SEAFOOD HEAVEN

Did you ever go slowly through the aisles of a supermarket, examining exotic fruits and packaged items with not a word of English on the label, then turn around to sniff some lemon grass and squeeze a purple yam, only to find your shopping cart has been replaced by someone else’s, who’s obviously gone off with yours?

That happened to me in Seafood City, a Philippine supermarket, with shelves full of unusual (for me) exotic ingredients, and the best fresh fish section I’ve seen outside of Tokyo.  Wild Mexican halibut, Canadian salmon, fresh skate wings, live crabs, shiny mackerel, and bright-eyed Oregon sardines at $1 per pound.  Everything is pristine fresh, with a team of guys who gut and scale your fish just because you asked.   

I found beef tendons, good for what ails me, which I’m now cooking with ginger, star anise and lemon grass.  I also found pig snout, pork blood, and pink tapioca, which I managed to pass up, and green grass jelly drink, coconut cider vinegar, sardines in a glass jar, and butter in a can, which I couldn’t.  I love this shop!

I soon found the manager, who, together with a bunch of friendly bystanders, obviously regular Seafood City customers, combed the entire market with me, but we didn’t find my cart and I had to start all over again.

Vallejo has no Trader Joe’s or Whole Foods.  Someone told me we don’t have the demographics for those shops.  But, between Seafood City and a year-round farmers market every Saturday morning on Georgia Street near the ferry, I’m covered.   (nearly)

Now, all I want is a home with a view of the river.