Longdan Express

longdan express

September 20th, 2011

I’ve been to my favourite Oriental supermarket today, Longdan Express in Shoreditch.

aisle 2

Longdan specialises in Vietnamese cuisine but has very good Thai, Japanese and Chinese sections. They carry some spectacular fresh food, such as the beautiful Dragon Fruit

dragon fruit

and edible blossom.

edible blossom

I’ve catered a couple of art openings, using some of their exotic frozen food. The baby octopus and frogs’ legs are very popular. Some other exciting foods worth investigating are chicken feet,

chicken feet

fish balls,

fish balls

pig tail,

pig tail

and prawn birds nests.

prawn birds nests

They even sell durian, a disgusting smelling fruit, which tastes a bit like custard and almonds, wisely perhaps, it’s frozen.

nanami togarashi

I went to buy some Nanami Togarashi, Japanese assorted chili pepper, which contains chili pepper (their spelling), orange peel, black sesame seed, white sesame seed, Japanese pepper, ginger and seaweed. It’s quite hot, with a citrus tang. I found it goes very well with all sorts of things – even cocktail cheese and pineapple!

To me, Longdan seems to offer far more exotic food than you’ll find in China Town and the prices are low. Longdan is at 25 Hackney Road, E2 7NX