Little Saigon
Cooking is my hobby, as much as anything so important to a good life can be considered just a hobby. Today I went into the Little Saigon grocery store on Paxton Street in Harrisburg, not far from the Dunkin' Donuts. It adjoins a Vietnamese restaurant of the same name and shares a parking lot with the hugely popular Jumbo (Chinese) Buffet and Grill. I like to go into grocery stores in foreign countries. You can learn a lot about a culture and its cuisine in just a few minutes of walking the aisles. I've done it in Italy, Germany and Canada. Going into Little Saigon was much the same experience. This was no Giant or Weis. Maybe 1-2 percent of the products on the shelves were familiar brands. Of all the Asian cuisines, I've always liked Vietnamese the best, probably because of the French influence. Recently, I read a review on the Los Angeles Times website of a Vietnamese cookbook with the coincidental title of "The Little Saigon Cookbook: Vietnamese Cuisine and Culture in Southern California's Little Saigon." Ann Le is the author. I ordered a copy from Buy.com, and decided to try Ga Chien, or Pan-Fried Spicy Chicken with Mint and Ginger.
I had about half the ingredients, but needed fish sauce, a staple in Vietnamese cooking, fresh coriander and mint, and something called a Thai bird chile (hot pepper). So off I went to Little Saigon, shopping list in hand. Inside, a man was bagging coriander leaves. Good sign. I grabbed a basket and began strolling the aisles, viewing the many unfamiliar products. Little Saigon has a large selection of fish sauces. Phuc Quoc was the brand suggested by the cookbook. It comes from an island in the Mekong Delta, said to be beautiful but unvisitable because of the smell of fermenting fish. I found the sauce, and the helpful lady working the cash register directed me to the mint and hot peppers. Some Vietnamese teens in the store spoke American-accented English, while other men and women spoke their native languages. The lady at the register handled them all with aplomb. Prices were very reasonable, and the store takes credit and ATM cards.
I had never worked with fish sauce before and the odor is a bit overpowering. My cats came running when they smelled it. But it made for a tasty marinade combined with everything else in the recipe. It gave the chicken a nice bite. Everyone liked it.