They opened this awesome grocery store, “Fresh World International Market/El Grande Supermercado,” around the corner from me that has more foods I haven’t seen than ones I have. “International” evidently means Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese and Mexican, with a few Central American foods like pupusas, but since that covers almost all of my favorites, I’m not complaining. My favorite finds so far:
- Mexican Coke: Made with pure cane sugar instead of high fructose corn syrup, it packs much more sweetness for the same number of calories, and in glass bottles tastes crisper and brighter than that swill in plastic ever could.
- Stir-fried fish cake: The store has its own Korean restaurant inside, and there’s always a woman in the back making fresh kimchi and other banchan goodies that are spicy and delicious. I’m so glad the lady at Nam Kang the other day pointed out that what I’ve been loving is fish cake, because I never would have guessed.
- Better spices: Yeah, I like chili powder as much as the next guy, but the stuff they carry is like a chipotle version – smoky and delicious. No, they don’t have McCormick, which I feel bad about since it’s a local Baltimore brand, but what they do have seems punchier.
- Vegetables that look like vegetables: No wax on the apples, no sprayers hosing down the greens, and almost everything reminds me of what veggies looked like when I was a kid instead of the franken-plants I see at Safeway.
- A world of Goya: So far no huitlacoche? (meaning “raven shit,” a.k.a. “corn smut“), but every kind of canned, dried or liquefied Mexican ingredient I could desire from pineapple juice to eighteen kinds of kidney beans is for sale.
- Crazy Asian junk food: For instance, “Soda Drink (Pineapple Flavor),” which contains, “water, sugar, citric acid, sodium acid, fruit cloudy, strawberry flavor, lemon flavor.” But it does taste like pineapple. Did I mention that it’s blue? Or that the bottle looks like a panda? Of course it does.
- The rest of the animal: Have you noticed that your local megamart no longer has things like chuck roasts, flank steaks or skirt steaks? What happened? ? What are they doing with the rest of the animals? I don’t think I want to know, but they have all the pork belly, chicken necks and assorted offal you could want at this place. As a guy who craves tripe and tendons when he gets a cold, this place is going to pay off this winter.
- Something interesting done with the animal: Chorizo? Several kinds of chorizo? Made on the premises? Sign me up.
- Kimchi refrigerators: $800-$1,700 will get you a fridge dedicated to making rotten cabbage. Isn’t that what they’re supposed to prevent??
- Things I want to try but am a little confused by: Spicy mango pickles? Instant Pho? Cuttlefish? Mulle? Some crazy thistle-looking fruit whose name escapes me? I’m gonna need a recipe or a recommendation before getting into the weird stuff.
Probably my favorite thing is that unlike the SuperFresh where I’m surrounded by white people (you folks smell like bologna, did you know that?), this place is like a school-house rock vision of what America ought to be. There’s obviously-former-military white guys with their asian wives. Mexican cooks stocking up on masa. Japanese families going ape-shit about something in the “Asian Powders” aisle (!?). Today I saw a tall black man, a young Asian guy and his Latina girlfriend talking in sign language. I love shopping at places that make me thing all this post-racial Obama-era hooey is real.
All of which is a long way of getting to: I decided to make some chili. I don’t have a recipe or anything, just the confidence that if you put any quantity of tomato products, onions, meat, spices and beans together and cook it on low for an hour, you get chili. So I got some cheap stewing meat, chorizo, a selection of beans, and a couple kinds of canned chiles and cooked it up with some chili powder and whatnot. And it turned out great. I’d have to say that this is not only the best batch of chili I’ve ever made, but it’s my favorite chili I’ve ever eaten.
That’s not saying a lot though – from what I can tell, the magic of the stuff is that anybody can make a decent pot of chili with whatever happens to be in the pantry and freezer, and the less time you spend worrying about freshness of ingredients or quality of meat, the better. My problem is that I didn’t have any idea how spicy the chorizo was – and it’s not a good idea to taste pork before you cook it. So I used my normal quantities of chili powder and jalapenos and sriracha (I told you I put it in everything), and ended up with something just slightly too hot. This, dear friends, is the down-side to that fresh-made chorizo. When you find yourself snacking on spicy Korean fish cakes as a palate cleanser, you’ve gone too far.?
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You’ve had cuttlefish. Actually – Jared’s tried cuttlefish! I think you were pretty eh on it – I like the texture, myself, but it is bland.
Mmm, chili.
When was this?
Dim Sum! With Daniel and Heather.
I vote for the Huitlacoche! But that’s mostly because Steve’s posts still manage to crack me up. I wish we had more options for fresh food out here. You’d think we’d be doing a little better considering we live ten feet from cows.
S: Oh yeah: cuttlefish was awesome.
J: I’ll eat corn smut if you will!
Living in northern Wisconsin where the nearest mercado is 3 hours away I’ve had to learn to make my own ingredients. The following recipe is so simple that there’s no reason to buy it instead of making it yourself. The recipe calls for pork but it works just as well with beef.
Easy Chorizo From Skank’s kitchen
Ingredients:
1 pound coarsely ground pork
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons chili powder (Not a blend. Use pure ground chili powder)
¼ teaspoon ground cloves
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoons paprika
1 teaspoon oregano
1 clove garlic, crushed
2 tablespoons white vinegar
1 tablespoon water
Instructions:
1. Combine ingredients in large bowl and mix by hand
2. Cover place in the refrigerator for one or more hours to let flavorings mix.
3. Freeze it if you like or sauté it and use immediately.
Additional Notes:
1. I like to use one tablespoon of the medium-heat, pure ground New Mexico chili powder and one tablespoon of the hot.
2. It’s really hot and good if you use 2 tablespoons of the hot chili powder.
3. I also like to use hot Hungarian paprika when I can find some instead of regular paprika.
4. Sometimes I add a teaspoon of ground cumin just because I like it.
5. I usually double the recipe when I make it.
I make half a dozen varieties of chili from mild New Mexico Pork Chili to a hot chili recipe that I came up to suit myself. Here it is:
Good ‘n’ Hot Chili
1 large onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 and 1/2 pounds of hamburger
(It’s good with round steak cut into small chunks instead of hamburger. If you use round steak you want to toss it in a half cup of pure ground chili powder to coat. Then add a couple of tablespoons of cooking oil to the skillet to brown it with the onion and garlic. If you want to use a tastier cut of beef like a chuck roast follow instructions for round steak but simmer it for three hours until it is tender. Adding a bottle of negro modelo to the simmering liquid is very nice.)
Brown meat, onions, and garlic in a large skillet. Remove from heat. Drain off fat.
Combine the following seasonings and stir into the meat until it is evenly coated. (If you use round steak omit the chili powder.)
1/2 cup of pure ground chili powder This can be a combination of hot and mild chili powder or all of one kind)
2 tablespoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon to 3 tablespoons of red pepper flakes to taste
1 tablespoon oregano
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
Place in a large kettle or crock pot. Then add the following ingredients and heat through.
4 to 5 cans of Hot Chili Beans or any combination of pinto, black, chili, or kidney beans.
2 cans of tomato sauce
1 can of chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, chopped
3 cans of diced tomatoes with jalapenos
(If you can’t find these you can substitute 3 cans of diced tomatoes and one small can of chopped jalapenos.)
If this isn’t hot enough for you, add cayenne powder to taste.
Bon appetit.
@skank: What I put together is surprisingly (almost shockingly) similar:
3/4lb cubed round steak
1-1/4lb pork chorizo
1 onion
4 cloves garlic
1/2 cup chili powder
1T cumin
1T oregano
1T basil
2 big pinches of salt
1t ground adobo peppers
20-or-so grinds of black pepper
2 cans of beans (kidney and mini-kidney)
1 big (15oz?) can of tomoato sauce
3 cans of diced tomatoes w/mild chiles
1 can sliced jalapenos
1 can chipotle peppers
3T sriracha
A little more meat and a little less beans, but almost identical! Next time I think I’m going to try more beans and maybe a mix of pork/beef/lamb.
And as long as they keep selling such good chorizo locally, I’m going to stick with the store-bought. :-)
What a delightful article! I am insisting you cook said chili again so that I might sample! :)) I’ll bring rolls or something. =)
Are you using a chili powder mix or are you using pure ground chilis?
Most store bought chili powders have garlic, oregano, cumin, and a lot of salt in them.
Because I have high blood pressure I use pure ground chilis and add everything to make what amounts to a saltless chili powder.
I usually buy six or seven pounds of pure ground chilis when I visit Vacaville. The have ground New Mexico (mild and hot) and California chilis along with cayenne pepper and hot paprika at this little fruit stand in Dixon. I store it in the freezer.
Oh, I’m still using the mix – there was a little tienda latina around the corner from us that had that sort of thing but I forgot to look at the new place – maybe next time!
(Also, still low on the blood pressure here, so….)
Watch the spicy mango pickles. I’ve had some that were good and one jar that was the most vile thing I’ve ever tasted. Actually, I don’t think they ever taste good. A tiny amount with your Indian food is ok, I wouldn’t spread it on a slice of toast and think Yummy!
In San Diego, I go to North Park Produce for the eastern European, Arabic, and Russian food. Then I go down the street to Pancho Villas for the Mexican food and produce. I started hitting the local markets exclusively during the grocery store strikes a few years ago. It makes much more sense supporting the niche places.
Here in France, we have to visit the farmers markets to get most of our produce. Not that its a bad thing! There are also certain markets known for having better Asian or Arabic selections. I just found them noisier as the sellers tend to yell out suggestions like a fishwife. Whereas my neighborhood’s local markets the people stand back and quietly assist.
I’ve been looking for corn smut in every mercado I visit in California. I’m starting to think it is an urban myth :)