"“Super Cao Nguyen(2668 N Military Ave) is a grocery store powerhouse. It is enormous and sources all the food for our entire Asian district. They even import their own goods. The Vietnamese population is enormous, but we also have a decent Chinese population, and you’ll see African families coming in—it’s an incredibly culturally diverse place. I go there twice a week and am still enamored every time, and still sometimes get lost. There are a ton of things I found there that I cooked with for the first time, like silkworms, Viet patty herbs, super stinky canned tofu, reishi mushrooms, dried ginseng, and abalone. I make mushroom tinctures and use them for earthy bitterness that can really balance out a dish, or try mushroom powders in soups. Chef Paul was raised in Seoul but born in Hong Kong, so he shows us different drinks from home, Korean banchan that isn’t super common, and ginkgo nuts.”" - ByAlyse Whitney