A trip to Super Cao Nguyen
Getting an aisle-by-aisle tour of the Super Cao Nguyen Market with Ba Luong is akin to a tour of Disneyland with Walt Disney.
Ba’s enthusiasm is infectious. The man loves food. He loves to eat, smell and feel it. But more than anything, he loves to discuss it. His passion is palpable.
Produce there is fresh and unique. It includes nearly a dozen different kinds of mushroom and vegetarian offal. That’s right, vegetarians no longer have to mope around when the family is enjoying a nice plate of liver or tongue. Super Cao Nguyen carries tofu version that have been molded to taste and look as close to it as possible.
They also carry every conceivable type of egg roll and wonton wrapper, plus banana leaves and a variety of sodas that might initially have you shaking your head but will ultimately surprise you. I tried the basil seed soday, which was a little like drinking the liquid from a lava lamp, and I mean that in a good way.
In shooting our video, we didn’t have time to check out the cookie aisle. Ba has a sweet tooth, and he calls the cookie aisle his favorite in the entire store. They have treats from Poland to Bangkok in house, proving that while we might be the fattest country in the world, we aren’t the only ones down with cheap, sugary treats.
We also didn’t have time to check out the non-Food section of the store, where you can find anything from bonzai trees, to marble statues to rice cookers.
Super Cao Nguyen is the crown jewel of the Asian District, but I would argue it’s one of the crown jewels of the entire city. Check it out.
Where does he got all those wonderful spices?
Today’s Red River Chili recipe includes a few dried chiles you might not have seen in the store before.
While the state boast many fine gourmet shops, the biggest boost to finding a greater variety of chiles falls squarely on the rise in the Hispanic population. There are markets that specialize in Hispanic imports statewide.
That said, I go straight to the source: Pendery’s in Dallas/Ft. Worth.
Pendery’s claims to be the birthplace of chile blending, what we now call chile powder. I have visited their retail store in Ft. Worth dozens of times, and I’ve been shopping with them online for years. Not once have I been unable to find the chile I’m looking for.
What they don’t have is fresh chiles. As I mentioned, the rise of Hispanic markets has increased availabilty of poblano peppers as well as a larger supply of jalapenos, serranos and habaneros.
To read about Pendery’s history and check out their supply, go to www.penderys.com.
History shows chili soothes the soul
When the young, upwardly mobile of the late 19th Century descended upon a young land called
Snake-oil salesmen, saloon-owners, traveling theater troupes, launderers, clergymen joined food vendors in attempting to civilize the wind-blown plainsmen.
Chili parlors started popping up before 1900 in Oklahoma and enjoyed prosperity for more than 50 years. According to the Oklahoma Historical Society, 33 chili parlors are documented in 16 communities from 1897 through 1948, including Perry, Grant,
Ike’s Chili Parlor opened in Tulsa around that time. It lasted long enough to become a favorite haunt of Will Rogers. He apparently regularly coughed up 15 cents for hot bowl at Ike’s. That, obviously, was Depression-proof pricing. And so Ike’s carried on, gaining fame when Peggy Cass announced to a national television audience on “What’s My Line?” during the 1960s, that Ike’s was indeed the best chili in the country and that she had some in her freezer at home. Ike’s still thrives in Tulsa at 5941 E Admiral.Lyndon Johnson, born and reared on the banks of the Pedernales River, understood the soul-soothing qualities of good chili.
Johnson never figured out Hippies or Vietnam as president. He left the Democratic Party in a shambles. He won a close Senate election against Gov. Coke Stevenson in which a key district later showed voters, in a miraculous show of coincidence, cast their lots in alphabetical order.
And yet, bus tours still run daily to his family ranch.
I like to think it’s because his wife, Lady Bird, made Pedernales River chili a household recipe during the LBJ’s abbreviated stay in the White House. LBJ is remembered as a good ol’ boy and Lady Bird has a library named after her.
Chili, not a divider!
And think what might’ve been had State Rep. Randy Terrill been around back in the 19-oughts. We might not have any chili at all. The original Ike and his nephew Ivan Johnson, purportedly got the chili recipe from an employee named Alex Garcia, of, umm, Texas.
Doubt he had a green card.
Would you have us a chili-free state, Randy? Lucky for you, this information wasn’t circulated before the elections.
