Another Trip to the Fresh Market

My first trip to the Tiong Bahru Market had been with Michelle Tan, and her husband, Ben Lim.  It had been the Friday before Chinese New Year, and the market had been super crowded.  Michelle had tried to introduce me to her favorite vendors, her honorary "uncles", with whom she had been doing business since she was a small child.  On my second visit, I had taken the bus, but upon entering the market, I tried to retrace the steps I had taken with Michelle and Ben to find the best vendors.  For my third trip, I had decided to circle the market several times before I bought anything, so I could see all that it had to offer.

In the middle, are the stalls where they sell pork, beef, chicken and fish.  The outside rows sell vegetables on one side, and fruits on the other.  There are also some flower sellers right near the elevator.  They sell cut flowers, potted plants, and artificial plants.  Along the walls, both inside and outside, there are people selling clothes, shoes, purses, material, kitchen utensils, coffee, Chinese party goods, and dried beans, herbs, and other dried cooking foods.

As I walked around, I found a woman who had a shirt that should fit me.  There is no place to try it on, but it was only $10, so I bought it.  There was another woman who sold flip flops.  I only brought along one pair of flip flops, thanks to TripAdvisor.  I have not 1, not 2, but 3 pairs of Fitflops at home, and they all cost considerably less than the $90 (and up) that they cost here.  They also fit me!  But I left them at home, because TripAdvisor said that flip flops are frowned upon.  I rarely see women under the age of 60 in anything but flip flops.  There have been several times when I was worried that my flip flops would just become flops, so I was happy to find a pair that fits at the market.  Now, I have a backup, just in case!  I also bought, a lighter torch, a wooden spatula, and coffee from my Bali coffee vendor guy.

It was time to get serious buying food.  I visited Michelle's vegetable "uncle".  In addition to my normal purchases, he recommended a salad mixture.  I got that, along with baby corns, one of Rich's favorite things on his salad.  I got some green apples and a pineapple from my fruit vendor.  Rich has been seeing people eating pineapple at work, and looking for it at the Hawker Stalls, so I decided to quell his cravings.  I got 10 eggs.  They don't sell them by the dozen, and they are not refrigerated here.  I got salmon for our grill.  I went to her pork "uncle" to get some thinly sliced pork for a recipe that I'm going to try.  I also needed a whole chicken.  I went to Michelle's chicken "uncle'.  I told his wife what size chicken I needed.  I asked them to please cut the head off, which they did, but only after they weighed it!  Now it was time to get some prawns.  I had seen Michelle's "uncle" at his prawn stand, but I didn't see any prawns on the counter.  Now that I had built up my courage, read some websites, and had some recipes to try, I needed prawns!  There was another vendor across the way.  I know he isn't Michelle's favorite,  but I needed prawns.  So I bought 20 from them.

My flower guy didn't have any flowers for me to buy this time.  Everything that I pointed at was "little sun", except for orchids and petunias.  His partner tried to tell me the petunias were morning glories, but they were petunias.  Those are not exotic tropical plants.  As far as the orchids go, I didn't think they did like direct sun - and I get lots of direct sun on my deck!  Finally, Rich and I are going to the Botanic Gardens on Sunday.  They have an orchid sale on the first Sunday of every month.  If I'm going to kill an orchid, best to get it right from the source!  Honestly, though, they could tell me the best way to care for them.

The prawns...

...getting ready to be beheaded, peeled, and deveined...

...and cooked in butter, oil, and garlic, and served on spaghetti. 

When I returned from the market, I was dripping again!  I usually don't take a shower or put on clean clothes until after I shop for groceries, because it would be all for naught.  I went to the pool, and did my water aerobics routine.  Then I ate lunch and watched a movie.  Before I could take a shower, I needed to behead, peel, and devein my prawns.  I had read in a website that you get your beverage of choice and 3 bowls: 1 for the trash; 1 with ice in it for the peeled, deveined prawns; and 1 with water with a little lemon in it to periodically wash your hands.  I grabbed a beer, and 3 bowls, and set to work.  Those of you who know me well, know that red wine is my beverage of choice.  I chose beer for 2 reasons.  First, I don't drink beer much anymore.  Occasionally, I'll have it at a sporting event, but my dad said that everybody can have only so many beers in their lifetimes, and I exceeded that limit in college!  Also, if this process was truly disgusting, I would rather that it was associated with beer than wine, as I could go without that.  The "recipe" said to take a drink, twist off the head, take off the peel, take out the veins, and take another drink.  I did it, and it was better after the first few.  It would probably not have been so bad, except "Les Poissons" from "The Little Mermaid" was playing in my head the whole time!  I used 12 to make Garlic Prawns, which I served on spaghetti (like shrimp scampi).  The rest of the prawns, the leftover noodles, and the thinly cut pork are for a dish called "Prawn Mee".  I got a "Best Singapore Favorites" ready-to-cook sauce kit to create Prawn Mee soup or stir fry.  I also got a kit to make Hainanese Chicken Rice.  That is what the chicken (without the head) will be used for.  Pictures, and reviews will follow.  Speaking of reviews, I don't think Rich liked my prawns as much as the effort required!  :(