A trip to the supermarket, Chinese style...

If you have ever walked into a grocery store that caters to a certain ethnic group, where the labels are written in another language, then you might understand a little about the difficulty of shopping in a Chinese supermarket. We have ventured out and found a few big markets… one we refer to as WalMart because it sells just about everything and the other I would equate more to a Publix because it is a little nicer, only sells food but it is more expensive. They are both located about a mile from the apartment which means we walk there, buy as much as we think we can carry and take a taxi home. I never really liked shopping back home so this makes this task doubly irritating but still it must be done.

The first thing that hits you when you walk into a Chinese market is the smell. It is not until you make it back to the meat/fish department that you realize where it is coming from. They have everything you can imagine and some things you have never seen before. I love watching the live eels slither or frogs jumping on each other in their buckets. I try not to stare at the fish heads or make faces when I see the chicken feet. We try and guess what the meat is that we are purchasing. We had picked up something that we thought was bbq pork but it turned out to be strips of gelatinous pork-flavored pressed meat, like a high-quality spam. Sean loves to do his chicken impression for the butcher to make sure that is what he is picking up. There is every body part for every animal, cooked or raw, available for purchase. Eggs are not found in the refrigerated section but are in crates where you ask the clerk to carefully place your purchase into a plastic bag.

Then it is off to the produce department. We had purchased a wok and were eager to find all of the vegetables we think go into a good stir-fry. We picked out some scallions, bean sprouts, chinese cabbage, water chestnuts, snow peas, mushrooms (they have so many types!) and green peppers. There were many things that we could not identify but the locals were filling their shopping carts with them. They love their nuts and seeds here and you can fill a bag from the bulk containers and have the clerk weigh and price them for you. They also have many pickled items such as garlic and ginger… the rest we were not sure of what they were.

You can only purchase rice and oil in bulk quantities, the smallest being a 5lb bag and a gallon container, respectively. There is every type of noodle available, tied in a bundle, dried out and placed in an area for you to select from. We have discovered a brand of instant beef noodle that fills the tummy so we buy these is bulk quantity. We found a recipe on the internet for a black bean sauce that is delicious over beef or chicken. This required us to search through the many labeled bottles to find hot pepper sauce, red wine vinegar, specific spices and, of course, Chinese fermented black beans. We did this by comparing the symbols on the bottle with what was in our Mandarin book. After making the sauce we discovered that we most likely did not get the right black bean as ours were still a bit hard and green but the sauce was still good and best of all, home-made.

You can purchase toothpaste, soaps, cleaning supplies and other items pretty easily by looking at the pictures on the labels. There is Pepsi, Fanta, Coke and other familiar items in the drink aisle but we have found a wonderful orange drink made by good ole’ Minute Maid that we love! I have been able to find only instant coffee (which I am grateful for) and Sean loves the huge selection of teas. In the snack aisle you can find every flavor potato chip… even hotdog and zesty beef flavored! We opt for the American Classic Lays. Amongst all of the boxes of different types of cookies you can even find Oreos and Chips Ahoy.

The paper goods aisle is a bit different than home. In a country where you should never be caught without a pack of tissues in case you need to use the bathroom, they have many bulk packs to choose from. They do have toilet paper even though the China sewer system cannot tolerate it being flushed. And since they are huge into recycling here, there is not a roll of paper towels to be found. There is no plastic wrap or aluminum foil either. Everything must go into Tupperware which is also hard to find ones that have a tight fitting lid.

All that being said, I did find Peanut Butter and Jelly. Now back at home I used to make a grilled peanut butter and jelly sandwich (just like you would a grilled cheese sandwich). Since we only own the wok, I was adventurous and tried to make it work. Over an open flame, I grilled our lunch and served it to Sean. They did not look great but it was a delight to eat something that tasted a little like home. Until next time… Bon Appétit!! Or shall I say Zhen Haochi!