Sunday I went to the Ranch 99 in Arcadia to pick up items missing from my pantry. I must say that using a grocery list is a good way to not spend too much and to keep yourself focused on specific dishes you want to create. I only deviated by a half dozen items that weren't on my list. I don't buy these all the time. With each trip and usually my shopping list will have an entry that just says "fish", and whatever is picked up is whatever looks the freshest.
Shitake mushrooms (fresh or dried) and fresh ginger are two ingredients that I can't not have in my pantry. This trip was prompted by a lack of dried shitake mushrooms.
The list: shitake mushrooms, fresh ($3/lb) and dried ($2.50-$3.00 per package)
freshly beheaded shrimp ($4/lb, on sale)
fresh whole fish ($2-3/fish, tilapia, striped bass, or trout)
2-lb packs of frozen shelled clams ($5/each, never on sale but cheaper than restaurants)
vegetables (on choy, bok choy, napa cabage, green onion)
garlic and ginger (slightly cheaper but fresher)
lite soy sauce ($3/litre)
2-3 pkg spicy Shimun ramen (I use the spice packet in other dishes)
dried udon noodles
red rice wine
dried seaweed (kombu, wakame, or other variety, for soups)
1/2 gallon soy milk
tofu (fried, soft, or hard)
taro root (peeled & packaged)
A Chinese supermarket that services a local population of 100k+ residents is usually a good benchmark for prices of what to expect for the usual items. The aforementioned prices reflect what's available in southern California.
Two noticeably particular things happened on this shopping trip. As I was headed to the checkout line, my shopping cart looked awfully familiar.. like it had the same composition of food stuffs my folks have when they go Chinese grocery store shopping. And, other shoppers moved away from the line I was in because they simply didn't want to wait that long for me to check out. I didn't buy that much, really! My bill came to about $50.
I see good eats ahead for this week. Mmm..
