Alhambra farmer's market stands in for a trip to Asia

This time of year there's tons of great citrus.

I probably won't be getting to the marketplaces of Singapore or Beijing any time soon, but in the meantime, the Alhambra Farmer's Market on Sunday morning is the next best thing. It's a manageable size, bigger than Atwater and Silver Lake but smaller than Pasadena and Hollywood, with oceans of free parking. And like Atwater, the prices are a good deal lower. Being in Alhambra, it naturally caters heavily to the Chinese/Vietnamese community, and also has plenty of Filipino and Latino-oriented produce. The cooked food stalls are a little disappointing -- just a smattering of pupusas and kettle corn, too bad there's not a dim sum or pho stall. But there's a good variety of fresh produce, from jujubes to sugarcane. The vast array of Asian greens stands out, some of which I've never heard of or seen in a restaurant.

Chrysanthemum greens, $4 lb. What are these good for?

Here's the pomelo man. Just pomelos. He must have a tree in his yard.

Ana's Farm sells free-range regular and black chickens for around $3.75 a lb. The only problem is that the chickens still have the heads and claws. Yikes! But they do taste better than supermarket chickens.


These are the petite eggs from the black chickens for $4 a dozen. The proprietor says they have a stronger flavor than regular eggs.

Alhambra Farmer's Market
corner of Monterey and Baystate Sts.
8:30 - 1 Sundays