October 5, 2005
Serendipity!
I recently started a new life as a bicycle commuter (as opposed to by car) and have been quite enjoying it. Being a former psycho mountain biker, it feels great to get back on two wheels. Plus, as a single-gear/fixie hipster road bike guy, I get to obsess over and buy new parts and add-ons and such again, which is a plus. 
I bike to and from BART (one of the local subways) instead of taking streetcars/buses/whatever to get there, over moderately hilly terrain. This allows me both to work off all that coconut milk I’m always talking about, and to discover new wrinkles in my city.
The last few weeks I’ve noticed, on Wednesdays such as this, a farmer’s market buzzing away right next to Civic Center BART. Today I stopped there because I noticed prik kee noo (Thai bird chilies, thanks much Pim!) being sold ON THE BRANCH. Little bundles of them, bristling with red and green firebombs and rife with pretty leaves. This is something I hadn’t seen before.
As it turns out, about half the stalls were run by Thai or Vietnamese folks. Score! Wide-eyed, I picked up a HUGE bundle of scandalously fresh lemongrass, a gang of thai basil that weighed down my bike, a bag of bird chilies, a pound of chinese eggplant, and 1 lb. of sublimely gorgous organic dry farmed tomatoes, all for $4.75.
(Prithee excuse the awful photograph. Bad
cam-phone and no imaging sw at work= bad image.)
Four-freakin-seventy-five. I couldn’t believe it. There was no galanga or lime leaves to be found, and no tremendous deals on king oyster ’shrooms (I miss Battambang Market), but the produce was in terrific shape, the people were happy to see me buying this stuff, and you can’t argue with the price. I see a weekly ritual taking shape!
Next time, I’ll bring a backpack, and get more tomatoes. They were half gone before I even got to work. *sheepish grin*
I think I’ll pass by Battambang on the way home to get the rest of the essentials. It’s green curry and thom kha het tonight, baby!
I love this city.
Filed under: Random
October 5th, 2005 at 4:54 pm
Hate to be nitpicky but Prik Chi Fa is not bird eye chilli. It’s Prik Ki Noo. I’ve never been able to find true Prik Chi Fah in America. Let me know if you’ve seen one.
I get my Thai stuff from the Hmong guys at the Ferry Plaza market. They even have cilantro roots for me.
cheers,
Pim
October 5th, 2005 at 5:36 pm
You know, I wondered! I could have sworn it was Prik Kee Noo, then I was googling around and was told otherwise. Darn internets! I’ll correct it.
Cheers!
-GC