A few weeks back Joe and I noticed that there's a new Asian grocery in Ann Arbor-Ypsilanti. Hua Xing is located in the old Toyota dealership on Washtenaw, not far past Cottage Inn (coming from AA).
It's big.
Overwhelming, even.
It's the Meijers'* of Asian grocery stores.
The layout is a bit odd -- it was a car dealership, after all -- and leaves the impression of a semi-maze with delights awaiting the shopper around each corner. The former show car area and another room are dedicated to Asian ceramics and porcelains. Everything from tea sets to five foot tall vases. There's another room of fresh produce and frozen goods. The produce is very nicely displayed and labeled in both Chinese and English, making it easy to identify those unfamiliar greens and tubers. The main room has aisles of the usual Asian shelf goods -- pickled vegetables, pre-made sauces, canned veggies, grains (rice, mung beans, etc.), tea, oils, vinegars, cooking wine, and giagantic tubs of $5 peanut butter (no joke), bags of dehydrated garlic, and coconut soda. Cold cases lining the back wall have fresh noodles and other goods, while dried noodles are near the front.
And then there is the fish and meat room in what was once the car repair shop area. The immediate impression is of... blue and an odd feeling of being in an indoors swimming pool hall. Blue tanks line the walls, stacked several taks high. Most were still empty when we visited, awaiting their temporary residents, but there were a good number of what looked like tilapia and several tanks of different species of eels.
Live eels. Cool.
You can get close and personal with an eel -- stare straight into its piercing eyes and gaping razor-toothed mouth. I was glad there was a wall of glass between me and them.
The meat counter was... foreign. Okay, I recognized some of the cuts, but I wouldn't have an idea of what to do with them (and in some cases, I'd like to keep it that way). Various parts of pig that most Americans would find unappetizing these days, including tripe, along with other items I couldn't recognize, lay on beds of ice. But the thing that really got me was the tanks of live turtles and frogs. Toto, we're not in Ann Arbor anymore.
Except that we are. (Well, in Ypsi.)
I last ate frog when I was about ten. It tastes like chicken -- at least that I can remember. It's not that the turtles and frogs weirded me out -- I'm pretty hard to weird on on the food front -- but just that I think it's very neat that we now can get such things in the Midwest.
Now if only pickled tea leaves were in more demand, my life would be complete.
The store was busy. The Asian community was clearly checking it out. We and an Indian family or two were the only non-Asians there. This is the most ambitious Asian grocery store in Ann Arbor yet, and well worth a visit.
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*Meijers' is a Michigan based chain store of really huge grocery/general purpose stores. Like Wal-Mart, but without the same labor practices, if you know what I mean.
This is fantastic news. One of my biggest worries about moving to Chicago is lack of access to Japanese mayo. Seriously, I am that pathetic.
Posted by: Sarah | August 20, 2005 at 06:45 PM
Oh, we have quite a number of Asian grocery stores in the AA area:
Great Land (primarily Chinese), out on Carpenter
Tsai Grocery (lot of Japanese items), AA-Saline Rd.
Another large most Chinese store on Plymouth Rd.
Manna (really Korean, but lots of Chinese stuff)
Another new one at Liberty & Stadium
There are also several Japanese groceries in the Livonia area.
Posted by: Kitchen Chick | August 20, 2005 at 07:47 PM
The one on Plymouth (at Huron Parkway) is called China Merchandise.
Tsai Grocery is actually a Taiwanese-owned store. They have good Chinese stuff too, especially Southern- and Southeastern-China style.
Posted by: BW | August 24, 2005 at 11:34 AM
Yes, Tsai Grocery is Taiwanese, but they do stock a lot of Japanese food items. (Since they run the Japanese restaurant next door, Godaiko, this isn't surprising.)
Posted by: Kitchen Chick | August 26, 2005 at 03:55 PM
Got to check out Hua Xing.
Most of our Oriental grocery shopping happens at Great Land on Carpenter.
Love your blog.
BTW, I'm Indian; last time I checked, India was part of Asia - SE Asia to be exact.
So don't go tossing that Indian family off the continent :-)
Posted by: Francis | August 28, 2005 at 07:42 PM
Oh, I'm using the American English definition of "Asian," which colloquially-speaking doesn't include India (unlike the official US Census definition). I know that in British English the word Asia refers to the Indian subcontinent. There's a discussion about this at wikipedia at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asian.
Posted by: Kitchen Chick | August 29, 2005 at 11:28 PM
I'll be in AA this weekend, I'll have to check it out. Have you ever eaten at Jefferson Market? Tammy( host of the egullet gathering) raves about it.
Posted by: Randi | September 13, 2005 at 09:56 PM
Yes. We've been there two or three times. I know it's a favorite of Tammy's. We like it -- the food is good and the atmosphere unique and cool, but it's not at the top of our list mostly because we prefer other cuisines.
Posted by: Kitchen Chick | September 25, 2005 at 04:06 PM
*indignant squeaking*
I gets no respect wherever I go. (Being of the Indian sub-continent, I am especially saddened to find myself kicked out of Asia when I'm just looking for a home.)
Posted by: Mellissa | October 14, 2005 at 12:16 AM
I'd really like to check out this place. Can anyone give me a detailed address? I couldn't find it on the yellow page.
Posted by: Miao miao | October 14, 2005 at 03:23 PM
Kitchen Chick's husband here. Hua Xing is at 2867 Washtenaw Avenue in Ypsilanti.
Posted by: Joe | October 14, 2005 at 03:32 PM
Mellissa -- to quote Shakespeare, "What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet."
Posted by: Kitchen Chick | October 15, 2005 at 01:14 AM
This is a great market. I was up from Ohio visiting my friends in Ypsi and stopped in to see it. Everything from kitchen supplies/utensils to live crabs/fish/eels. Great selection of veggies, even fresh, live seaweed. LOTS and LOTS of frozen selections...about 15 kinds of frozen dumplings alone. Too bad there isn't a website for me to order off of.
Posted by: Jon | March 01, 2006 at 09:52 PM
Wow! Great info. I wish, I could have such a writing skills.
Posted by: Amien | June 05, 2007 at 04:28 PM
I went Hua Xing on Washtenaw in Ypsilanti out of curiosity and with a desire for myself and my two daugters to see new things. (I am not of asian decent) An older woman, who I found out was the owner's mother, followed myself and my two children around the store with an unpleasant frown on her face. She watched us like a hawk and it was an extremely uncomfortable experience to say the least. It's a shame that such ignorance still exists in this day and age. I spent the rest of the evening explaining to my 8 and 13 year old that we were indeed welcome and free to shop anywhere we pleased. Just wanted to vent publicly in hopes that something will be done and no one else will be made to feel as unwelcome as that woman made myself and my children feel. Ironically, it is a really nice store...and even though I did purchase something (to demonstrate to the woman that the majority of black people DO INDEED PAY for their items and are not theives)...I highly doubt I will continue to patronize a store that makes me feel like I'm less than anyone else. My advise...it's a nice store as long as you are not concerned about the people there treating you like a common thief!
Posted by: Mrs. F | June 20, 2007 at 03:45 PM
I am a White Female Flight Attendant who travels to Asia alot.
I love Culture and I am pleased that I can shop here and get all the goodies instead of lugging the stuff through Customs.Great prices too!
They have it all. My less interested son freaks out when we go there as it is an amazing trip to Asia and he is not accustom to the items that are considered edible to other cultures.
I also bring out of town guests there so they can get the tour.
I love it there and am sad to hear that they are rude to Af Americans as my husband is black..Maybe thats why he doesnt like going there? Sad.
Posted by: kim | July 03, 2007 at 12:48 AM
Mrs F. I'm very sorry you had that experience at Hua Xing. I hope the owners or some of the employees see your comment here. (It's not impossible - I've had other restaurant owners and managers find posts about their businesses here!)
Posted by: Kitchen Chick | July 03, 2007 at 07:13 AM
I'm tempted to call them and see if I can get a comment for the website... maybe do a little bit of education on anti-discrimination law in the US while I'm at it.
Posted by: Joe, Kitchen Chick's husband | July 03, 2007 at 08:06 AM
I've not been to this store yet. Does anyone know whether they carry Chinese herbal stuff? thanks
Posted by: kissfish | November 10, 2008 at 07:28 PM
Yes, they do carry Chinese herbal stuff. We don't use it ourselves, so we can't tell you how good their selection is, but they seem to have quite a bit.
Posted by: Joe, Kitchen Chick's husband | November 11, 2008 at 10:04 PM
Mrs F., you should try enculturing yourself a bit. Not everyone's culture is exactly like yours. Don't take it personally.
Posted by: Sandy | November 15, 2008 at 10:59 AM