Category Archives: Houston ethnic and food markets

SEIWA MARKET

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Seiwa Market is a Japanese grocery located at 1801 S. Dairy Ashford, #116, in a large strip center, flanked by numerous Asian businesses.  I’ve been to a number of Chinese and Korean groceries in Houston, and was curious to see what this Japanese market offered.  It has an unusual business philosophy, which is stated on its website as “What is the right thing to do as a human being?”  (Wouldn’t it be nice if we all stopped to think that from time to time?)  Seiwa Market advertises that it offers “affordable Japanese quality products at affordable price through partnership with GYOUMU Supermarket Japan.”

This little market is packed full of interesting things.  The produce department, which is the first area you’ll see when you enter, although small, offers plenty of fresh items, including a variety of fruits (biggest apples I’ve ever seen), herbs, potatoes and yams, shishito and other peppers, and citrus.

Beautiful red yams 

One produce item that intrigued me was gobo, which I was unfamiliar with:

I’ve since learned that gobo is burdock, a thin root vegetable that grows to be more than two feet long.  It’s often added to stews and stir fries, and pickled gobo is sometimes sold to accompany sushi or rice dishes.  It’s crunchy and has a sweet flavor similar to lotus root.  I wish I’d bought some when I saw it.  Next trip.

If you’re a green tea aficianado, you’ll be ecstatic at the many green tea and matcha items available.  In addition to dozens of excellent green teas (sold loose or in bags) and matcha powders, there were a bunch of green tea confections — a whole end cap display full of them

img_8633How about some matcha Oreo bits sandwiches, for example?

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Or matcha Oreo soft cookies?

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Matcha Pocky, anyone?

On weekends, the market has soft, sticky sweets flown in from Japan.  These were very popular with shoppers–there was a line to buy them, and they sold out by lunchtime:

There’s lots of interesting grocery items on the shelves, including a wide variety of sweet and savory snack foods and condiments.

There were a lot of rice cookers for sale, ranging in price  from around $50 to several hundred dollars.

There was also a nice little assortment of Zojirushi thermoses, as well as tiffins and lunch kits.  Zojirushi thermoses are incredible, and will keep your liquids hot or cold for at least 24 hours — they’re popular with chefs for keeping sauces warm.

Seiwa Market also offers prepared foods and sushi, and although I didn’t try any on this visit, they appeared to be fresh and nicely prepared.

On my way to check out I passed a freezer case full of Mushi Cake.  I don’t know what Mushi Cake is, but I am guessing it is a popular treat.  Maybe next time — to go with the gobo.

There are some unusual recipes on the market’s website, none of which looked terribly appealing to me, but are worth checking out for the unintentionally awkward translations, like this description of Mixed Rice of Ginger:  “A little ginger and soy sauce are accented. Because ginger is not too tight, I will eat many cups! It is an easy recipe that can be even surplus rice.  If you keep the mixed rice with a rice cooker etc. for 1 ~ 2 hours, the taste becomes familiar and it becomes even more delicious.  Well, maybe ginger is “not too tight,” but I’m pretty sure that if you eat “many cups” of this mixed rice, soon your pants will be.  🙂

Seiwa Market is, unfortunately, quite out of the way for me, so I won’t be going regularly.  But when I’m in the area, I’ll be sure to stop by.

PO’ BOY ROLLS AND CANDLES

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It’s hot here in Texas, and no-cook meals reign supreme.  I had to make an appetizer to bring to a “gathering” last week, and made a plate of turkey, provolone, and pesto sandwiches.  I cheated and bought the pesto from Central Market — no complaints.  The rolls came from Royal Bakery, located at 1841 Fairview, which I had not previously been to.

This bakery supplies rolls to practically every restaurant in Houston that makes po’ boys.  I couldn’t wait to go in and see what other baked goodies were waiting for me.  But guess what?  They only had po’ boy rolls and they sell something like 9000 each day.  Beautiful, soft, pillowy po’ boy rolls.

Here’s the camera-shy owner, handing me my change.  (The rolls set me back 60 cents a piece — what a deal!)  I’ve since discovered that they sell a few other things — giant hamburger rolls and some other sandwich rolls, but po’ boy rolls are their bread and butter, so to speak.

 And here’s my sandwiches:

And speaking of no-cook meals, last year we had an unprecedented drought and a record number of days of triple-digit temperatures, which resulted in burn bans across the state for most of the year.  Our son is a Boy Scout, and this meant no campfire cooking on campouts.  To help the unimaginative, Boy Scouts of America sent around a list of no-cook meal ideas, mostly stuff that no self-respecting scout would eat (at least not in front of other scouts) — including a “candle” recipe (which actually came from a Betty Crocker kids cookbook in the 1970s) that involved a pineapple ring, a banana, some Miracle Whip, and a cherry.  When assembled, the dish looks likes this:

Just like a candle, right?  Who among you is brave or insane enough to serve this to a bunch of 13-year old boys?  And why would you want your food to look like a “candle” anyway?  Apparently, though, “candle” food is more popular than I realized.  Check out these other “candles,” for example:

 Candle cheesecakes

 Candle cookies

 Candle cheese spread

Hot dog snake candles?

I was surprised I did not find a bagel/hot dog “candle,” but I suppose it’s reassuring to know that there is a “candle” floor below which you dare not venture.  Needless to say, I won’t be adding any of these “candle” recipes to my permanent recipe file.  Or my temporary one.