![]() ![]() At 99 Ranch, I go up and down every aisle. When I’m grocery shopping, I have a list, but I also like to peruse. In a traffic-heavy city like LA, living near your favorite grocery stores is absolutely essential. I just found out that the new place in Sherman Oaks that I’m moving to is only 10 minutes from a 99 Ranch. I’m excited that Fly By Jing is now available at select locations. Whatever I can’t get at the farmers market, I’ll buy from the 99 Ranch Market in Alhambra-a one-stop shop for all your Asian goods. In Sichuan, eating hot and spicy food is like a competitive sport. It’s believed that the more Sichuan pepper you eat, the more numb your tongue gets and the more chilis you can in turn eat. Together, it becomes the mala flavor profile, which is super addictive because it gives you that serotonin hit. But most people know the main one, mala, which translates to “numbing and spicy.” It’s a combination of chilies, which gives you the heat, and Sichuan pepper, which gives you that numbing sensation in your mouth. Sichuan cuisine is known for more than 23 complex flavor profiles. Everything is coated with spices and you choose the ingredients just like you would for hot pot. They have a great Mala Xiang Guo here-it’s like a hot pot without the soup, but with all the flavor. Eating here reminds me of the flavors and street food in Chengdu, where I was born. You dip it in the bubbling broth for just a couple seconds and it’s ready.įor lunch, Xiang La Hui is one of my go-to spots for contemporary Sichuan cuisine. ![]() I love getting other kinds of leafy Asian greens from the market, like chrysanthemum greens for hot pot. You can lightly pickle it for a crunchy salad, stir-fry it, or even add it to a stew. I always go for the celtuce, a cross between celery and lettuce that’s super healthy and delicious. It’s one of my favorites-and that’s saying something since LA has an abundance of excellent farmers markets. The texture is almost like a douhua, which is silken Chinese tofu pudding usually served as dessert, but theirs is savory and covered in ponzu, avocado, and trout roe.Īfter breakfast, I’ll walk across the street and stock up on Asian produce at the Alhambra Farmers Market. Not your typical pancakes! Yang’s also has a really nice soft tofu dish made with Meiji-brand tofu. I don’t have a big sweet tooth, but I make an exception for Yang’s pancakes served with whipped cream and blueberries-so good! They’re made with cornmeal and mochi, so they’re fluffy, but with crisp edges. They try to source local, sustainable, organic ingredients whenever possible and strive to pay their employees living wages, so I love supporting them. I’ve gotten to know the owner, Christian Yang, just from going to the restaurant and meeting him and his wife, Maggie. In Alhambra, there’s no better place for breakfast than Yang’s Kitchen. All the signs are in Chinese and you don’t even need to speak English to get by here. It’s an Asian food mecca with a huge Chinese community. When I do have free time, San Gabriel Valley is one of the neighborhoods I love to visit. The business is in a critical growth period, so I don’t get many days off. We’ve also expanded beyond condiments into more food categories, like frozen dumplings and hot-pot bases. I couldn’t do East Coast winters anymore!įly By Jing started as a DTC business online, but now we’re sold in thousands of grocery stores-from Sprouts to Whole Foods, Costco, and Target. Also, I’m from Toronto, so I wanted something new and different. I chose to set up the business in LA because I thought I’d be traveling back and forth to Chengdu, where our production is, but the pandemic had other plans. So I launched a Kickstarter for what eventually became our line of sauces and condiments, and by the end of that year, had moved to the US. When I visited the US in 2018, I saw no high-quality, all-natural Chinese condiments in stores. I was previously living in Shanghai, where I had a modern-Chinese, fast-casual restaurant called Baoism. I moved to Los Angeles three and a half years ago to launch my company, Fly By Jing. ![]()
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