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Nearly a dozen stations to offer free food samples October 9 & 10
NORTH PLAINFIELD n The sweet, sour and salty flavors of the cuisine of the Philippines are coming to North Plainfield.
On Saturday, October 9, and Sunday, October 10, the Asian Food Markets of North Plainfield will present “A Taste of the Philippines n A Fall Food Festival.”
From 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on both days, nearly a dozen demonstrators will offer free food samples throughout the Asian Food Markets at 1101 Route 22 West, North Plainfield. (Contact the store at 908-668-8382. Find them on the web at AsianFoodMarkets).
“A lot of people believe the Asian Food Markets is just about Chinese food,” said Jonathan Chan, president of the Asian Food Markets chain. “We do have a wide variety of Chinese food n from Hunan and Beijing to Shanghai, Hong Kong and Szechuan. But we are the ASIAN Food Markets. And we take that name seriously. That means we stock foods from Indian, Malaysia, Vietnam, Japan, the Philippines, Thailand, Korea and other Asian nations.
“That’s why we are presenting “A Taste of the Philippines n A Fall Food Festival.’ This allows us to highlight a country’s food that most in the United States have not experienced.”
The Philippines, a Pacific nation of more than 7,100 islands, has long had a special relationship with the United States. It became a territory in 1898 after the Spanish-American War and a commonwealth of the United States in 1935. It became an independent nation in 1946. More than 250,000 Filipinos served in the United States military in World War II. And there are an estimated 4 million Filipino Americans in the United States with a substantial population in New Jersey.
To serve a wide range of Asian communities and the general population, the Asian Food Markets has become more than just a food seller.
“We have become food educators,” Chan said. “With so many distinct Asian cultures and cuisines, we have to take the opportunity to teach one about the other. And teach the general population about everything.”
One of those educational tools is the food festivals the Asian Food Markets has offered over the past year. The result is an environment where shoppers feel comfortable experimenting and tasting new food.
“They don’t have to buy an entire package of something they’ve never seen before,” Chan said. “At ‘A Taste of the Philippines,’ they can sample food. If they like it, it will be available at a special price. If they don’t, they’ve had an experience and they can move on to the next table.”
Some of the items expected to be offered for sampling at tables around the store include: Palm corned beef, Tome sardines, a special spaghetti sauce, sweet longaniza (a sausage similar to chorizo), oyster sauce, Filipino ice cream, porkee, pork tocino (a cured meat product usually served for breakfast in the Philippines), curry bangus (a fish dish), Luzona drinks plus special Filipino breads and pastries from Highland Park’s own Berkeley Bakery.
“A Taste of the Philippines n A Fall Food Festival” is another effort by the Asian Food Markets supermarkets to reach beyond its traditional Asian customers. This year, the Piscataway store offered an Asian Food Fair and a Chinese New Year’s Education Campaign. Nine posters explained culinary traditions and rituals of the New Year and Spring Festival, the most important holiday on the Chinese calendar. From long noodles, dumplings and red envelopes to fish, oranges and sticky cake, shoppers had the opportunity to learn about the celebration of the holiday. Other food festivals have been held recently in Plainsboro, Cherry Hill and Staten Island.
The Asian Food Markets, founded in 1992, has full service supermarkets in Piscataway, North Plainfield, Middletown, Plainsboro, Cherry Hill and Staten Island. The chain is known for its wide selection of fresh fruit, fresh vegetables, live and fresh fish, fresh meat, fresh poultry, fresh baked goods and Asian specialty products from many regions of China, Taiwan, the Philippines, Japan, Korea, Southeast Asia and India. The stores also offer authentic fresh, hot Chinese dishes, ready for takeout.
“Growing in business is all about expanding to new markets,” Jonathan Chan said. “We are growing two ways n by exposing our core customers to other Asian cuisines and by introducing the general population to our store and all the food cultures represented. But we’re not just sellers of Asian food. The Asian Food Markets is a quality supermarket that specializes in the foods of Asia.”

