expanding my horizons

with what feels like the eternal snow storm coming to its 8th day, things are getting pretty desperate around here. we are weather weary and maybe a wee bit depressed. add the impending week of spring break--school free--next week, and the fact that both my kids have developed yucky chest colds and runny noses, the thought of being homebound under gray skies looms. i decided making a batch of the thai classic tom khai coconut chicken soup might help pull me and the kids through this low spot. i find that focusing in on a project, be it culinary or cleaning, creative or organizational, always helps pull me up in spirit.

so the soup got me on a quest to get the right thai ingredients. one thing i've really missed about living in new york is the wealth of great little asian markets you can dip into for cheap produce, noodles, and a dose of global culture. i know salt lake has these gems but you have to search them out, they aren't just under your nose and down the block. we decided to make the trek to our city's "west side" to discover some of the asian markets we've spotted down there. it was a really fun adventure and reminded me of what a great resource those little out of the way markets can be both for inspiration and for the budget conscious.

we shopped at a great little hole in the wall on redwood road and 3300 south-ish called Kim Long Oriental Market and i was wowed by the selection. i use my level of disorientation with the products as a marker for how authentic a place and its wares are and this did not disappoint. i couldn't figure out what more than 50% of the stuff even was. i love the incorrect english translations on packages (pretty pork fat anyone?) and feel shocked to see whole ducks-bills and all-hanging by the neck in the roaster, or pig uterus/ pig rectum listed at the butcher counter as being $2.99/lb. i get particularly enamored with the produce of ethnic markets because i immediately connect what i see there with a totally different flora/gardening experience and climate. different stuff grows in different parts of the world. at the end of the day, we pretty much all eat what grows in our own backyards. how cool is that? the herbs at this market were amazing and so, so cheap. huge bunches of basil, dill, thai basil, watercress, spinach, chinese broccoli all for under $1 and they looked so completely fresh and mouth watering. i came home with a bunch of some mysterious purple leafed something that smells a bit like basil and a bit like lemon. i have no idea what it is but it made me happy to buy. i also bought some gorgeous little thai eggplants (featured above) that are speckled and green and look more like dwarf watermelons than eggplants.

it is a whole different world and i soak it all up and part of me wishes it were my world. i'd love to know what to do with a 5lb bag of dried shrimp or a taro root cake or a spiky durian fruit. it feels so foreign and so exciting and i can't help but wonder if a person straight off the boat, so to speak, from china feels the same thrill wandering through smith's and looking at the plain idaho potato or the slab of neon yellow american cheese?

i am definitely going to frequent ethnic markets more for my produce and my meat. (and hopefully for some future bday party cleo lets me plan so i can utilize all those crazy, crazy looking gummy items and candies on the sweets aisle) the prices are unbeatable and i really think the quality is good. i feel like the ability to be a discerning and critical shopper is more a part of other, more frugal cultures than ours and that translates into those stores stocking good quality, yet affordable, stuff because if it wasn't, no one would buy it. plus the reminder shopping at kim long gave me that i am a citizen of this big, big world that is so far beyond my wildest imaginings is just the kind of boost i needed on a snowy, home centered, all too suburban kind of day.