As we talked about on the Land of Fish and Rice thread, Zhejiang red vinegar ( 大紅漸醋) and salted mustard greens (xue cai, “snow vegetable”) are two of the more challenging Shanghai/Jiangnan ingredients to locate in the Bay Area.
I’ve purchased salted mustard greens in the refrigerator sections of a few large Asian grocery stores. New May Wah in the Inner Richmond, which is also good for Sichuan ingredients, carries two local brands, pictured above, and the ingredients are only mustard greens and salt (water for one brand). The brand on the right I bought last year at Marina Foods in San Mateo. Sunset Super no longer carries either. Are they available in Ranch 99, Lyon, or other South/East Bay stores?
I’m not sure I’ve tasted it, so I’d appreciate leads for Zhejiang red vinegar. @tm.tm has kept an eye out but hasn’t seen any. At Sunset Super in the Outer Sunset, I found a few brands of red vinegar, none of which appear to be the high quality Zhejiang stuff. Pearl River brand has MSG (which doesn’t sound right to Fuchsia Dunlop), Patchun brand has red food coloring, and there are a few other brands of red vinegar from Guangdong or Hong Kong. As alternatives, both places have a wide selection of white rice vinegars, and darker vinegars like rice-based Chinkiang/Zhenjiang black vinegar and sorghum-based mature Shanxi vinegar.
There’s a thread devoted to high quality Shaoxing wine. I understand the chicken feather vegetable is only available to restaurants— any sightings at farmers markets? And I keep forgetting to look— who has ji cai, Shepherd’s purse, fresh or frozen?
Any preferred brand for pressed tofu or smoked tofu— do you like the brands at Asian markets better than the more expensive ones from Hodo Soy or at natural food stores? How is Wo Chong’s pressed tofu? They only sell it in their Chinatown store, and seem to only have it when I’m shopping for something else.
