The Winsor Dark Chocolate Rocky Road Bar is nominally a bar of fluffy marshmallow and whole almonds enrobed in a thick coat of dark Belgium chocolate.

But let’s just call it what it really is pure, undiluted, E.V.I.L.

It’s a PG-17 Rocky Road bar that makes you throw back your head and Mwa ha ha like Boris Badenof while you gloat and nibble at its sinful perfection. And really, how embarrassing is that?

You can get your block of the Dark Force at Whole Foods where I succumbed during a late night run prior to movie night with friends last weekend. I did a triple take when I first passed its Basket of Temptation but finally found the wherewithall to keep going because I am a most virtuous and saintly girl.

But Shodashi, otherwise known as the Messenger of Satan, told me I had to try one. Since I’m only human and already had a clutch of chocolate (hey, it’s all for the blog - I don’t even like dark chocolate!) I averted my eyes and had her pick out a picture perfect block to balance atop my already tetering pile and ran for the register.

But now I’ve eaten a morsel and am addicted. May the Goddess have mercy on my soul.

mmmm…mwa ha ha ha…

Purchased these at the Farmers Market last weekend from Carolina of
CMB Sweets. She concocts these fruit jams & butters in her SF studio apartment.

For $3 per 4oz jar I had to try everything she had on hand. Each one tastes uniquely of the the fruit they’re made of.

Clockwise from the top, there’s vanilla-pear butter, apple-honey butter, pomegranate jelly, raspberry jam, olallieberry jam & in the center is apricot jam.

They’re totally scrumptious on french toast, biscuits, yogurt, vanilla ice cream, crackers and more.

If you don’t see Carolina @ your local farmers market you can always place your order online @ http://www.cmbsweets.com

Here are 2 types of rice sprinkles I like to purchase when I’m at Mitsuwa.

The one on the left is called Ochazuke because after you sprinkle it on some leftover rice, you pour a cup of hot tea (ocha) on it and mix it up. If I’m feeling extra lazy, which come to think of it is most of the time, I’ll just pour on a cup of hot water. Together with a slice of ham and maybe a couple pickles this is Japanese junk food at it’s best. The bag contains 4 individually packaged servings.

The purple bag on the right contains dried and crumbled shiso ie. perilla leaves mixed with salt. This herb is similar to basil and in it’s dried form is slightly tart and adds a pretty color and faint fragrance when sprinkled over hot white rice. You may have had it served over basmati rice in Persian restaurants as well.

My grandparents, who had a farm in Toyohashi, used to make their own shiso every year. I remember looking forward to the big care packages they’d send over from Japan every Christmas because it among the multitude of presents, it always included a bag of homemade shiso just for me.

There are lots of little Asian markets throughout the South Bay but today we’ll cover Mitsuwa Marketplace, a Safeway-sized supermarket of yummy, Japanese goodness.

Mitsuwa, formerly known as Yaohan, is located on Saratoga Blvd, just south of the 280 FWY. Parking can get crazy here so I recommend you make every attempt to to avoid the crush of Japanese families during peak hours on the weekend.
Inside, there’s a nice selection of affordable to expensive Japanese glazed, ceramic dishware. From tea pots & cups, ramen- rice- & miso soup bowls, sushi plates, chopsticks, plates and more you’ll easily burn through a quarter of an hour just browsing. If you’re looking looking for a special gift, this is a good place to run through. Several items come with their own gift box and I believe they can do wrapping for you right there after you ring up your purchases.

There’s a small food counter where you can order hot udon noodles, bento boxes and curried rice plates, or pick up some premade sushi to go. If you’re a credit card junkie who never has cash, like me, don’t hesitate to get the to go food and walk over to the cash registers to pay.

There’s lots of exploring to do at Mitsuwa. I always check out the $1 tables (that have morphed into $1.99 tables) where I’ve picked up odds and ends like stationary, microwaveable dish covers, cartoon-y plastic containers, etc.

They’ve got a small produce section with standard Japanese veggies like cabbages, burdock & daikon radish roots, eggplant etc. You’ll find several brands and styles of miso, fresh udon and ramen noodles, fishcakes and tofu in the refrigerated section along with nice individual serving sized pieces of sushi grade salmon, tuna, octopus, shrimp and more.

If you *are* in the market on the weekend, head over to the specialized tsukemono or pickled vegetable section in the far left corner of the store. They often have samples out and this is a great, low investment way to try new things you might not otherwise have a chance to partake. I’m a big fan of the cucumber pickles which you’ll see in odd colors like red, purple and bright green. The colors may be disconcerting until you get used to them, but they’re quite crunchy and fun to eat. As you browse through here, note how expensive some of the tsukemonos can be!

The frozen cases can get you some good instant, microwavable food hits. Pick up some shumai dumplings or gyoza potstickers & edemame soy beans to serve with hot rice for a quick dinner.

Japanese are known for their love of packaging and I am no exception. My addiction to crinkly, cute, wacky, boxed & bagged things is definitely encoded in my dna. Every visit, I always make a point of exploring the cookies, candy and bottled drink sections for new things to try. Over the years my tastes have changed so I’m more picky about the junk food I actually enjoy enough to eat, but I still can’t resist this stuff for the packaging. I recommend you succumb too.

Plus, it’s just fun to try new things. You never know if it could be yummy. At the very least you can purchase something bizzare-looking to give to a friend.

Over the next few days, I’ll post more pictures and descriptions of a few of the items I purchased during my last visit to Mitsuwa. You can find most of them at any well stocked Asian food market so I hope they will encourage you to give something new a try.

If you’ve got favorite purchases you make at Japanese markets, please share!

DETAILS
Mitsuwa Marketplace
675 Saratoga Ave.
San Jose CA 95129
(408)255-6699
9:00AM - 8:00PM

Additional stores throughout CA as well as IL & NJ

Browsing fun: **** stars

Ethnic markets can be treasure troves of enticing new foods, spices and condiments. Unfortunately, they can also be overwhelming and intimidating places when you’re trying to navigate foreign languages, unfamiliar brand names and mystifying ingredients.

In hopes of sharing what little I know with you, let’s make this the start of an ongoing and periodic series where I introduce you to some of my favorite South Bay ethnic markets and what to buy or try at each.

The adventure begins tomorrow when we cover Asian Markets.

As the package says, “Let’s Party!”

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Visited a local nursery called God’s Little Acre this morning. They were mobbed yesterday by folks who had read the same San Jose Mercury News article we did and picked their tomato plants clean, so we went home without any fresh produce. We did, however, take home several pots of beautiful Cranberry Baby daylilies (Hemerocallis) to add some needed contrast to our lavender borders.

These photos were taken at the nursery with my new Samsung a600 camera phone..

Dungeness crab were in season so we purchased a pair a week at Costco throughout the month of March. I’d have D clean out the body as I was too queasy and wimpy to do this job. When I tried, I wouldn’t be able to actually eat the crab.

We’d break off the legs, remove the apron from the body, clean out the gooey stuff then break the main shell in half. There’s a ton of meat in the body as well.
As they came pre-cooked, we’d simply eat it on a newspaper covered table with a chilled white wine.

I know they’re great with butter and lemon but these crabs were rich and fine as is. We also kept meaning to use them in other dishes but they were all so sweet and delicious eaten straight out of the shell, we never managed to prepare them any other way. Well, that’s something to look forward to next year.