nyc: chinese supermarket

Wandering around Chinatown one evening, I happened upon the Feast of San Genarro, a noisy street fair on the cusp of Chinatown and Little Italy. I’d heard that the Feast of San Gennaro was once a charming event celebrating the Neopolitan heritage of the residents of Little Italy. Sadly, the festival is now a kitschy spoof of its former self. Throngs of people wander from one identical street to the next, surrounded by a mass of vendors all noisily hocking the same cannolis, calzones, and irritating pop music. It all looked so commercial, I didn’t even feel like eating a cannoli. Who knows, the cannolis might have been good. On the other hand, they may have been just as bastardized as the Feast.

On I went, away from Little Italy and into Chinatown. A lot of stores were shut, but many restaurants and some markets were still open. I walked into what I thought was a hole-in-the-wall food shop, which, like Mary Poppins’ bag, turned out to be a quite an extensive Chinese market that was much bigger on the inside that it looked on the outside.

The market is basically a long, wide aisle, stretching from one street all the way through to its parallel. Either end has a take-out section with food rivaling that of any local restaurant. The left aisle has a series of meat, seafood, and confectionary counters, while the right aisle is filled with cured meats and fresh and frozen produce, meat, and seafood. Naturally, I couldn’t resist photographing as much as I could. There’s something satisfying about capturing on flashdisk the smoked duck legs for which you’re lusting. Though not quite as satisfying as actually consuming said foods.

dumplings

Fresh bao at the deli counter. I believe these are stuffed with shrimp.

fish_and_meatballs

The deli section between the fish and meat counters offers “beef tendon balls,” meatballs, “fishballs,” and “fish meat bean curd” balls.

fish_counter

Dainty fresh fish fillets and steaks at the fish counter (I wonder what the “silver fish” tastes like?).

fish_counter_2

Prawns, shrimp, and very large fish.

chicken_feet

Raw and fried chicken feet.

honeycomb_tripe

Honeycomb tripe. According to Wikipedia, this might be steamed and served with spring onions and garlic sauce, for example.

duck_feet

These preserved duck feet bunches are in the cured meat section of the store.

preserved_quail

Preserved quail in the cured meat section with butchers hanging out behind the meat counter.

sausages_chinese_market

Smoked duck legs, smoked bacon, and Chinese sausages.

preserved_duck_head

The sign says “Preserved Duck Head” but they look more like duck necks.

takeout_goodies

Scrumptious looking goodies ready for take-out.

turnip_cake

I’m really curious as to what exactly a turnip cake tastes like. Is it savory? Sweet? I probably should’ve just bought one and put it in my carry-on.

rice_cakes

Lotus seed buns, red bean buns, and muffin-looking rice cakes in the bakery section.

About shelly

Exploring the vast culinary jungles of the San Francisco Bay Area, and my own kitchen. Khaki shorts and safari hat optional.
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