We did something very exciting this week: we drove out of town to San Jose and it was like going on a mini vacation! San Jose is located about 35 miles away from our home, and getting there requires driving up and over the Santa Cruz mountains through the redwoods. The drive was spectacular but I was more excited about the prospect of going to Little Saigon. My mission was to buy groceries and pop into a bakery for snack “research.”
In before times, I took the Vietnamese community in nearby San Jose for granted. It’s among the largest in America and would always be there when I was in the mood for ingredients or a quick bowl of pho. But since mid-March 2020, when things locked down in the Bay Area, I’d only gone grocery shopping “over the hill” twice.When I did, the trips were short and frankly, manic, given the pandemic circumstances.
I missed its funk and homey-ness. I also miss the lessons learned as well as the cultural reminders of who I am. Visiting Little Saigon is like going to Vietnam but not. It’s Viet-America, a bicultural experience that’s unique and different from my daily life in the Monterey Bay.
Now as there’s a glimmer of light and great hope for things to resume to some level of normalcy sooner than later, I’m writing this post with little tips in case you want to do the same. Overseas travel remains complicated but maybe you’ll explore a Little Saigon and/or Chinatown near your home.
When to Go
If possible, go on a weekday and in the morning or mid afternoon when there’s a lull. You won’t feel rushed or have to hustle for parking. This morning, I arrived at my first stop, a bakery, around 10:15am and it was sleepy.
Ditto for markets where fewer people means you’ll get better service and can better peruse the inventory. Plus, crowded aisles these days can be awkward.
Bakery: Dzui’s Cakes and Desserts
I started with snacks because I didn’t want to get crushed in a lunch rush. That’s why I was the only person at Dzui’s, which is tucked into a corner of a mini mall. The cool vibe and outdoor patio area filled with plants reminded me of coffee and bakery spots in Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City) where lots of young people gather for coffee, boba, and savory and sweet snacks.
I was interested in Dzui’s banh trang tron (tossed rice paper salad), banh mi muoi ot (salty spicy bread) and baked bao. I’d seen them online and was curious about what’s trendy these days.
Modern Viet Snacks
All the food was done up to be Instagram ready, which I thought was nice. (It photographed oddly pinkish above.) The spicy salty banh mi muoi ot was crunchy (bread), slightly cheesy (a bit of orange-ish cheddar melted in the center), salty shrimpy (pork floss with some ground shrimpy-ness), fatty (fried shallot, scallion oil and mayonnaise). It was a mouthful to eat and made to share with friends. It’s fun food. It would be good with beer (which I didn’t have handy in my car!).
The rice paper salad is a street food item made of very thin strips of tapioca-based banh trang tossed with chile sauce, a fatty spicy sauce (scallion oil and sweet chile sauce, perhaps), green mango, beef jerky bits, fried shallot, peanuts, boiled quail eggs, rau ram (Vietnamese coriander). Viet food isn’t typically super spicy but this was. I would have loved a beer alongside this. It needs to be eaten immediately or the rice paper gets gummy. I tried it in my car and when I got home a couple hours later.
Dzui’s baked bao turned out to be made of Hokkien/Teochew (Chaozhou, Tieu Chau) flaky pastry filled with savory-sweet ground pork plus a quail egg or salted egg. The topping was scallion oil, or pork floss and scallion oil.
The flaky pastry is the same as what is used in banh pia, pastries made of rich, delicately layered dough containing a sweet or savory filling. If you’re unfamiliar with it, here’s a great history of banh pia from Saigoneer. The bao would have been good with hot tea.
Fresh Vietnamese Tofu: Alvin An Dong Tofu
A few doors down from the bakery stood a line of people waiting to get into An Dong Tofu Shop, which I’d never been to. Of course, I had to line up to figure out what was up!
Fresh tofu is tender and flavorful. Viet tofu is usually coagulated with fermented whey from prior batches. The texture tends to be chewy tender (or chewy tender/firm). I got a slab of tofu, lemongrass tofu, and freshly fried tofu made with wood ear and glass noodles. The older ladies in front of me nabbed most of the fried tofu as soon as it appeared so I bought some as well, a very large amount for $3. (The deal at this shop for the to-go food is you tell them how much you want to spend, say $2 or $3 dollars. Then they get the portion for you. Cash only.)
An Dong isn’t swank or accessible (there’s no menu or prices displayed) but I liked the experience. It was a bit like being in Vietnam: I rarely don’t fully know what’s going regarding protocol, but the prices are modest and the food is fresh. Moreover, I supported a small business. Other tofu shops in the area include: Hung Vuong, Thanh Son, and Dong Phuong.
Vegetable Grandma
Outside the shop, a grandmotherly lady sold a small array of fresh vegetables. Again, I watched the older women in front of me select the choicest chayote. Then a younger woman squatted down to find the nicest bunches of tender mustard greens.
On my way out, I purchased fresh tia to (Viet shiso), rau ram (Viet coriander), and rau tan o (chrysanthemum greens). The woman didn’t grow them she admitted, but her wares turned out to be fresher than what I saw at the Asian market, my last stop.
Grocery Shopping: Lion Foods
This is not my favorite Vietnamese market because it’s dark and claustrophobic. There’s little joy at this market.
That said, the location on Tully has more Viet ingredients than the swankish one in Saratoga that I usually go to. I was looking for Bamboo Tree rice paper, which some people like as much as Three Ladies and I wanted to try it out. It can be hard to find, but there it was, on an end-cap display. My regular Lion Foods doesn’t have this brand. This location is in the heart of the San Jose Vietnamese community. That explains the range of Maggi Seasoning sauces, including knockoffs from Vietnam (on the far right in the photo at the top).
I also found a nice range of bun rice noodles in large quantities, and I swooped down on bananas -- creamy baby bananas and chubby chuoi su, the latter is sold at hardcore Viet markets like this Lion Foods. While green papaya (du du xanh) is sold pre-shredded, I prefer to buy the whole fruit and shred it myself for green papaya salads like this one.
More Asian Market Love
Other Asian markets I frequent include Dai Thanh in San Jose, where the vibe always reminds me of being in Vietnam ) but the parking can be hard. I like Lion Foods in Saratoga because it’s lower-key, brightly lit, and there’s a Mitsuwa Japanese market plus Daiso only five minutes away!
The parking at H-Mart is killer crowded on the weekends but the market itself is fun, clean and orderly. The inventory is nicely pan-Asian; there’s an India Cash & Carry across the way. Hankook Supermarket in Sunnyvale does not have a pan-Asian inventory but a few doors down is another India Cash & Carry.
Great snacks abound inside these markets and around them in nearby shops.
Now that things are relaxing a bit, I hope you’ll go out a bit to check out what’s going on in local Asian communities. I double mask and socially distance and other shoppers do too.
Outside of California and formal Chinatowns and Little Saigons, I’ve adored checking out C Fresh Market in Des Moines, Hometown in Birmingham, plus Buford Highway Farmer’s Market and Hoa Binh outside of Atlanta. There are many many other Asian markets to venture to and I look forward to them.
If you have a favorite spots to explore and shop, share them with the rest of us! That way we may support those businesses too.
Dantam Vu
I grew up in SJ, love this post and support of these Viet/Asian markets and vendors. We’re so lucky to be in the food Mecca of NorCal. 😍
Andrea Nguyen
We are incredibly lucky to be where we are. It's bountiful!
Michelle
Ah this makes me homesick and I live here. I have not been able to get out to the places I love without a car, and buses feeling so unsafe. I've been afraid to check which places I loved are even still around. Anh Hong on Tully had bo la lot that I have dreams about, and their thicker grey sauce remains a mystery to me. I loved going to the crepe restaurant in the Grand Century, I'd take all the extra veggies home after my meal and make little noodle wraps with them for days after. You introduced me to Thien Thanh grocery in a older blog post, with all the little plant starts. Sweet Gelato had really good durian gelato among so many other flavors, and the owner was always really nice so I made special trips there even though the music was super loud for my tastes. I'm trying to remember the name of the grocery store I used to go to...it might have been Maxim on McLaughlin? It may be a little sacriligeous but I also adore Lee's, the one on Story with all the premade snacks or I think it was the one on King that had a bunch of buffet style hot food and bags of longan.
Thanks for the chance to read and live vicariously 🙂
Andrea Nguyen
Ah, little Thien Thanh market! It's a funky gem of a market. The ladies are friendly rude. The plant man is quiet strong.
There's a Maxim elsewhere. That was a nice local chain and it kinda fell apart, I feel.
Lee's is like a candy store in that it's easy to browse there. Hope you get to return here some time, Michelle!
Lisa RR
I really miss browsing the aisles of supermarkets ...
Thanks for the virtual tour!
Leftcoaster
Going to check that Lions and the tofu shop out, thanks! The Lions we go to closer to Sunnyvale didn’t have all the ingredients I was looking for.
An Dong & Vieng Lao in Portland were favorite homey markets when I lived there.
New May Wah in SF is good for pan SE Asian goods (fresh pandan!).
And closer to Saratoga, Sogo Tofu makes really good Chinese tofu & soya milk from gmo free soya. They have a wide variety of vegetarian snacks as well.
Andrea Nguyen
Yes to Sogo Tofu! I don't go over there often enough. I dearly miss San Jose Tofu in Japantown. Portland does have some awesome Asian markets. I hear there's a great Shun Fat there too.
Elliott
If you come to Austin , MT supermarket has by far the best Viet grocery selection.
Andrea Nguyen
Thanks for the Austin tip! I sadly didn't get to MT when I was there years ago.
Robin
If you’re in the Twin Cities of Minnesota, don’t miss Ha Tien Supermarket. Pan -Asian, with butcher, sushi bar, hot deli, bakery and more. https://www.facebook.com/HATIEN1959/
Andrea Nguyen
Thanks for the tip, Robin. I'd only gone to United Noodles in Minneapolis. The day I went to St. Paul, a snow storm hit and I stayed indoors at the Hmongtown Marketplace. Next time, I'll seek out Ha Tien. It's a great area to explore.
Judith
Hi Andrea, having moved from Cupertino in 2017 to rural Oregon I feel your pain/excitement when I make it to the "big city" to browse and shop. Amazon is a poor substitute. Thanks for sharing the latest in the Bay (shoutout to @carolynjung as well)!
Andrea Nguyen
Ain't it the truth! Such an adventure to go outside of city and county limits! I bet rural Oregon is spectacular and peaceful, Judith. I love CJ too!
Maggie
The fresh and fried tofus in the tofu shop sounds amazing. Also the fresh veggies. I love your technique of watching the older "regular" shoppers in what they selected!
Ann
Andrea, I totally enjoy this article! I love going to the Asian market. Alas, the pandemic cut into my enjoyment of perusing from one aisle to another. Nowadays, I only go once a month if at all. I would be the first one in line waiting for the market to open. Even then, I would only spend 15 minutes top inside the store because I know where everything is. Thank God they don't move merchandise around like Costco. Stay safe Andrea!
Andrea Nguyen
Thanks, Ann. You take care, too!
Andrea Nguyen
The regular shoppers were my guide!
Virginia
Andrea, I wonder if you can recommend anywhere in the Santa Cruz area to find Asian ingredients, even though the selection obviously will not be as good as in San Jose? My son, who loves to cook Japanese food, moved down to SC a few months ago, and he's having a hard time finding even the basics. If the answer is that he just has to head up to San Jose, that's not so terrible -- now that things are beginning to open up, it means that we go meet him for lunch! But if you do have any suggestions, I know he would appreciate them. Thank you!
Andrea Nguyen
Not perfect... but try Staff of Life. Live Oak Market is a mix bag of ingredients but you never know. Regular markets like Nob Hill is wondrous, and so is Luckys. Hope that helps! Otherwise, head to Mitsuwa or Nijiya and stock up.
Virginia
Thank you so much! I'll pass these recommendations on to him -- I know he'll appreciate them!