Farewell to Oakland (and its food!)

Old Oakland Farmers' Market in downtown Oakland

If you've been reading this blog for a while, you know I have a thing for Oakland. I love Oakland for its eclectic character and huge selection of affordable, ethnic eateries. It's where I went all out to conduct my Asian bakery and mooncake tasting tests.

However, I no longer commute to Oakland because of a job change. Before I travel across the Bay to be there again, I must point out a couple more of my favorite places.

The Old Oakland Farmers' Market is solid on my list of favorite farmers' markets in the Bay area. Every Friday from 8 to 2, tens of vendors sell everything from Asian and organic veggies, fruits, nuts, to pastries and tamales at reasonable prices.

One of my favorite fruit stalls

My other favorite fruit stall - their oranges (fall) and plums/pluots (summer) are amazing

Because my office was very close to the market, I visited it every week to buy fruits mostly. While not necessarily certified organic, most fruits sold here are pesticide-free, and they are among the best in the Bay area.

My tip is to go after the lunch crowd has thinned out to snag deals such as $1/pound of succulent red flame grapes or $.75/pound of crunchy Fuji apples. Just make sure to act quickly as bargain-hunting Chinese housewives abound =)

There's also a Chinese gentleman who makes all varieties of dried dates and an old couple selling nuts that I bought from often.

The second place is kind of random. It's a Vietnamese/Chinese grocery store called Khanh Phong. Among all Asian grocery stores in Chinatown, it stands out because of its house-made desserts (e.g. Vietnamese rice puddings and jellies) and snacks (e.g. rice dumplings and rice paper rolls).

I like their fried salty bun (loosely translated from xian-jian-bao in Chinese) the most. At $.5 apiece, it's similar to the fried dough that accompanies Chinese congee (rice porridge). But it has sesame seeds sprinkled on top and is less greasy. Great to serve as is, it tastes even better when toasted. The texture is airy yet chewy, with an intoxicating aroma of fried dough. Just forget how unhealthy it is for a moment...

(Chinese or Vietnamese?) Salty fried bun

Obviously I will miss Oakland's Asian bakeries and Layonna vegetarian food market, which I only discovered recently.

Let's end with a cake that I ordered in Oakland before Thanksgiving (don't ask why!), a pandan coconut cake from Delicieuse Princess Bakery. I had long been curious about the cake's green tint whenever I saw it in their pastry case. The lady who took my order assured me that it's not artificial coloring but derived from pandan leaves. I couldn't taste it in the cake (neither was there any coconut flavor), but the cake was delightfully light as usual.

What's in the box?

Vietnamese pandan coconut cake, but with little flavor of either

I know I've only barely scratched the surface of Oakland's culinary scene (like I still haven't been to the famed pizza joint Pizzaiolo), but I will surely return. Au revoir!