Category Archives: – Featured Food Discoveries

Replicating a Uyghur tonur baking experience in an American oven

As you may know, over the past many years I have been experimenting with baking techniques that replicate the traditional Uyghur tonur oven. Those experiments tended to include the use of a broiler, and/or a super hot and dense cooking … Continue reading

Posted in - Featured Food Discoveries, - Unique food traditions, Central Asia/Uyghur food | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

This year’s new Asian markets and closed markets that will be missed

From the end of 2019 through to 2020 several Asian markets closed in Philly, but we also gained just as many new markets. Here is a roundup: Continue reading

Posted in - Featured Food Discoveries, - Featured Markets, - Guides, Chinese food, Korean food, Thai/Lao food | 4 Comments

Breakfast tsuivan submerged in hot milk tea

“Smells like Mongolian spirit, man!” This is my favorite line from Nargie’s Mongolian Cuisine‘s tsuivan episode (see link below). I now realize this was most likely a reference to Nirvana’s hit single as Nargie is clearly a big fan, but … Continue reading

Posted in - Featured Food Discoveries, Mongolian food | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

The East Falls Farmers’ Market

Since the lock down, the East Falls Farmers’ Market (4100 Ridge Ave) has become my primary source for fresh produce, fruit, meats, yogurt, cheese, wine, beer, etc. My wife and I still cook primarily Thai and East Asia inspired foods on a daily basis, but we have largely adapted to what is available at the market. Continue reading

Posted in - Featured Food Discoveries, - Featured Markets | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Delicious grains: millets of China, Mongolia, and Central Asia

The millets of China, Mongolia, and Central Asia are hearty crops that can be sustained in very arid climates. For tens of thousands of years they have served as important staple crops for many of those region’s food cultures (especially … Continue reading

Posted in - Featured Food Discoveries, Central Asia/Uyghur food, Chinese food, Mongolian food | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Central Asia-focused market in NE Philadelphia

I was thrilled to learn about a new market that opened up in NE Philly this past year–a market that caters to Central Asian tastes! It is called Vatan Market and it is located at 11726A Bustleton Ave, just across … Continue reading

Posted in - Featured Food Discoveries, - Featured Markets | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Dough covered meals of the Uyghurs, Kazakhs, and Mongols

Greetings after a long hiatus! Even though I haven’t been reporting here as much as I’d have liked, since my last post I have been continuing on my journey through culinary traditions on the frontiers of Turkic, Mongolian, and Tibetan … Continue reading

Posted in - Featured Food Discoveries, Central Asia/Uyghur food, Chinese food, Mongolian food | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Gundruk: an essential food staple and flavor in Nepali cooking

Over the past several months I have been slowly exploring Nepali food and cooking with rare items from our local supplier of foodstuffs from Nepal, Friendly Market on S. 7th St. in South Philly (see here for my 2014 introduction … Continue reading

Posted in - Featured Food Discoveries, - Featured Markets, - Recipes, Nepali food | Tagged , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Some reflections on a recent food trip to Xinjiang, China

Great laghman (لەغمەن) is well worth obsessing over. Hand-pulled and perfectly chewy wheat noodles are boiled, drained, and then topped with a hot stir fry of fatty mutton, garlic, tomato, and peppers with any seasonal vegetables. Check out my 2015 … Continue reading

Posted in - Featured Food Discoveries, - Guides, Central Asia/Uyghur food, Chinese food | 2 Comments

Garlic scapes, fried as a vegetable

  We are deep into the season of garlic scapes. Fortunately for those of us in Philly, we are able to find these strong-flavored beauties with fair regularity through springtime in Chinatown and even at area farmer’s markets. These are … Continue reading

Posted in - Featured Food Discoveries, - Recipes, Chinese food | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments