pictorial 1
june 22, 2002
this is the first in a set of mini summer pictorials i will be posting. just random shots of places, people and things. some will have stories behind it, others will not. this is an ongoing project throughout summer. enjoy.
come to think of it, a lot of my entries have always been mini pictorials anyway. d'oh!
mango pudding in the foreground [for my friend] and long-an pudding at the phoenix food boutique in alhambra, ca. chinese desserts are such an indulgence here in LA, because back in the day, we couldn't get this stuff too often. i mean, you could but you'd have to drive to chinatown and that was only a weekend thing to do your grocery shopping, see chinese doctors, have dim sum and such with family. but nowadays with the development of so many businesses in suburban chinatowns, we don't have to go quite as far and things are much more readily available everywhere, such as chinese desserts. yum! sure, in hong kong, there are plenty of these stands which cater to only desserts at all hours of the day but this is still relatively new to the US chinese communities.
among other things on their menu: black sticky rice with coconut (my fave!), walnut paste, fresh egg and soy milk, black jello coffee delight (yum!). the menu is too long, so go check it out yourself at:
phoenix food boutique
220 e. valley blvd.
alhambra, ca 91801
626.299.1918
[there are a few other locations as well, email
me w/ questions]
my parents don't share the same tastes in chinese food as me. they are really much more the dim sum, cantonese cuisine type of folks and i'm very varied. sometimes it's shanghainese. other times, taiwanese. maybe cantonese. perhaps dimsum. at times hong kong style cafes. possibly szechuan. chiu chow. jook (congee) and noodles. hunan. bbq dishes and so on. and here's my theory on why that is so.
being that i'm a product of an american upbringing, we live in a land interspersed with many immigrants from all over the world. and needless to say, there are many kinds of chinese folks coming here as well. in china alone, there are many many different provinces with different dialects, customs and of course cuisine. the big up side to all of this is that they bring with them, a taste of their homeland here and we are all able to indulge in that side of it. sometimes it's through our friends, who are chinese but from another regional background, other times, it's just because it's available nearby at a local restaurant. regardless of what, where, who or how -- i think we're just damn lucky to be able to have such a wide range of chinese cuisine to try. i know that too many of us take this for granted.
my parents, having grown up in hk for around 35+ years of their lives have only been exposed to what chinese foods hong kong had to offer back then. sure there are other regional chinese cuisine to be found there but i don't think to the degree we have it here in the u.s., especially los angeles. it always puzzles me when they don't like stinky tofu or other taiwanese delicacies but then i have to remind myself that they didn't have any of this to try back in the day. and my mom thinks boba is the biggest ripoff there is to date. when she hears that kids spend $3.50 on a boba drink, she just shakes her head and goes into this long tirade of how kids end up spending their parents hard earned money on ridiculously expensive drinks like that.
[shown above is the steamed rice bowl and below is the minced pork with egg and tofu over rice a la taiwanese "small eats"]
nothing quite like loving from the aloha state! thank you for the yummies and cutesy girly things! :D :D
