Abbie Meets the S-Mart

Inspired by friends and fellow food fans Dan and Katie, I decided to make some Asian food this weekend: egg drop soup, steamed pork buns (which I'd made a few weeks ago and frozen) and a new potsticker recipe from Cuisine at Home.

In preparation, I took my first ever trip to the S-Mart Asian Supermarket & Café -- a whole new grocery store for me to explore. I was a little weirded out when I grabbed a cart and discovered it contained the now-empty shell of a small, boiled crustacean (wrapped tastefully in a napkin), but the experience really improved from there. Here's why:

• Cheap veggies. (I love a good deal.)
  
• Potsticker wrappers. (Normally I like to make everything from scratch, but given how long it takes me to just fill potstickers, I'm glad to accept a little help from the fine folks at the potsticker wrapper company.)
  
• An ENTIRE aisle of sauces. That's right. One whole aisle.
  

I've loved sauces since I was a child, when I discovered the joy of mashed potatoes topped with A1. (Try it. You'll like it.) So imagine my giddiness at finding shelves and shelves of garlic sauce and sweet chili sauce and plum sauce -- and Heinz ketchup, which didn't seem particularly Asian to me, but who am I to judge?



Needless to say, I brought home an armload full.

The potstickers turned out pretty well, even if they took at least an hour longer to make than I'd anticipated. I filled these with Napa cabbage, ground pork, fresh ginger and little bit of salt and pepper and soy sauce, but there's plenty of room for experimentation, and next time I might mix it up a little.



(These are the potstickers, pre-frying and steaming. Please ignore the inexpert fan folding.)

If you're feeling like trying your own potstickers, I'd recommend checking out Jennifer Yu's excellent food blog, use real butter. You can find her recipe (and step-by-step photos) for potstickers here.

And if you're feeling like you need something to dip your potstickers in, we give the sweet chili sauce two thumbs up. You should head on over to S-Mart. Tell them the girl who was afraid of the crustacean carcass sent you.