Check out this website I stumbled upon. Isn’t it clever to have your supply of Asian food products delivered to you?! Pardon my excitement but this is the first time I learned about its existence. I sometimes find it quite troublesome to schedule a trip to the Asian food store after I do my grocery-shopping, especially if you don’t live anywhere near one. And when I do find the time, I splurge like there’s no tomorrow! From Chippy to frozen Bangus to Ma-ling! Anything for a taste of home! Sigh..

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Asian food products right at your doorstep!

This is the real Heaven on a Stick.

Thick sliced of fresh Renkon (Lotus root).  Washed and white.  About half an inch thick.  Crumbed lightly and then deep fried relatively slowly on a butterfly skewer.  Eaten straight from the kitchen and dipped in Ponzu sauce, they have to be my favourite thing in the world at the moment.  Try beating that.

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Deep fried Renkon

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StirCrazy

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Amazon Grocery

Parking is rather limited considering the number of people shopping here, but there is street parking available if you can’t get in through the gates. Orbs and a lighted fountain decorate the entrance making for a very pretty welcome. There is one eye-rolling feature: the plastic palm trees! Cute and tacky at the same time, but yes, certainly appropriate for the largest Asian market in Oklahoma. Super Cao Nguyen is located in the Asian district of Oklahoma City, a.k.a. “Little Saigon”, off of Classen Boulevard. It is home to many Asian businesses like jewelry stores, banks, nail salons, as well as smaller Asian markets.

As you enter the store you’ll see a little eating area on the right, where people are feasting on the day’s offerings. You can purchase from the Chinese deli, where roasted meats are available, as are sushi, hot dishes and soups, and fixings for Banh Mi. Eat there or take it home, your choice.

The aisles are stocked to the hilt with all manner of noodles and sauces and everything else you’ll need to make great Asian food, but you have to know what you’re looking for, as there isn’t much help available. The floors and shelves are clean and well-kept.

The back of the store is dedicated to meats and seafood, so stock up. You can take fresh fish home to clean and gut yourself, or you can have it done for you. If you want it pre-cooked/fried, they’ll do that too!

Durian, Asian vegetables like moqua and jicama and all types of greens, pig uteri and kidney, duck heads, baked goods, rice cakes, teas and medicinal herbs, all at the right price, which to me means cheaper than what we have here in Cincinnati.

(I’ll comment on this one later.)

It’s a one-stop shop, and carries an incredible selection of Asian tableware and gift items, like lucky bamboo and Hello Kitty ceramic piggy banks that will take at least a year to fill with pocket change. But you know what caught my eye? Two things. Right at the checkout lane, they were selling “steel rubbing”, which I’m thinking is used to sharpen knives (?). They were also selling — quite effectively from the looks of it, as there were only a few left — nose hair trimmers.

Super Cao Nguyen
Off Classen, on 2668 N. Military Avenue
Oklahoma City, OK 73106
Map
Contact: Ba Luong 405-525-7650
http://www.caonguyen.com

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Super Cao Nguyen, Oklahoma City

The book is a compilation of articles that appeared in the publication Petits Propos Culinaires. There is a piece by James Bauman, in which he talks about the

“great Dong traditional meal, Yau Cha, literally ‘oil tea’.

Tea grows wild all over the mountains of South China, and a century or so ago, tea seed oil was a major export of Guangxi, being sent as far away as the USA. Today the trade is showing signs of revival, with tea oil being touted as a possibly less harmful cooking medium than some other oils. Certainly many of the hilltribes have used little else for generations, and the Dong have turned its use into a ritual; not as refined as the Japanese tea ceremony perhaps, but a ritual nonetheless.”

He then goes on to describe the ‘ritual’, which is also mentioned in detail in The Kam People of China (Kam people are a.k.a. the Dong people, one of 56 recognized ethnic groups in China):

Oil tea has become a Kam specialty over the last hundred years, having probably been borrowed from the Han Chinese. It is more common in the northern than in the southern Kam areas. First, ordinary rice is fried together with dried tea leaves, then salt and water are added and the mixture is brought to the boil. It is filtered and served in bowls. Peanuts, soya beans, small pieces of glutinous rice cakes, and spices are then fried in tea oil and added together with puffed rice to make the tea. One chopstick is used to help in the process of ‘drinking’ the tea. To be polite, the visitor should have at least three bowls.

There are other subtleties to the ritual such as the type of tea used, the “spices” which include fermented fish/rice, and the reasons why only one chopstick is provided. (Pu Erh and Lapsang Souchong, large-leaved teas used for the oil tea ‘ceremony’ are more easily found than Shui Sin/Sen, which is a bit more fragrant than jasmine. If you don’t have a local store that carries the last, you can order it as part of an assortment at Pearl River.)

More information on the ‘net:

The Dong tea ritual described in detail
Professor Jacqueline Newman, Chinese cookbook collector, researcher, and author of Food Culture in China, shares her experience in Flavor and Fortune.
A discussion at Chowhound
the Wikipedia entry, for what it’s worth
John Amato, project photographer for a UNESCO-funded study of the Kam people, has an amazing collection of photographs here.
Nursery Production of Tea Oil Camellia Under Different Light Levels.
More information about the Dong people.

You can buy tea oil directly from The Republic of Teaat Sur La Table.

Update:
David Reid has pictures of the process, although not cold-pressed.
Gina Cacho has recipes here.

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Tea Oil / Oil Tea / The Dong People of China

From Jack Hayes in Nation’s Restaurant News:

The restaurant holds 1,000 guests on Friday and Saturday nights and is on pace to finish its first year with $9 million, the highest gross of all of Catherall’s Atlanta concepts, which also include Goldfish and Twist near Perimeter Mall; Noche in the Virginia-Highland neighborhood; Shout, also in Midtown.

Far from complicated, Strip’s menu features eight salads, five “starters,” four raw-bar selections, nine sandwiches and burgers, nine sides, five desserts and 16 “specials,” including the top-selling 10-ounce and 16-ounce New York strip steaks, priced at $20 and $26, respectively.

If you’re planning a trip to Atlanta, check out Tom Catherall’s growing family of restaurants, always “here to serve”.

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The Best Combination of Land and Sea

I’m providing the address, phone and hours here. But if you forget and have to look them up, make sure you look for “Cincinnati Asia Market”, not “Asian”. Their website uses the word “Asian”, but they are registered in the yellow pages as “Asia”. If you look for Asian Market you’ll get to the same street (Reading Road) but it will be an Indian grocery store. CAM is still several blocks down from there.

Cincinnati CAM Asia Supermarket
Village Crossing Shopping Center
10400 Reading Road,#145
Cincinnati, OH 45241
Mon-Sat: 10:00am-8:00pm
Sun: 10:00am-7:00pm

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Cincinnati Asia(n) Market

Edit:

Candyblog’s review here.

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Do you have an Aji Ichiban store near you?

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Chusok