I did one of my favorite shopping expeditions today, stocking up on groceries in Chinatown. A giant supermarket opened there in the last couple of years, and it has everything one would want for Chinese food, including the hoisin sauce, sesame oil, soy sauce, and Botan Calrose short-grained rice that I favor. But there are many, many aisles of things that aren’t even labeled in English, and tons of goodies like the first two shown below. I love wandering the aisles (usually I’m the only white guy there, and certainly the only Jew), so it takes me much longer to shop than I usually do. They also have Chinese pastries, including various buns and cakes that are perfect for a weekend breakfast. Also congee and crullers.
About the title above: no, this, it isn’t food for cats, but cat-shaped food for humans, plus a “veggie cat” nail salon downstairs. The Chinese do love their cats, and it shows in the many products emblazoned with moggies. The “good luck cat” (maneki-neko in Japanese), raising its hand to wish you prosperity, is ubiquitous, and is on this first group of cat pastries:
I have a reclining maneki-neko in my office that is solar powered, so it waves its paw when the sun is out. No good luck on overcast days!
I’d never seen this one before: cat-shaped butter-and-cheese cookies in a great package. Now I’m sorry I didn’t buy them:
And this was downstairs, but closed on Sunday. What on earth is a “veggie cat,” and what does it have to do with fingernails?
