Thursday, September 29, 2016

The More You Know

Well, I made it to the Asian market yesterday. I meant to go on Tuesday, but life happened, and I had to deal with some stuff that involved lots of being on the phone. I listened to enough muzak to last a lifetime. I have low blood pressure normally, but there's something about muzak that really makes my blood boil.
This is the entrance to the whole plaza. There's a Chinese buffet restaurant, a vitamin shop, a noodle restaurant, and then the grocery. Look at the mountains in the background, so beautiful. I feel like I will never be used to being surrounded by mountains, and seeing them so clearly. It sometimes almost takes my breath away. Sorry, I know that sounds corny but it's true.


They have a little store before you go to the grocery that sells all kinds of cool stuff. Decorations, toys, vitamins and herbs I've never heard of, as well as lotions, face masks and other potions.
I've never seen such a big can of coconut milk!
They had so many different brands of coconut milk! And such great prices too. I thought Trader Joe's had the best deal, but I was wrong!
So much tofu!!!

More tofu, and also cooked vital wheat gluten and vegan chicken!
They have so much tofu! It will take me forever to try it all! They also have these tofu sausage things that feel really firm, like no tofu I've ever felt before. They have baked tofu, marinated tofu, all the tofu!
Whole jackfruit!!

The first durian I've ever seen! Those spikes are SHARP!!
A wall of noodles and ramen!
They had a whole wall of various dried meats and fish, and I'm super glad plant jerky is included!!
Now, on to my haul. This store has amazing prices, and I got everything for fifteen dollars, which is awesome!
Jackfruit, green onions, spicy corn snacks, fried tofu, trumpet mushrooms, and vegan mochi 
I've been seeing some recipes floating around for pulled mushroom sandwiches, and apparently trumpet mushrooms can be shredded. I've only seen that type of mushroom one time at a regular grocery, and they were really pricey. These were two dollars for a pound!! I'm super excited to experiment with these.
I only ever knew of rice cakes as the crunchy circles that you put peanut butter on. Then I saw someone on YouTube (Cheap Lazy Vegan) eating this dish with these chunky noodle-y looking things, and she said they were rice cakes! They come in the tube shape that I got, and they had ovals, and other shapes. I love when I learn stuff as I'm food shopping. The dish you make with the shape I got is called Tteokbokki, and it also uses my new favorite condiment, Gochujang.
Rice cakes, watercress, cilantro, oranges, vegan ramen, coconut milk

Drink your greens!

I made this delicious green juice with celery, cucumber, watercress, apple and orange. Watercress and celery taste really good together, another thing I learned yesterday.
I'm so grateful that  this market is close enough for me to get to. One of the things that can get boring about being on a budget is not feeling like you can experiment as much as you would like. I'm grateful that I was able to find several new to me items that are in my budget! I needed that, so I am super grateful.
Happy Thursday!

11 comments:

  1. Yay, glad to hear it was a successful trip. I am intruiged by those rice cakes and mushrooms and looking forward to see what you do with them. I wondered if you would find the mochi. Great to see they had it.

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    1. I love mochi so much. Some people have a problem with the texture, but I love it! I used the mushrooms last night and it was a total success!

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  2. Oh, such a great haul! I love mochi!!
    I keep forgetting to look for those rice cakes when I am in the shops, I must remember! Amey from Vegan Eats and Treats has blogged about them as well.

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    1. I love mochi too, I love the texture! I'm super excited to experiment with the rice cakes. I just watched a how to video, and I'm ready!

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  3. Oooh what a great market and haul. I've heard so much about those rice cakes lately on youtube. They are all the rage. I can't wait to see how you like them. Mochi is so good I love the texture of it.

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    1. I love the texture of mochi too! I'm going to make Cheap Lazy Vegan's recipe for the rice cake dish tonight. I'm super excited!

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  4. That's so awesome you have that store to go to!! I love those trumpet mushrooms roasted in a little soy sauce and olive oil, they give off this wonderful liquid, and i flop them over rice with the mushroomy liquid which is really flavorful
    You will love those rice cakes! They're nice and chewy, but need a good sauce cuz they're kind of bland
    Ttrockwood

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    1. I can't wait to experiment more with those mushrooms. They have a great hearty flavor that went well with BBQ. I'll have to try your way next, that sounds really good.
      I'm surprised ny how filling those rice cakes are. But you're right, they definitely need a sauce!

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  5. Ive actually tried that plant-based jerky. I wasn't a fan... I remember it being super peppery, oily, and too sweet. I remember liking a mushroom jerky that I had over 10 years ago. I haven't seen it since though.

    I love those rice cakes! Technically it is the same stuff you find in mochi snacks (the stretchy stuff that wraps over the filling) or rather something really similar. Sometimes I can find it made with brown rice so it is a little more healthy. I posted on my blog a recipe for Tteokbokki. I think I saw on Instagram you already tried making a recipe with it? It is pretty easy, and it can taste awesome if you mix in vegan cheese, vegan deli slices, baked, tofu, ramen, veggies, etc. It is common in Korea to order a big pot to share with tons of mixed in foods to make it a whole meal.

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    1. The recipe I kind of followed had added ramen to her version which I will definitely try the next time I make them. I got a two pound bag and so I have a lot left to play with!

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  6. I was on vacation for a few days so I just caught up with your blog. So glad I didn't miss the Asian market haul. As I said previously, we have one not too far from us and I love the prices.

    And this is going to seem weird (maybe) but I do product reviews for Amazon and, come next week, will be looking to unload a Nutri Ninja blender/food processer (link: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01KA7VZA6). It will not be 100% new, unfortunately, because I do have to open it and try it out, but I was wondering if you'd be interested in having it once my review is complete. If so, contact me (christine.fraina@yahoo.com) with your address and I'll send it to you in the next week or so.

    If my offer strikes you as weird or creepy, please don't be offended. I plan on giving it away to someone and I'd rather give it to someone who I know will get use out of it (and blog about her cool recipes) than just anyone. Laterz.

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