Pickled carrots 1

RantWoman wound up eating two meals out on Friday. Gastronomic world traveller that RantWoman is, both involved pickled carrots (and cilantro, actually) with rather different retail associations. This item is devoted to the shredded carrots pickled with hot pepper and served with vietnamese spring rolls and dipping sauce on the takeout menu at Hai-Tai market on Aurora Avenue N, in the same complex as Oak Tree Cinema and almost always more fun than the cinema, but with no sensible electronic presence that RantWoman can find.

When RantWoman lived near what is now the Hai-Tai market, it was kind of a yuppy food museum called Larry's Market. The piles of organic eggplant were arranged just so. There was classical muzak on the PA and pretentious flavors of cheese or mustard and quinoa salad at the deli. There was a selection of cloth napkins, high-end kitchen utensils, and designer ceramics. Larry's butcher counter made their own sausage and made flavors like chicken apple walnut. There was a delectable store brand of gourmet ice cream that RantWoman never even bothered to check the fat content for fear the information alone would give her a coronary. Between proximity to RantWoman's abode and manic thrift, RantWoman managed to be a fairly frequent customer and once or twice even to work luxury items into her diet.

Then, about the time RantWoman had to move for bumpy reasons of her own, someone's bubble burst and the sustainability of yuppy food museums declined precipitously and Larry's Market got sold. The local chain got broken up and along came a long transition and then Hai Tai Market.

Hai Tai market is a prototypical Asian grocery store. There are stacks and stacks of all sizes of bags of rice. There are tanks with live seafood. There are all kinds of funky things in the produce department and the funky things are for sale for great prices. There shelves and shelves of noodle items, soy sauce, and assorted other condiments. There are smatterings of products aimed at Latinos and cans of greasy vegetables that clearly are comfort food for Russian and eastern european shoppers. Most of all, unlike "round-eye" supermarkets, the place does not reek of detergent around every aisle.

In short, RantWoman really likes the Hai Tai market. The place is two buses from her current house, so although RantWoman COULD stock up on plenty of good produce, sometimes when she goes there RantWoman just winds up stopping at the deli for a meal: spring rolls, a banh mi sandwich, or any of several spicy and unusual hot items involving curry, fish, vegetables, and other items over rice.

But the final touch, a seemingly small thing unless one is RantWoman: the Hai Tai Markets kept the old Larry's Market point of sale devices which mostly have good tactile buttons and only a couple points that RantWoman sometimes needs help to interact with.

Did RantWoman mention that the spring rolls and spicy pickled carrots are just delicious?