FoodGrowDude

Good point about the directions to Cao Nguyen; the OLD building is directly adjacent to the milk bottle, and has remained vacant for years after the opening of the new Megastore, which is about two blocks to the northeast. As to fresh masa, well, mi masa su masa. I recently found it fresh. You can get the stuff freshly made at the Serapio's tortilla factory, near the airport, 5024 SW 36th St. The procedure, since they lack a storefront, is to call 942-2086 and order for pickup the next day at their office. Call before 1 PM to order for the next day. Mon-Fri, 7:30 - 4PM. The cost is 70 cents a pound. Here's a google page that includes a map and info: http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=serap...oma&btnG=Search I've recently contacted Buy 4 Less and asked them to consider carrying this one rather that the Ft. Worth product. I hope to hear from them soon.

Gosh yes cKat! How could I have neglected to include Mediterranean? They now have a website (not for ordering) where they list some of their numerous cheeses etc along with their lunch menu. http://medimportsokc.com/ Only place in town that I've found Dry salted anchovies available by the loose ounce. You can spend hours discovering things in this store.

I too would go for it in a flash. The specs seem to indicate that the dual ring burners are the same. I've been cooking for 10 years on a single ring burner turkey fryer rated at 48K BTU (brand name forgotten as it was a Sam's Club special). With a 16" carbon steel wok with wooden handle, we get consistent wok hei out the wazoo. Some folks talk about the need for 100K or even more, but that 65K on the Baby Kahuna will definitely do the job. For stability and added height, we added a "log cabin" base of 2 to 3 foot long landscape timbers screwed together, and routed out some depressions where the burner's feet are tightly nestled. It's sturdy as a rock, and stays out year round on the deck. It may be worth an email to the manufacturer to be assured that the ring burners are indeed the same. http://www.eastmanoutdoors.com/hardware.shtml If you purchase, I'd be curious to know how easily the regulator works to bring flame quickly up and down. I've always wanted one of those foot pumps that the pros use to put 'er into overdrive.

With trotters you can yield some wonderful tonkotsu as a soup base; the gelatin content is amazing, and there are bits of unctuous meat to be picked from the metacarpels . Add some heads and you're prepped for souse/headcheese. Neckbones and livers and it screams for scrapple, goetta, or livermush. Here's a tonkotsu pork broth using trotters that's really good: http://www.manthatcooks.com/2005/08/making...otsu-ramen.html

Excellent job finding those that you did. Norman can be just far enough south of OKC to discourage shopping forays there. Your post was from May of this year; I'm betting that by now you've also discovered these few other sources: Super Cao Nguyen http://www.caonguyen.com/ The original benchmark for the Viet community in OKC. Moved into their new large venue about 5-6 years ago. Just NE of the Milk Bottle on Classen/23rd, on Military. Huge store. On my shopping runs, I start at the Chinatown store you mentioned, to check produce/fish/variety meats, make notes, then go to Cao Nguyen, and usually end up returning to pick up some items at Chinatown. Depends on the day's freshness of the produce and the fish. I always plan to have fish the night of a Little Saigon run, because these two stores have the best seafood selection in the metro. Also the place to get pork liver and pork belly and beef tendons, beef shank, hangar steak, etc. Tofu factory shop, just about 2 blocks east of western on 23rd. Opened more than 10 years ago, the only freshmade tofu/soy products in town. You can ask for the warm tofu they haven't yet stocked in the storefront cooler. They press and fry there too, for the freshest fried tofu. Both Cao Ngyuen and Chinatown have their stuff, but if you want a warm tub of silken tofu to slurp on that ride back to Norman... ummmm. Crest Grocery Stores, a local chain that built their footprint and reputation on low prices, is expanding. http://www.crestfoodsok.com/ They handle Prime grade in beef cuts in strip, ribeye etc., and all other cuts are from primals; yes, they have on-site meat cutters. The best time to get to know the meatguy in charge is at 5 or 6 AM, and he'll discuss what they have that week and will do special cuts. Eggs are often 3-5 days from laying. They somewhat match local loss leader advertisements in their weekly pricing structure. Deli items are shipped in, not made on site. Good careful attention to produce. I live less than 300 meters from a Crest, so I visit often. Buy For Less www.buyforlessok.com is a local chain with 11 stores. They are shifting their marketing toward Hispanic customers, thereby increasing the diversity of produce and meat cuts. They put out a weekly sale flyer, and you can call them to have it mailed to your home. The store at 23rd and Penn, near Little Saigon, has for many years prided itself in their diversity and quality of produce. Spices of India http://oklahomacity.eknazar.com/YellowPage...eNum=1&parent=0 Great diversity of bulk spices, plus Indian tools and produce and ingredients. Grown into a new store just off of I-44 at 39th St. Health food Center at I-240 and South Penn. http://shop.thehealthfoodcenter.net/ Best bulk bins in town, plus a well managed organic produce selection. Akins http://www.akins.com/retailer/store_templa...420A7A75B27460A Northside, but worth a visit. Good organic produce. Careful attention to top-line brand items (refrigerated flours, best variety of yogurts, etc). Farmers market N of Reno and Portland, thus I44. http://www.osuokc.edu/farmersmarket/ This place gets better every year, even extending into winter seasons just north at a site in OSU Tech. Great critical mass of patrons and growers/producers. Walmart has suppressed market diversity. OKC was the test market for WM's campaign for "how to take over a city" in the early 90's. They planted a huge footprint of Supercenters and Food-only "Neighborhood Markets." Several chains have been snuffed out with this mega-campaign. Albertsons tucked tail back towards Boise, and Homeland (local OK chain) has taken over the Albs stores and their upper middle class niche. Weekly sales flyers in the city are down from 6 in 1995 to only 2 in 2008. Thus the rec for the thriving local Crest and BFL. As to hanging beef, surprisingly, about 30 years ago the City passed an ordinance against hanging packers. The carcasses moved to Chicago. The prime beef steakhouses deal with Chicago. Kamps (and Bill Kamp's Meat Market, 7310 N Western) and http://www.labaguettebistro.com/ nearby on Western will meet any high end meat order. Those two, plus the Crescent foods 1 mile south are your three best bets for top line meat and home-prepped deli.http://www.eataroundokc.com/2008/la-bouche...market-in-town/ Oklahoma Food Cooperative is a great locavore effort. http://www.oklahomafood.coop/ Their producers, along with the OSU OKC Farmers market, will plug you in to most of the local Oklahoma products. Still no TJ's, Whole Foods, or Wild Oats. Still no Duke's mayo. A local grocer (Pratt's) overexpanded into the high end healthy enviro-concious market in late 90's and didn't make it and disappeared, and those marketing reports seem to continue to make WF etc gun shy from coming in. Costco won't come here because of the plethora of Sam's. OKC is growing and the food choices improving. What are your recent experiences and feedback? Here's a fun Bubba list of "Oklahoma specialties": http://www.okctalk.com/food-court/8615-100...re-you-die.html