honey and anyhow, it is pleasant and I don't buy (and consume) a lot of the bakalava by getting this.

Yes, all of this food cost $21.10 with tax and is easily two meals for the two of us.   Stop in if you are in the neighborhood.  There are many products I have not discussed.

El Cajon Market 502 East Main Street El Cajon 92021  Market:(619)444-5800 Restaurant phone: (619) 328-1901

A Market Comparison - Hang Be Market(Hanoi) and 99 Ranch Market

"Market....." Nice word. What comes to mind, when you hear the word "market"....or "Asian Market"? If you live in San Diego, it might be this:

But if you happened upon Hang Be Market located on Pho Gia Nhu starting on the corner of Hang Be in Hanoi, instead of fluorescent lights, and tiled isles, you'd see this.

Though it's more likely you'd get run over by a motorbike than get your shins rapped by a Little ol' Lady pushing a shopping cart at Hang Be! I thought I'd do a little comparison of sorts, there are a few similarities, and maybe a few differences.......

I know 99 Ranch Market is pretty well known for the variety of veggies and fruits.

Actually, I think the fruits at 99 Ranch Market are not a strong point...many of the offerings are often over-ripe, bruised, or of low quality. Still, there's always a nice variety. When it comes to "greens" 99 Ranch Market always has a nice selection.

At Hang Be Market, you won't find the huge stacks of oranges perilously stacked, but you will find a good variety of different items.

You gotta love the Dragon Fruit in Southeast Asia, it is leaps and bounds better than what I've had in the States; it is much sweeter, and the Missus ate the stuff by the kilo. And lest you think this is all locally grown; the oranges are from China(quite good), Dragon Fruit and Durian from Thailand.

A note about prices:

You'll notice quickly that most places won't post prices, so you'll have to bargain. The Missus had a very original way of bargaining.....She was especially frustrating for one lady. She would bargain hard.....the lady always wanted something like 25,000VND per kilo, the Missus would start at 15,000 VND....and so forth. Finally they'd settle on 18,000 VND. By then, the Missus was so tired, She would just hand the wad of money to the lady who'd just pull out what she wanted! Why bother bargaining? I guess the "bargaining fatigue" was just too much. Regardless, the Missus bought 2-4 kilos of Dragon Fruit almost everyday.

It was fun seeing uncommon(for us here in the US) items for sale, like Betel nuts.

Buddha's Hand anyone?

99 Ranch Market has a pretty large meat department.

And though the signs are sometimes unintentionally humorous; looks like the "prok for stew" has been selling pretty well today. There is a nice variety of items from the butcher counter and prepacked trays of meat.

No white coats and hats, or the "singing of the saws" at Hang Be.

Just fresh meat on metal tables, meat is ground to order.

And some items screaming "I dare you to eat me"!

It is all fresh....

Ah yes, the Seafood Department at 99 Ranch Market.

For many people I know, 99 Ranch Market is the place to go for fresh and live seafood in San Diego. There's always a good variety, and the prices are reasonable.

At Hang Be Market, the variety might not be quite as large, but as with the beef, everything is fresh.

And most of it is caught locally.

And if it's not still alive.....

It's still "breathing". These were bought up in an instant.

Someone requested a photo of Rice Paddy Crabs.

Here's one of my favorite photos from Hang Be Market.

Even more stuff. Teas and spices from 99 Ranch Market.

Teas and spices from Hang Be Market:

A pretty large variety.....

And of course there is that staple; rice. We found the rice in Vietnam to be of very low quality....full of grit, lots of "brown bits", and unpolished.

But why have rice when you can have........Bun!

Fresh Bun looks wonderful; pure and white as the new fallen snow, it is brought to the market in baskets lined with banana leaves.

One of our Guides told us how Bun was made; rice is first fermented, then ground and sifted. Water is then added to form a dough that is kneaded. The dough is then pressed through an aluminum sieve with tiny holes into boiling water. The Missus's verdict? "Too much trouble, why don't you just eat rice?"

And then there are those things that catch your eye:

So what's going on here? This gentleman is burning the hair off a pig's feet.

And those items that would be pretty hard to find in the states.

One constant we found in every market, was a barber!

We visited Hang Be Market 3 times, once during each period of the day, during the morning, afternoon, and evening. Each visit offered something different. And on one of the visits, I started comparing the market set-up of Hang Be Market with 99 Ranch Market. Strange, I know......

Miss Oishii Eats visit to Hang Be Market can be found here.

Someone tell the Ham Missus not to quit Her day job....

LA Thai Town run: Thailand Plaza/Silom Market

It's time for mizducky to take another turn at blogging for mmm-yoso. Enjoy!

A couple of weekends ago I was up in Los Angeles to hear one of my favorite musicians play a gig, and decided to add a little Thai food-tourism to the mix--especially since Los Angeles apparently boasts the largest Thai community outside of Thailand (and also especially since most Thai food I've tried here in San Diego has left me pretty underwhelmed!)  Alas, the wondrous weekend food court at the Wat Thai in North Hollywood is no more, having fallen victim to neighborhood pressure. But Thai Town had been on my radar screen for some months now, so that's where I headed.

I had meant to seek out Yai Restaurant, but alas I forgot the bit of Kirk's post that mentioned it was hidden behind a 7-Eleven--d'oh! But while driving along Hollywood Blvd. wondering what place I should visit instead, this flashy sign caught my eye:

With a sign like that, I figured, this joint could either be very good or very bad--but it wouldn't be dull.

Turns out this place is a whole shopping center--downstairs is a Thai grocery with a couple of smaller shops tucked in, while the Thailand Plaza Restaurant takes up the whole second floor.

Kind of a bit glitzier than my usual! The large rambling space is apparently some kind of semi-campy club scene at night, with waiters getting onstage and doing karaoke and such. At 3:30pm on a Saturday, it's almost deserted.  But even though I was arriving at an off-hour, I get an unflaggingly cheerful greeting from the server when I asked to look at the menu. Looseleaf notebook with big pictures--and lots of them. I saw all the salads listed under "Issarn Specialties," and the surprisingly reasonable prices, and decided what the hell, let's stay and check this out.

I wanted to keep it light because of the long night ahead of me, so I got yer basic green papaya salad with salted crab (oops, fuzzy picture):

This was a darn decent salad--not a huge portion, but fresh and the dressing well-balanced. And the crab was extremely fresh  (and my server handled the "you know there's raw seafood in this dish, right?" inquiry very sweetly).  While I ate, three or so more parties were seated--not that I was trying to eavesdrop, mind you, but several of them sounded like they were regulars, of Thai background. So maybe I'll give this place another try sometime, to check out what-all they were ordering.

I wrapped up my meal, and headed downstairs to check out Silom Market. This space was as sizeable as the restaurant upstairs--but it was hard to tell because the place was so jam-packed to the rafters with stuff:

Alas for me, there was also a surprising-to-me number of shoppers and staff about, so this was the only photo I could snap (I'm really shy about taking photos with people peering over my shoulder!). But this should give you an idea of the vibe.

I couldn't resist making a few purchases, including some snacks (see? I knew there was a reason I ate lightly in the restaurant):

Here, on the front passenger seat of my car, we have two winners and two also-rans. Underneath all the cilantro in the upper-right package is saku sai, little meat dumplings whose skin is made of translucent tapioca pearls. These were delicious, if a little gloppy. The upper left package contained some extremely forgettable rice and four wonderfully cilantro-laced sausages--extremely yum!

The other two things I bought to bring home, only to discover once there they were yecch. The cardboard cup contains nam prik pow, a different brand than the one I'd last enjoyed--I should have stuck with that brand because this stuff was wretched, like machine oil. And the long sausage-looking thing said "preserved durian"--according to the label, just durian mixed with sugar. I thought I could sneak up on the durian experience this way. Uh-uh, this stuff was vile--and I'm not sure if it was the fault of the durian or the recipe. Guess I need to toughen up and try the real thing one of these days.

Obviously I've only just randomly scratched the surface of Thai Town's food riches. But no doubt I'll be back in LA pretty soon for another gig -- and further food explorations.

Thailand Plaza/Silom Market
5321 Hollywood Blvd.
Los Angeles CA 90027
Google Maps link

A National City run--Villa Manila, Seafood City, Bread Deluxe

Assistant blogger mizducky is taking another turn blogging for mmm-yoso today. Enjoy!

Alert readers of the comments on my maiden post will have noticed that long time FOY (Friend of Yoso) Candice had called me out regarding our long-postponed run down to National City for some Filipino food. Well, we finally made it down there this past Saturday, and had a wonderful time (even though it took me a day or two to recover from the food-overload).

Candice had hit up our fearless leader Kirk for suggestions, and he had recommended Villa Manila for the crispy pata. I live right by the 805, and traffic was pretty light, so I got there in no time flat--early even, which was fine by me because I enjoy scoping out strip malls to see what-all else is hidden away in them. I noted another restaurant and a market in this one, and was about to stroll over and start checking them out, only to be pleasantly surprised to run into Kirk himself. He had a busy day but was happily able to make time to share in our upcoming pata attack.

That pata creation turned out to be one impressive chunk of extreme pork fat art, but it got some stiff competition in the richness department from some of the other stuff we ordered, like the niligang baka (big chunks of fatty beef in broth) and Bicol express (chunks of pork in a sauce of coconut milk tinted pink with bagoong (fermented shrimp paste) and spiked with a little chile hit).

We couldn't decide whether to get garlic rice or bagoong rice, so of course we wound up getting both. I requested an order of pinakbet to get at least a token vegetable presence into this meat-and-carb extravaganza, and so that the bitter melon might help cut all that richness--Villa Manila's pinakbet is pretty mild, but that turned out to be just right.

This was a lot of food! And Candice and Kirk generously let me take home all the leftovers--heh, I think it was more a matter of them not wanting to overdose any further on all the richness. Hey, I never turn down free food! Plus I got to play Henry the Eighth with the remains of the pata. :-D

After lunch, Kirk continued on his errands, but Candice and I hadn't had enough, so we went over to check out the nearby Seafood City. There we saw all sorts of cool stuff--but somehow my camera didn't make it out of my purse. I think I must have been experiencing my own lowgrade version of Kirk's pata-inspired food comas--only instead of feeling like going off into a dead faint, I just got a little more spacy than usual.

But I do have photos of the item I bought at Seafood City, and the other item I bought at Bread Deluxe, the little bakery just next door, both of which feature--ta-DAH!--food of a different color!

The vivid blue color of these shrimp just bowled me over. Alas, when cooked the shrimp and shells turned the more conventional shrimpy pink-and-white colors--though they were still quite delicious. If anyone knows how to preserve that blue color after cooking, please let me know!

I'm normally immune to bakeshop temptations, but again I was hooked by an outrageous color, this time the purple of these sweets.  They're called kalamay, and  as you'll see when you click the photo for the enlarged view, they're nothing but glutinous rice, sugar, jackfruit juice ... and a bucketful of food coloring.  The fruit flavor wasn't all that intense, but they had that chewy-slippery rice-flour dough mouthfeel that I'm  really getting addicted to.

So that's it for this food adventure ... now to wait for my cholesterol level to recover before I do it any more damage (but yum, it hurt so good...)

mizducky sez "hello--here's a little about what I eat"

Hi, folks--mizducky here, a longtime FOY (Friend of Yoso) and regular commenter on this blog. Some time back, I asked Kirk, our fearless leader, if I might become a contributing blogger. He graciously said yes ... and then my life got hectic for awhile!

But here I am finally, doing my inaugural post as a contributor to mmm-yoso. And by way of introduction I'll list a few of my favorite place and things, foodwise. (You'll notice that at least a few of my favorites are also mmm-yoso favorites--there's a reason I like this blog!)

Saigon has been my go-to Vietnamese joint for some time now. They have a huge menu and do lots of things pretty darn well, and they're a nice easy cruise from my place. Most of the time I go on my own, and have one of their soups, like this bun rieu oc. But once in a blue moon I go with a bunch of people to share a bunch of dishes--last time I did that, I discovered and fell in love with this deep-fried boneless duck. Not something I could get away with eating every day, but my was it yummy. (Yep, mizducky likes to eat her namesake critter.)

Saigon does a respectable bun bo Hue, too, with a nice rich (if not very spicy) broth, but I agree with Cathy and Kirk that the place with the best bun bo Hue in town is Mien Trumg. Though they have recently developed this frustrating habit of being closed for vacation or something whenever I go out of my way to visit. At least there are plenty of other choices right nearby to console myself with.

I have a confession to make here: even though I'm supposedly way into healthy eating and weight management and all that, one of my guilty pleasures are big ol' Asian buffets. The one I'm currently fascinated with is Crazy Seafood Buffet up on Miramar Road. I haven't yet figured out what makes them think they're so crazy, but they do have an interesting variety of seafood, and while the quality sometimes varies, I can usually put together a fun meal here. (Okay, one crazy thing about them--their website says they serve pizza, and I've yet to see that there.)

In some ways I enjoy markets even more than restaurants--lots more stuff to look at and play with! The newest addition to my market rotation is Northgate Market down in Southcrest. I kind of think of it as the Disneyland of Mexican markets--it's huge, beautiful, and bursting with bazillions of food finds.  Other markets I hit on a regular basis include North Park Produce, 99 Ranch Market, and various of the Vien Dong Markets.

And of course I enjoy cooking with the stuff I drag home from these markets. Here's a shot from a big dinner I did a couple of months ago featuring dishes from a variety of Asian cuisines--pictured are Vietnamese-style steamed whole tilapia and Chinese-style red-cooked pork belly. (I could have plated the fish a whole lot more elegantly than that, but it tasted great if I do say so myself.)

Anyway, there's a little sampling of the kind of food stuff that turns me on. Looking forward to sharing more of my food turn-ons in future posts. Thanks for reading! And thanks again, Kirk, for letting me play in your house.

Sunday Shopping.....

Price Wars......

I was interested to see what the reaction to the opening of Marukai would be. So earlier this morning I decided to do a quick "run". Since Nijiya, Mitsuwa, and Marukai are just within a mile of each other, it will be very easy to "cherry-pick" your way through the 3 markets(and you can include Zion to make 4). Since both Nijiya and Mitsuwa open at 9am, and Marukai opens at 930, the timing is pretty easy as well.

I arrived at Nijiya at about 910am...and probably because of the weather(rainy and windy) and the Super Bowl, the place was relatively empty.

I noticed a bunch of sales, and purchased just a few items:

It would seem to be nothing Earth-shattering....Yama-moto-yama tea bags....not high quality, but good to have at the office. At 2 for $1, a major bargain for me! That's a shade over 3 cents per tea bag. And the Pocky...well to quote the Missus, "what, regular Pocky? I've soooo moved on from that...." Until I told Her...also 2 for $1! I think the sale is only for the weekend, but it seems that Nijiya is taking the competition seriously. I'll keep close eye on Nijiya flyers in the future.

Arriving early had its benefits, I got out of Nijiya by 925am...and by 930 reached Mitsuwa. The only thing I noticed at Mitsuwa was a giant poster....sorry, but my photo didn't come out. You get one item free (i.e. miso....) with a $10 purchase.

I arrived in the empty parking lot at Marukai (I took note of the empty parking lot, because this may be the only time I ever see it empty) at 940am. And entered Marukai. As I took a lap around the store, I noticed a few additional things. First, the fish department is up, but it was slim pickins' at this time of the morning.

There were some great deals:

The only thing I got was this for the freezer.....its good to have on hand, for those days when you feel lazy, and just want something simple at home. And at 98 cents a package, another bargain:

Of course my camera can't ever resist an "end" display of Spam:

Though if you want something a bit more high-end, there's Wagyu Beef from Japan:

"Only" $68.99 a pound!

Looks like competition will be a nice thing for us customers, just as prices came down at Mitsuwa once Nijiya renovated and moved to their new location.

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

Mitsuwa Marketplace
4240 Kearny Mesa Rd Ste 119
San Diego, CA 92111

Marukai Market
8151 Balboa Ave
San Diego, CA 92111

And just to make it an even "foursome":

During my trip down to Garden Grove, and after my lunch at Anna's Mondu, I drove the block and a half down the street, and dropped by Hannam Supermarket:

Though this location was a bit "worn", and the variety was not a great at the Diamond Bar location, it was still nice to stretch my legs and do some browsing.  I hadn't intended on taking any photos, but I came across this magnificent display of "Spammy goodness", and could not resist. Huge display with almost every version of Spam known to mankind.......amazing! SPAM® Cheese! SPAM® Hot & Spicy! I think I saw all the different varieties, except for SPAM® Garlic(maybe they were sold out...).

The prices were quite reasonable, especially the dried Filefish and dried squid:

The Missus thought this dried filefish was excellent when roasted...it was chewy, but not hard, and had a nice salty-fish flavor, with a slight hint of sweetness. I'm glad I didn't come home empty handed....Oh, and dried squid, toasted, chopped, and dipped into mayo with a touch of soy sauce....delici-yoso!!!

Hannam Chain Super Market
9772 Garden Grove Blvd
Garden Grove, CA 92844

Marukai San Diego now open

Well, as reported by FOYs (Fred and Carol) in comments to this post, Marukai has gone forward with a "soft opening" to shake out bugs and get people trained. The signs out front still say "Opening February 1st", but as the Missus noted this past Friday in a hurried cell phone call, "the lights are on, and people look like they're shopping."

I drove by later that evening and saw people pushing shopping carts filled with grocery bags in the parking lot. This meant one of 2 things; either Marukai had gone the soft opening route(as the West Covina did years ago), or this was one heck of a training drill!

Having a full plate most of the weekend, I managed to drag my wind-burned and rain soaked self to Marukai this morning. I arrived at about 930am, to find the place empty. I grabbed a shopping basket, and started walking......

On my first lap, I just did a quick check of "what wasn't there"....fish department and prepared foods. I've always had good luck with the fish I've purchased at Marukai, and was a regular at West Covina, where I could ask the Fishmongers to cut my maguro, or hold ogo for me when we lived in LA. The meat department didn't look fully stocked either.

After looking through the Japanese offerings - 3 brands of Shiokara, anyone? Which was adequate...and the prices which are as a whole cheaper than the other 2 large Japanese markets  in San Diego. I started going through my mental lists of "Local Kine Stuffs".......

Purity and Redondo's Portuguese Sausage - check.

S & S Saimin - but no Okuhara's - but Sun's Okinawa Soba - maybe three-quarters of a check???

Frozen Zippy's stuff - check.

Frozen Okuhara Kamabuko(it doesn't taste quite the same...but it's still ok) - check.

2 Brands of Lau Lau(both of which I hate....but if it floats your boat) - check.

Coral Tuna - but only water packed, not oil packed - one-fourth of a check.

Pa'akai and another brand of Hawaiian salt - but Auwe! No moa' Alaea! (red sea salt) - kinda, sorta a check!

Aloha shoyu and other sauces - check!

Hawaiian Sun Jam and Jellies - check!

Malolo Syrup - but all lemon lime, and one lonely strawberry - a reluctant check.

Diamond Head Bakery Soda and Saloon Pilot Cracker - check.

Enough Chocolate covered Macadamian Nuts, cookies, and sweets, to keep all of San Diego's Dentists in business till the next century.

No moa Maebo's One Ton Chips which I was looking for.

No Halm's or Park's brand stuff either......

By this time the handles to the shopping basket were digging into my hands, and I got tired of shooting my photos one-handed, so I decided to call it a day.

Tonight I'm taking a trip back into time, and having something I haven't had in years:

Something simple.....it is just frozen stuff, and some pretty bland Char Siu, but for a somewhat homesick Ex-Pat Kama'aina...a little slice of heaven.

Marukai Market
8151 Balboa Ave
San Diego, CA 92111

A couple of notes: Marukai is a membership market, though you can pay $1 for a one-day membership. The manager on duty said that I didn't need a membership to shop on this morning, because I wanted to renew my card. But after speaking to Cathy today, I found that they had her purchase a membership - which is $10/year(and in my mind more than worth it) so I dunno. This parking lot is going to be a horror......it is not nearly big enough for Daiso, Marukai Living, and Marukai Market...... The Manager also told me, that not everything has come in yet, so there are more items to be stocked.

Midweek Meanderings

Just a few midweek odds and ends, and other stuff....

Just An Observation

I was having lunch at Pho Hoa Hiep recently, when I gave my Com Tam dish (Com Tam Bi Cha Suon Nuong - $5.80) a "break" and came up for air.

As I gazed across the restaurant, I noticed something. Two-thirds of the customers were non-Vietnamese! During a meal a few days later, I noticed the same thing. I recall that when I first started eating here, almost all the customers were Vietnamese. I couldn't help but smile...... You see, sometimes when I read that the "Best Chinese Restaurant" in San Diego is PF Chang's(Pick up Stix is #4!), the "Best Japanese" is Benihana (Todai is #6!), sheesh.... This mild change in demographics tells me that San Diego's tastes are changing, albeit slowly, and people are trying new things.

I think it's a wonderful thing....

BTW, the Com Tam was pretty good, the pork chop was moist and tender, if a bit shy in flavor, shredded pork is tricky, this version was soft and moist, not the dry and tough stringy stuff. Not bad at all.

Rice Is Nice!

I don't know what it is....perhaps withdrawals from doing Plate Lunch Week. But I've been craving rice. My rice intake had been seriously cut down since moving to San Diego, but recently...I dunno. I've been making stuff like Kimchee Fried Rice.

No recipe, I just use whatever's on hand. The required ingredients are Kimchee(of course!), onions, Gochujang, and another one of those magical "four letter word" ingredients,(others being stuff like L-a-r-d and P-o-r-k) Spam®!  I also like garlic in my Kimchee Fried Rice.

It could have been worse, remember my Spam® Katsu Curry?

Which led me to make stuff like this.....

Just an omelet.....

A fried rice omelet. Some left over Portuguese Sausage Fried Rice as filler......

Marukai Coming to San Diego

Check out this building on the corner of Balboa and Mercury.

No big deal, huh? Maybe a closer look....

There it is....Marukai. This looks like a 99-cent store operation, but all the buildings in the complex are being worked on. Daiso is a large Japan based "100-yen" store operation.

I'd been waiting for Marukai to open up since we moved to San Diego. I sent Marukai Corporation an email, and here's the response:

Dear Valued Customer,

Thank you for contacting us.
We are planning to open San Diego store.
Hopefully non-food section will be open in August 2007 and food section will be in late this year.
We will put our upcoming store information at www.marukai.com.
Again, thank you for contacting us.
We hope see you at our new store soon."

Regards,
Marukai Corporation
Tel:  310-660-6300
Fax: 310-660-6301

So there it is.....

Some other posts on Marukai can be found here, here, and here.

Passionate Eater....

Like I've said before, I truly feel blessed to have gotten to know some of the wonderful fellow bloggers and readers of our little blog. It seems like mmm-yoso just started a short time ago, so I was a bit startled when Jay, the Proprietor of the Linkery graciously called me "The dean of San Diego food bloggers", kinda makes me feel really old....... But come to think about it, my San Diego Food Blogs typelist has really been growing, with excellent new blogs starting up all the time. I hope you give them a try.

I haven't been able to meet one of my favorite fellow bloggers, Passionate Eater, but 'PE' as we call her, has always filled her wonderful posts with humor, and Her comments have always been so kind and positive. So when PE broke the news that she was leaving San Francisco, I knew that I needed to do something a bit special. This is not bad news per se, PE will be taking on exciting new challenges in New Orleans(another great food city!). Since PE was the one who requested, nay demanded that Sammy and Frankie have their own photo album, I thought this appropriate:

Good Luck PE!!!

"oh-oh, did I do that?"

Seattle: Pike Place Market, Piroshky Piroshky, and other stuff.......

I readily admit that I am an unabashed fan of that Seattle icon, Pike Place Market. I make a point to visit at least once during every visit to Seattle.

My preferred time to visit this Seattle Icon is in the morning, before the crowds. To me Pike Place Market is almost a living breathing creature, and watching it wake is both relaxing and  invigorating at the same time. Yes, a paradox.....

There's a mild sense of excitement watching Pike Place wake and take it's first deep breaths of the day.

The variety is quite staggering. From the Hmong flower growers/vendors:

To the wide array of appealing produce:

And of course, the seafood.

I can't remember the last time I saw Razor Clams for sale.....

There's always something new, something you've never noticed on previous visits. And perhaps you may run into Truman:

According to his "Dad", Truman "helps" with deliveries on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays.

There are of course many places to grab a bite as well, and I'm sure everyone has their favorite. At times you just need to follow your nose and it will lead you to some good grinds.

In the past, the Missus has literally spent an hour watching the donut machine at the Daily Dozen Doughnut Company.....

In spite of all the choices, it seems that the scents emanating from this shop always draws me in.

This little shop specializes in...what else Piroshky.

Whether you call them Piroshki, Piroshky, or Pirozhki, these Russian stuffed pastries are hard to resist. There over 30 different versions served, ranging from the more traditional beef and onion, to the "Pacific Northwest version", the smoked salmon. Sometimes making a decision can be quite difficult.

   

After sampling a good variety over the years, we tend to stick to the vegetarian versions, like the Smoked Mozzarella, Broccoli, and Mushroom($4.25):

The Missus didn't care for the caraway-sauerkraut flavor of the Sauerkraut, Carrot, Cabbage, and Onion($3.25). But i didn't mind it at all.

   

The Potato, Mushroom, and Onion, is another of our favorites, but we were getting full.

We ate as we strolled down the Seattle Harbor Steps, and made our way to Pier 52. Why Pier 52?

Pier 52 is the terminal for Washington State Ferries Bainbridge Island route. A ferry ticket costs $6.70(it has gone up over the years), and I call it the cheapest "tour" in Seattle. During clear days the view is wonderful. Even during overcast days like this, the view was fantastic.

The trip is about 35 minutes each way and the fare is for a round trip.

Of course you can't miss that other Seattle icon, the Space Needle.

 

Bainbridge Island is a nice place to wander around a bit if you have a chance. But on this day we needed a nap!

Return to Vien Dong III - Part 2 Following Up

I know that those of you who commented on the first part of this post have been wondering when I'd get around to doing the follow-up. Following the initial email from Daniel, I made several visits to Vien Dong, research I guess you could say.

Daniel provided a "list" of several key improvements, and I thought I'd verify them.

"The pungency factor is no longer a factor"

This one was strange. Each time I entered the market, there was the standard issue smell, not quite as strong as before, but it was there. But strangely enough, as I walked toward the meat department the smell would dissipate, growing more and more faint. Each visit was during a different time of the day...mornings are always the best, but there it was, the slight meaty-fishy smell. But