99 Ranch, Super 88, H-Mart, …
I have a not-so-secret adoration for supermarkets and grocery stores. One of the first things I like to do when I visit a new city is to find the local grocery store. I’m curious about the different kinds of foods you can buy in different regions. And I’m curious about the different grocery stores you can find across the nation: Safeway, Albertson’s, QFC, Ralphs, Stop N Shop, Vons, Piggly Wiggly, Market Basket.
Of course, my favorite grocery stores are those Asian grocery stores where you can find “exotic” produce, fish with 5 eyes, sausages that look like they contain pig’s blood combined with miscellaneous meat matter from unknown animals, and pickled pig’s feet with fermented soy. I’m making a point here. Just cause there is some food you don’t recognize doesn’t mean it should be called exotic. To me, the food you can get at those grocery stores is just food, not exotic or weird. So get over it.
On the west coast, 99 Ranch is the king of Asian grocery stores. Over here in Boston, we have Super 88 (and soon we’ll get an H-Mart and down in Quincy, we got Kan Man). So far, I think I like 99 Ranch over 88. But I’ve never been to an H-Mart before. And there are great local regional places too. I’m especially fond of those Vietnamese-owned markets. Unfortunately, since I’m often lazy (and live a little ways from 88), I’ll often go to the local supermarket to get my Asian foods. One can get more and more Asian goods at these places.
One thing that is weird about the Asian goods at the American grocery store is that ethnic foods have their own special section. Like the Asian greens aren’t simply mixed in with the other vegetables. Maybe we’re being given some V.I.P. treatment or maybe it is like affirmative action for those overlooked, disadvantaged ethnic foods. Somehow, I don’t think so. Come on, the food ain’t that exotic anymore. Like at my local Whole Foods, they hang a Chinese lantern over the Asian vegetables. Why? I don’t know. Maybe one cannot expect anybody to find the Chinese eggplant and the sugar cane without that lantern. Because Chinese eggplant really is hard to find among those apples and oranges. I think I’d be okay with the lanterns if we also hang some bayonets next to the corn to remind people of how colonialists took corn from the Indians and then killed them off… Or maybe that would be too much.
Anyhow, I want to end this post on a positive note. So, let me give you some reasons why I like Asian grocery food stores like Super 88 and 99 Ranch.
- Shelves and shelves of innovative and delicious MSG-packed instant noodles from Kung Fu Noodles to Instant Udon!
- Tofu in buckets at unbeatable prices. (Don’t forget the fried tofu!)
- Unbeatable prices period.
- Rice… piles of it… from long grain to short grain to Jasmine to Basmati… all in wonderfully abundant 50 pound bags.
- Dried fish snacks. Yes. Try them with some beer.
- And actually, come to think of it, all the awesome snacks that you can get: Chinese-style beef jerky, dried tofu snacks, Pocky, soy milk beverages…
- The food court. How many other grocery stores do you know have food courts?
I could go on, but then this post would become ridiculous.
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Tags: Food.
i like that there’s more organs available at Asian markets. Also, they will sell produce that is like over ripe, you know, stuff that will go bad tomorrow for very cheap. As long as you buy it and cook it up that night, it’s def worth it.
Sigh. I miss how in SoCal there is a 99 Ranch Market off of EVERY exit on the 60.
I love the food court, the bakery, and the prepackaged everything. I’m not sure about the rice situation right now. But I also love how you can get really cheap kitchen accessories - chopping boards, plastic bowls, etc.
Yum. Now I’m hungry. Let’s plan an H-mart grand opening field trip!
LOVE h-mart. it’s where i get all my yummy korean appetizers, marinated kalbi & koryodang red bean buns. i second the field trip!
How about Seafood City? It’s more catered to the Filipino consumers, but you can’t go wrong with their bakery. But 99 Ranch = love. I missed it when I was going to school back east.
Eugenius, you forgot to include a thousand year-old eggs, that are cheaper than regular eggs, in your list!
Thousand year-old eggs are great. And they are cheaper than regular eggs and you can get them at your grocery store, but ever since I learned that they use chemicals to reduce the process down to 7 days, I’m not sure I can like them anymore. 7 days!?
plain and simple, “american” supermarkets segregate, asian supermarkets love all products equally. i mean, they don’t segregate all the japanese food in one section, or the korean in another, all the spicy red sauces are all together in one aisle.
i miss nyc, where you have 3 different korean (growing up i didn’t consider them to be asian…) supermarkets on one blvd- hanareum (i think this is what turned into hmart), lotte, and ashi.
i also love the snack and cookie aisle. the packaging can’t get prettier or more tempting!