Live tilapia were going for only $3.68 a pound on Friday at Hong Kong Supermarket, but there was no information on the origin of the fish . |
Don't look for Hong Kong Supermarket and a cluster of other Chinese-owned businesses in lower Manhattan's Chinatown.
Instead, the bustling market is in a small shopping center less than a mile from Exit 9 of the New Jersey Turnpike.
You can have your hair cut or styled; get a massage or acupuncture treatment for a sore elbow; and pick up sushi, a live fish and fresh greens for dinner.
A salon, left, and a massage center are outside the entrance to the supermarket. Nearby, a small sushi restaurant offers prepared items and table service. |
Hong Kong Supermarket is bigger than New King Fung Supermarket in River Edge, but only marginally cleaner.
A large variety of Asian greens are packaged for shoppers. |
First, I picked up five small avocados from Chile for $1.98.
Then, I stopped to look over fresh greens, selecting sugar pea shoots for $1.98 a pound (photo above) and small mustard greens for $1.29 a pound.
The price for live fish is the lowest I have ever seen, but the store's fish counter doesn't have the signs it is required to, telling shoppers two things: the origin of seafood and whether it is farmed or wild.
Shrimp come in all sizes. |
I wouldn't buy live fish from China, which has a poor food-safety record. I've seen wild-caught tilapia on ice at H Mart, and would prefer them over their farmed cousins.
I made only two other purchases, a 22-ounce bottle of Kadoya Sesame Oil from Japan (on sale for $5.98) and a package of Brown Rice Vermicelli ($1.69).
When I got home, I prepared half of the vermicelli and mixed it with blanched sugar pea shoots, flavoring them with sesame oil, soy sauce and Sriracha hot sauce.
Barbecued ducks. |
Hong Kong Supermarket is part of an East Coast chain based in Flushing, Queens.
Chicken feet for $1.28 a pound. |
Dragon fruit. |
Hong Kong Supermarket, 275 Route 18 south, East Brunswick; 1-732-651-8288.
Web site: Chinese shopping hub
Directions: After paying the toll at Exit 9 of the New Jersey Turnpike (New Brunswick), follow signs to Route 18 south. Shopping center will be on your right.
East Brunswick is about 40 miles south of Hackensack.
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