Goodies from the Asian store and bakery

I went to Little Saigon Market to find my packets of almond float mix. The Korean market and Pacific Ocean Market did not carry it and my regular asian grocery store (I do not know the name) moved further away from me. I haven't visited Little Saigon Market since my regular store opened. Little Saigon Market is tiny and a bit disorganized. My regular place is larger and the closest thing to the 99 Ranch Markets that I am used to in Southern California.

Little Saigon Market did have my almond float mix. I bought 6 packets. As I was checking out, I spotted fresh silken tofu in gingered syrup (dao fu fah) and I also spotted a banana leaf-wrapped something. I wasn't sure what was in it and the checkout lady did not appear too happy. I added one to my order.

Dao fu fah

The mystery banana leaf wrapped packet. I think it is called banh tet but I can be wrong.

The mystery is solved. It looks like rice flour with a filling of minced pork/chicken with woodear mushrooms. I didn't like the consistency of the rice flour part. My grandmother makes something similar but dough portion comes out so much better. She also uses little slices of bamboo and everything is wrapped in aluminum foil. I actually don't like the banana leaf flavor for something like this. I guess it is whatever you grow up eating. She also makes a vegetarian version for my sister.I then went over to Celestial Bakery in the same center. I'm not sure why they call it a bakery. It appears to be a place for all Chinese treats. They make a lot of goodies and I think they are the best in Denver but if they were in SoCal, they would not make it. Their Chinese sponge cake (my fav) is just okay. I ordered it for Uncle Dopey's birthday because he wanted a Chinese cake and I was on a mission to find it. It did not compare to Chinese cake my sister brought from the bay area. She carried a full sheet cake on the plane! I am not into carrying hard to find food items on the airplane but many of my family and friends do not feel the same way. My brother was asked to bring a full sheet Chinese cake from San Diego to Phoenix. He asked me to go pick up the cake since I was in town. During the 5 hour drive from San Diego to Phoenix, the cake sat in the back seat. I initially had it in the trunk. My brother stopped somewhere along the way and moved the cake to the back seat because it was June and the temperature in Arizona gets to 120 degrees. The cake had to be in the air-conditioned car.

Back to Celestial Bakery. I ended up buying sticky rice and meat wrapped in lotus leaf (lo mai gai) and a couple chicken buns. The lo mai gai was just okay. They didn't use an char sui or mushrooms.

Lo ma gai

Inside of the lo mai gai.

Chicken buns

Yesterday we ventured out to H-Mart (the Korean grocery store). The store is huge (for Denver). I bought lotus root, bitter melon, taro root, cassava root, nori, mega-size Pocky, cans of longan and jackfruit, black rice, mung beans, and kimchi! First I grabbed a container of the regular kimchi. It was only $1.50. Then as I was browsing the store there was a nice little lady selling "fresh" kimchi from huge cardboard boxes lined with plastic. The cucumber kimchi looked so yummy. I asked for a pound. I got a little more than in the container. I put some into a little container and then ate the rest. Kimchi actually makes my mouth water.

The cucumber kimchi had a little too much filler. I think the filler is daikon. I didn't care too much for the filler part. The cukes are amazing!

Regular kimchi

Both containers of kimchi.

If I ate more real asian food, I would be so healthy and thin. How many calories is in kimchi? It is considered one of the top superfoods. Tofu for dessert? I think the sugar is about the only thing that is unhealthy in the dessert. Even the sugar is better than the corn syrup that is used in most American sweets.