Super 88, and a produce delivery

[magid]

This afternoon I finally experienced the glories of Super 88, Asian grocery store extraordinaire. It's completely overwhelming, with so many completely strange things, unidentifiable things, in unreadable packages, completely mysterious. Some things had English labels, which meant I could tell that I saw dried shrimp, black bean paste, hot sesame oil, and dried sea vegetable (though that in and of itself is always tantalizingly vague). Lots of smells, musty dried things, freshly cooked meat, raw fish, all mixing together in a way that reminds me of little shops in Machaneh Yehudah more than anything else. Kosher consumer that I am, I found few packaged foods I would buy, most of which I'd seen other places. So in that sense, it was a disappointment (though I admit I didn't check every can and jar, and there might be some others lurking. Still, it seems nothing coming from Thailand is hechshered.). Really, though, it wasn't: the shopping in and of itself was a delight, an exploration of possibilities, potentialities I won't take advantage of, but still can wonder about. Plus, there were fresh vegetables (I got more yu toi, and enoki mushrooms :-), and excellent prices on fresh noodles and wonton wrappers, one brand of which is kosher. Not that I'd buy a huge stack of wonton wrappers a week and a half before Pesach, but afterward, much fun.

I got home to find a delivery from Boston Organics. I'm still getting the larger box, but this one was veggies only. It has

• six onions (3 pounds)
  
• a pint of cherry tomatoes
  
• two big heads of red leaf lettuce
  
• a bunch of green Swiss chard
  
• an eggplant
  
• two big stalks of broccoli
  
• five pounds of Russet potatoes from PEI
  
• a bag of crimini mushrooms (a pound? a little less?)

Huzzah, this seems to be the right box for me! I'm excited about the mushrooms especially.

Comments

[bitty.livejournal.com]

Plus, the carrot of mightiness!

[magid.livejournal.com]

Yeah, but that's Bubblebabble's Carrot of Mightiness.

[ruthling.livejournal.com]

Yummy!

There's another chinese grocery in what used to be a theater next to the little Pho Pasteur in Chinatown. I haven't bought much there, but the produce looks fantastic. They even have durian -- not that I'd buy that.

[bitty.livejournal.com]

actually, it is currently the soup's carrot of mightiness. it's not so mighty now! ha!

[magid.livejournal.com]

So, by the Transitive Property of Soup, it is now a Mighty (level 3) Soup?

[magid.livejournal.com]

I haven't explored Chinatown much at all; next time I want to meander, I should look there.

Oh, and Super 88 had durian, but yeah, not something I'm likely to buy either.

[cutieperson]

Super 88 was interesting, but i wouldn't want to go in there often. really, anywhere that i walk out of carrying cans of breadfruit should be approached with caution :)

[bitty.livejournal.com]

It can now beat the ass of any celery it encounters.

[ckd]

Mighty Soup...of Doom! (Yes, I've been playing Munchkin.)

[magid.livejournal.com]

Alas, for I have not munchkin'd.
(I do eat donuts, though :-)

[magid.livejournal.com]

I must've missed the canned breadfruit. I've wanted to know what that's like since reading Bedknob and Broomstick the first time... Is it like Turkish delight in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, much better as an imagined taste based on the name, or is it really good?

[magid.livejournal.com]

What? The soup is celery-ass-free?

[gnomi.livejournal.com]

Was it the Super 88 in Packard's Corner (at the bend in Comm Ave) that you went to? It's big and scary, indeed. That's where I bought the lemongrass with which I made the aforementioned Asian Glazed Salmon (http://www.livejournal.com/users/magid/847337.html?thread=1694953#t1694953).

[magid.livejournal.com]

No, I went to the one in Chinatown, a couple of blocks from South Station. Not sure how they compare on size.

I still have the lemongrass. I should use it. Any time now. Really.

[pinkfish.livejournal.com]

Please don't take this the wrong way, but magid in an asian supermarket seems to me like a diabetic kid in a candy store. How do you live with the frustration?

Over inauguration week, legalmoose came to visit from Washington; we were going to spend an afternoon cruising the supermarkets of chinatown (he reads chinese, so he can resolve so many of those mysteries!), but the weather was really just too cold. We saved it for another trip.

[magid.livejournal.com]

Well, it is a bit frustrating, but I knew that at least there'd be fresh produce, which helped.

I remember Legalmoose's visit; bread, yes? So, can I tag along when you get to find out what those cans really say?

ps

[magid.livejournal.com]

Growing up, I had a diabetic friend who'd always make killer desserts and foist them on the rest of us.

Re: ps

[pinkfish.livejournal.com]

I suppose this means that I should learn how to make killer chocolate desserts to foist on my friends.

[ckd]

I'm pretty sure the Packard's Corner location is much bigger. It also has a food court, though as you can imagine none of the vendors there are kosher....

Re: ps

[bitty.livejournal.com]

Gee. That'd be downright awful.

[magid.livejournal.com]

I should check out the Packard's Corner one, then. Someday, that is. This was convenient for meandering over after work, while it would take more... intent to get to the other place.

And had any of the vendors there been kosher, there would've been huge news flashes through the local minyan lists I'm on, and they would be mobbed :-)

So far

[magid.livejournal.com]

The onions have gone into a number of things. The Swiss chard was sauteed with onions and a couple of potatoes and spicy beef-veal sausages. Other potatoes were roasted with onions. The eggplant was sauteed with onions, the criminis, and some red peppers, to which Kalamata olives and capers were added. I still have the broccoli, tomatoes, and lettuces.