Groovy Fruit

I had cause to rejoice when I found that Uwajimaya grocery in Beaverton now has fresh longans! They are native to India and are loved all over Asia.  You peel off the brown skin, eat the juicy fruit and discard the nut in the center, the "eye of the dragon".  Uwajimaya is always worth a visit.  We like to stop by for a little mochi (sweet pastries made of rice) and a soda in an always entertaining ramune bottle.  Ramune bottles have stoppers made of marbles that are held in place by the pressure of the carbonation.  They come with little openers that you push against the marble to dislodge it.  Uwajimaya is a huge store with an encyclopedic collection of pan-Asian wonders with a Japanese focus.   Inside the store you will also find a Japanese restaurant with a good reputation, a Japanese bookstore that Jasper loves  for their unusual sticker selection, and a pastry shop that makes fresh cream puffs.  Also they currently still have live crawdads.  For about $.40 each you can take them home for a rather interesting and low-maintenance pet.  (We feed ours greens which have been in the freezer and shrimp pellet fish food).  

Then I discovered that International Food Supply in Montavilla  currently has fresh dates!  I had never seen this fruit fresh before and we thought that was pretty cool.  They have been cultivated in the Middle East since before recorded history.  For history lessons we've read many historical novels in which the characters frequently eat fresh dates. It was exciting to get a chance to try them!  Their flavor is much less intense than their dried counterparts and they are crunchy.  International Food Supply has really amped up its stock since the last time we were there, and now has even more wonderful things from all over the Middle East.  I head there regularly for big bottles of good extra virgin olive oil, pure olive oil soap, and heavenly pistachio nougat.  It is next to a sister business, the divine Ya Hala Lebanese restaurant, in the very walkable Montavilla neighborhood.