A Trip to a Chinese Wet Market

At the wet market, you get the freshest and cheapest produce. Sure, you have to slog through a pretty yucky environment to get it, but when you want to make a wonderful salsa or vegetable soup, it's worth the crud on your shoes.

A wet market can take several forms. The foods can be laid on a cloth or board set on the ground like what you see here:

Or a wet market may have rows of concrete tables in a covered enclosure like this vegetable stall.

In Mandarin, the wet market is called a cai shi chang. It literally means vegetable market.

So it's no surprise that the bulk of what you find in a Chinese wet market is vegetables.

TIP #1
Take small change. The vendors don't like large bills.

Produce is sold by the pound (actually the jin, but it's almost the same as a pound). As you can see, though, the prices are not labeled. To find out, you have to ask. Then you can choose exactly what you want, it is weighed right before you, and the vendor tells you the price. I tend to find a friendly looking vendor and buy most of my veggies from her. But many people will buy the prettiest tomatoes from one stall, the freshest celery from another, and so on.

The vegetables at a wet market are brought in daily from small nearby farms. So you know it's fresh, local, and organic. Once you eat the vegetables from the wet market, it's hard to buy them at a supermarket again. No amount of convenience and cleanliness at a supermarket can compare to the taste and nutrition of these beautiful vegetables.

The produce in China, although amazingly fresh and delicious and just begging to be eaten raw, is not clean. Wash it thoroughly to reduce chances of getting sick.

Peeling vegetables is a good tactic, but what about lettuce or celery -- things that you don't peel? Wash them by hand, piece by piece in clear, running water. Then soak them for 10 minutes in drinkable water with a tablespoon of white or apple vinegar added in. Read more about washing your veggies.

Fresh is the key word here. If it wasn't killed today, it's still alive and kicking. That means that meat is prepared each day, so a late trip to the wet market may leave you empty handed. Go early for the best choices!

Pork is the primary meat for most Chinese people. In fact, I visited two wet markets to take photos for this virtual field trip and the only meat I found was pork. No beef, no mutton. Only pork. It's the best pork in the world!

Something rather shocking to foreigners visiting China is that the meat is not refrigerated or wrapped at all. Actually because the meat is butchered and eaten in the same day, it's not absolutely necessary to refrigerate it. And the lack of wrapping actually makes it convenient to buy whatever amount you like and even request special cuts.

Yes, there are flies although the vendors have special fans to wave them away. The levels of sanitation at a wet market are notoriously low. Your pork may have hairs and bone fragments on it. So that's why you must wash and soak your meats at home before cooking them.

Here are the tools of the meat vendors -- a super thick chopping block, knives, and hooks. Pictured on the right is a piece of pork liver.

TIP #2
Chinese usually shop daily for what they need for one or two meals. So if you tend to "power shop" and buy things for several days' worth of meals, be prepared for exclamations of "So much food!" from everyone who sees your bags. Just smile and say, "I love your local veggies! And Chinese pork is the best!" That will distract them with a smile.

Besides pork, here are some other things for sale at my wet market: chickens and rabbits, prepared right before your eyes.

You can choose the best looking duck from this little group.

Or if you're in a hurry, you can grab one that's already prepared.

Fish is usually still alive, and the fish man will gut it and scale it for you on his cutting board.

Eels are also a popular food in China!

You must have rice! You can buy your choice of the many varieties -- just dip out as much or as little as you want. Now you know why Asians wash their rice! It's common for people to run their hand through the rice in deciding which to buy.

The basics of Chinese cuisine can all be bought at the wet market -- oil, soy sauce, MSG, garlic, oyster sauce, ginger, meat tenderizer, hot peppers, beans, etc.

TIP #4
If you're concerned about being cheated on the prices of things, wander around and listen to others. What did the vendor tell the local shopper it cost? And what was the local's reaction? You can learn a lot from observing!

Although I'm not exactly sure, I can venture an educated guess. A wet market is actually quite wet and mucky. The vendors frequently spray the veggies with water to keep them fresh, and that water drips down into gutters in the floor. Of course, butchering animals is a messy business that requires a lot of water. So, yes, the wet market is quite wet and very dirty. It's not a place you want to fall down or rest your bag on the ground!

One of the wonderful things about buying fruit in China is that you get seasonal fruit. Many of the fruits are available only a few weeks of the year. That makes eating that particular fruit very special and something to look forward to! And the quality is so much better than those year round fruits that are shipped from all around the world to American grocery stores.

Fruit stalls often line the street leading to the wet market. Here fruits are arranged on shallow baskets.

Or placed on a makeshift table.

Or sold from the back of a truck.

Or sold from the back of a tricycle.

There are fruits in China that I never saw or even heard of in America! These are pipa! They peel easily and reveal a firm, slightly tangy fruit with a large brown seed in the center.

Here are mangosteens and lychee fruits.