A Trip To Chinatown (San Gabriel)

A few days ago, I took a day trip to San Gabriel and below are photos of what I saw.

Pork Snout 2 lbs. for $1.00

Varieties of Sichuan Pickled Vegetables

More Varieties of Sichuan Pickled Vegetables

Still more Varieties of Sichuan Pickled Vegetables

Bacon with Ribs about 3" thick!

Varieties of Pixian Douban Jiang

Smaller Size bags of Varieties of Pixian Douban Jiang

Pickled Mustard

More Pickled Mustard

Still more Pickled Mustard

Even more Pickled Mustard

Pickled Mustard in Jars

More of the same

$30 a pound for frozen Armadillo

Lily Stems

Sichuan Chiles (Red, Hot, shaped like a Jalapeno)

Dried Black Poplar Mushroom (Velvet Pioppino Mushroom)

Wolfberry Leaves (Goji)

Pennywort and Yam leaves

No English Names on the signs

Chinese Chives

Restaurant size bottles of Sichuan "Pepper" Oil (Prickly Ash Oil)

Three varieties of Prickly Ash

Live Eel

Live Turtle (huge 16 inches across)

Live Turtles - 8 inches

Tofu, Sweet Bean paste, anchovies, Sichuan Pickle Relish, 2 bags of Sichuan Chiles and the Poplar Mushrooms

I promise some recipes to go with all this.

Yams With Coconut Milk and Cardamom

Some years ago at Thanksgiving I had the thought to mix coconut milk with garnet yams (also called sweet potatoes). That and the surprising cardamom spice yields a wonderfully different Thanksgiving recipe.

2 lbs. yams or sweet potatoes
4 to 6 ounces of coconut milk
1 tsp. of cardamom powder (ground spice)
1/4 tsp. salt

Bring a large pot of water to a boil and when rolling, add the yams. Boil for 25 minutes, uncovered. Remove from the water and allow the skin of the yams to dry. Peel the yams. Cut the yams into chunks, if they are very large and mash them with a potato masher. In a quart mixing bowl, add 3 ounces of coconut milk, the salt and cardamom. Mix well. The milky whiteness will pickup an odd color from the cardamom, but once it is mixed with the yam, you cannot see it. Mix in the mushed yam and add more coconut milk if needed.

Transfer the mix to a casserole and refrigerate until ready for Thanksgiving supper. Remove from the 'frig about 60 minutes before placing, covered with aluminum foil to prevent drying out, in a 350 degree F. oven for 35 to 45 minutes. Serve while still warm.