Another Kind of Supermarket

After a wonderful day at the museum last week, a few of us decided to stop at 99 Ranch Market on the way home. With Vivian as our guide, Bonnie, Debbie and I spent about an hour shopping for items we never see in our local supermarkets, even the Farmer's Markets.

Mr. Roger Chen opened the first 99 Ranch Market in Westminster, California, in 1984. Orange County was filled with Asians from many countries, so this was the ideal place to begin. Today Tawa (corporate name) has 24 stores in 4 states, mostly in California. I could have spent hours wandering up and down the aisles, finding food items I'd never even heard of before. In addition to the market, they have an extensive take out counter, which offers everything from dim sum to sushi to roasted whole duck. It's a bit overwhelming, and I found myself asking lots of questions of other shoppers while I was there. How do I prepare longan? What do I do with lime leaf? The problem is, many of the customers don't speak much English, but they do try to help.

Bonnie was ready to shop, and walked away with a whole fish, lots of veggies and some Chinese spices. I didn't buy much, but I found dried persimmons (yum) which are so hard to find in abundance. I have only seen them once before at a Farmer's Market in LA, so it was great to know where to get them. They're very sweet, soft and filling. They're great for a snack. I also bought sesame balls, about the size of a golf ball, filled with either mung bean paste or taro paste. This is an item you will often find on a dim sum menu. The sesame balls are sweet and delicious. I love them! The other item I bought was a bag of ju ju be's. I had never heard of them. They look a bit like crab apples, but they have a pit inside, not seeds like an apple. They are similar to an Asian pear only much smaller. They're good, but not great. Maybe ju ju be's are an acquired taste.

There were so many interesting products at 99 Ranch I didn't know where to begin. I will go back again and buy some other fruits and vegetables that I am unaccustomed to. Taro leaf, gobo, lime leaf, tia tao, opo, durian, nagaimo, lily bulb, and moqua are just some of the many produce items that were unfamiliar to me.

I checked out the 99 Ranch website (99ranch.com) and discovered they have a great recipe section. Here's the place to go to discover what to do with many of these produce items.

I couldn't wait until I got home to sample the sesame balls. They were too good to resist. Our stop at 99 Ranch was just the perfect ending to a wonderful day in San Diego.