Road Trip Time with Lisa and Tom

Happy Thursday ! And one of our families favorite place to shop is the Asian market. This one in Lafayette, La. is a great place to shop for all of your Chinese New Year needs…. Lisa

Shopping at the Asian market:

Some of my favorite things to buy at the market:

• Spices. The Asian market is a great place to purchase spices! …
• Sauces & Condiments. …
• Tea. …
• Seafood. …
• Noodles & Rice. …
• Chopsticks & Utensils. …
• Fresh Produce. 

On today’s shopping list:

• A HUGE bag of rice (I prefer jasmine)
• Fish Sauce.
• Soy Sauce.
• Furikake (pick your flavor, mine is ‘shrimp’ or ‘toasty’)
• Mae Ploy Sweet Chili Sauce.
• Frozen Seafood (shrimp and seatrash are DIRT cheap)

Shopping for a new Wok or steamer:

Look for carbon steel woks that are at least 14-gauge—about two millimeters thick—which won’t bend when you press on the sides. Avoid nonstick woks at all costs. Most nonstick coatings cannot handle the high heat necessary for a proper stir-fry.

Shopping from the freezer section :

My in laws makes these from scratch – but I purchased these from the freezer section at the market. And then used the steamer to cook them.

Tips for Using a Bamboo Steamer

1. Choose a steamer 2 inches smaller than the pan you’re using.
2. Use wax paper or parchment paper as a liner so food won’t stick to the bottom.
3. If cooking multiple types of food (such as meats and veggies), place the foods that have the longest cooking time on the bottom tier.