Food Stuff

With the Lunar New Year coming up next week (it begins February 9, and celebrations continue for 15 days), I was delighted to stumble across a tiny, mostly Asian farmers’ market. It should help increase my luck in the Year of the Rooster, or at least it will help out my wallet. The prices on Asian greens and vegetables, fruit and ultra-fresh tofu are unbelievable at this small but bustling market, which springs up at an abandoned gas station at the northwest corner of Fifth Street and Broadway on Sunday mornings. For the new year, stock up on pomelos: enormous, thick-skinned cousins of grapefruit. Segmented and mixed with cucumbers, peanuts, crisp fried shallots, mint, cilantro and fish sauce, pomelos make a great salad—and it’s supposed to bring good luck. If you’d like to celebrate the advent of the Year of the Rooster with an actual rooster, you’ll also find a full complement of live, squawking fowl. Gung hay fat choy!