⑨Grocery Shopping @ Chinese Market, Strip District

I am not driving yet, so buying groceries from Chinese Market in Strip District and getting it back to Oakland can be challenging. So I don’t go there that much and don’t buy a lot either. However, one of the few times I went there, I bumped into a good friend of mine and her family, especially her cute-as-a-button son, which made the shopping experience much significant than just doing a house chore. This is part of the charm living in Pittsburgh, you can potentially come across friends and acquaintances anywhere you go.

Another reason I would go to the Chinese Market once every a while is to experience that familiarity no words can describe. Just like if you are an American travelling in China, after a while, you would want to have your favourite dessert after dinner (Normally, Chinese don’t serve dessert after dinner, technically we don’t have dessert. Even snacking is considered a childish habit.). Walking around those shelves, reading Chinese characters, watching other Chinese people do their shopping (no bargaining though), fantasizing those delicious dishes my Mum can make out of those raw materials I would not know how to deal with,.....I am not a shopper, but I like to linger around the Chinese Market, like many people wouldn’t leave Macy’s unless it’s time for the store to be closed.

Although I consider myself a self-adopted Pittsburgher, I still misses being in China, being at home, and will never give up the connection to the notion of being a Chinese as well.

Beer winning trivia @ Chinese Market, Strip District

1. For tofu lover, the best place and time to buy fresh tofu is Lotus Food Co, and Saturdays. It’s fresh and cheap. An interesting dish that is made out of tofu is called Stinky tofu. But don’t be fooled by the name. It smelled bad, as if something stinky. But it tastes so good and would give you a sense of guilty pleasure. Personally I don’t know how to make it. But It’s a mouth-watering dish in deed.

Your ID @ Chinese Market, Strip District

Is there other Asian grocery section in Lotus Food Co, other than Chinese goods? How about the Wing Fat Hong (永发行) Oriental Food Market?