Pacific Ocean Market

This is the first thing you see when you enter and turn right. 

This is what I came for; to experiment with bizarre fruit and vegetables. 

To put in the juicer and see what happens.

It's an impressively long series of aisles. But they were out of water chestnuts at the far end. They did have abundant regular chestnuts. 

See that? 

Do Do Fish balls. 

There is an entire long case of these various packages with some kind of dumpling, or non-dumpling  meatball of some type, beef, pork, chicken and mushroom, for example. Every combination imaginable. Amuse-bouche sort of things, or possibly meat balls to put into soup. Maybe salads or side dishes. Who knows?  Both sides of a very long case with glass top that you walk around. I was tempted. Maybe next time. They look interesting.

But then, I don't buy prepared American meatballs either. That's ridiculous.

I bought one of these. The guy chopped it up. I spoke with a woman while waiting for hers to be chopped and I spoke with a young family while waiting for mine to be chopped. 

And that guy is a dead serious chopper. 

Rolls that would be three times as much at the regular places I go.

Durian. This fruit is the inspiration for the name of the rock band Durian Durian.

White bean dessert

They make their own tofu. 

My shopping cart.

Unloading at home. This is half. I can't fit it all on the butcher block cart.

Juice: bean sprouts, celery, cucumber, burdock, some kind of weird Asian pear, green apple

I used a lot of bean sprouts and that is the predominant flavor and I'm still a bit uncertain about the taste of burdock. A bit sweet, somewhat chalky. I haven't pinpointed it. 

Weirdly watery. So I added a green apple to jazz it up. And still it's the bean sprouts that come through. 

Next time: less bean sprouts. 

Juice: pineapple, pomegranate, Asian pear, kiwi, celeriac

I must say, this is the most delicious juice concocted so far. Because it's all delicious things. The celeriac is the only vegetable and that's fairly benign and there wasn't much of it.

* 1/2 large pineapple including the core

* 2 fairly small pomegranates

* 1 Asian pear

* 1 kiwi

* 1 small section of celeriac bulb

Man oh man, I sure am going through a lot of vegetables and fruit this last month. Wow. I used all the new kiwis, 12 of them, and all the Asian pears, all the celery and both batches of cucumbers, all the spinach, all the kale, both batches of bok choy. All the red apples both times. All the purple cabbage. 2+1/2 pineapples. A bunch of kale (gross) it has to be used sparingly and turns juice dark green. All 6 of the bell peppers. All both batches of regular pears. One whole celeriac.  

But not all the 2nd batch of carrots. And I still have some grapes but not much and some green apples are still left.

Now today I must go out and buy another whole trolly. It's fun!

I notice when I stand up my muscles work more cooperatively and I'm no longer creaky or achy. 

rice and beans and bok choy with shrimp

* Hard dried beans were pressure cooked in water for 1 hour.

* Removed from pot to a bowl

* Bacon fried in the original pot without the pressure lid

* Onions added

* Garlic and seasonings, cumin and cilantro

* Brown sugar added

* Rice vinegar added, BOOM! sweet/sour balance right there.

The bok choy and spinach were intended for juicing but I wanted to eat them instead.

Actually, spinach has more nutrition available when it's cooked. Juicers use it because its flavor is not so strong as such things as kale, which can get overbearing.

The customary 7 magical Asian flavor ingredients turn simple flavorless cabbage into something spectacular. I mean it. You should just copy them, buy them and use them and up your game to a whole 'nuther level. People will be all, "What? What? Where did these mad chefery skills come from?" And you'll go demurely, "The internet." 

Okay. What we have here is beans cooked rapidly and flavored fantastically, and bok choy with spinach and an abundance of shrimp flavored incredibly, against plain white rice not flavored at all. 

That's because the rice itself is stupendous. Its flavor really is outstanding. But simple. It's simply outstanding. This is not ordinary careless rice. No. This is careful rice. Each step of cultivation and processing is carefully curated, thoughtfully attentive to every detail. Japanese people say, "Since I've been in America, this is the one rice that comes close to what I know back home." But you wouldn't know about that unless you've already had a lot of really good rice. And poor rice, to be able to assess the differences between them.

And ah pity da foo who can't tell the difference.

Juice: pomegranate, celeriac, tomato, red bell pepper, Envy apple

The Asian pear wasn't used.

I must buy more celery and more cucumbers. Also a good coconut. 

And I'm nearly out of kiwis.