Hong Kong Market

The New Orleans area has an embarrassingly rich number of Asian restaurants, markets, and bakeries. The Hong Kong Market on Martin Behrman on the West Bank is a great example of this richness. We go to the market occasionally to pick up essentials like these duck heads.

Every aisle, no matter what else is on it, has shrimp, fish, or clams in some form. The product lines range from shrimp paste to dried clam powder. But my favorite is the cuttlefish flavored cheesey poofs.
Super Wal-Marts for a while had McDonald's in the back. Hong Kong Market has a pho shop in front.
A large selection of produce lines the left wall. Tiny limes, coconuts, pungent herbs, lemongrass, various varieties of mushrooms, and other things which defy description from this uneducated clown, pave the road to an enormous bank of fish tanks. Housing live fish. You select your crab, catfish, or shark fin and they pull it for you.

Or as with the blue crab bin, you grab it yourself. Wusses need not apply.

Here is a bag of mushrooms that only Willie Nelson could tackle.

Then there is this. What it is, aint exactly clear.

Terms like "organic" and "free range" are touted by the Alice Waters, hippie foodie crowd. But only at Hong Kong Market can you find staunch support of religious, non-violent chickens who study under the Dalai Lama and Richard Gere.

Now for the best part, the banh mi/roasted meats section. Its been at least thirty minutes since your bowl of pho, so you are of course hungry. I would suggest a banh mi.

Then a roast duck or the pork ribs.

Then for dessert. Some children's heads that are filled with chocolate.