99 Ranch

99 Ranch
Multiple locations throughout the South Bay
Cupertino (10983 North Wolfe Road, Cupertino, CA 95014, (408) 532-8899)
San Jose (1688 Hostetter Road #E, San Jose, CA 95131, (408) 436-8899)
www.99ranch.com

Vitals:
Hours: Sun-Thurs: 9 am- 9 pm, Fri & Sat: 9 am - 9:30 pm

If I need to grab dinner for the family and I'm not in the mood to cook, then I can easily find the fixings for dinner at the local 99 Ranch market. The usually have a hot deli section in which you can pick up a small to large entree (prices range from $4-$10) and a medium rice ($1.85), which is large enough to feed about 2-3 people. The best part of going to 99 Ranch is that I have a choice protein prepared in different ways.

Barbeque pork is usually one of my favorites. It's a funny color (red) on the outside, but the pork is tender and has a sweet and salty taste and you can easily get up to a pound and you have dinner (aroun $6-7 per pound). They also have roast duck or roasted chicken if you prefer (you can ask for half a duck or chicken as well). The duck and chicken are taken off a hook in the window and cut in front of your and both are seasoned with a salty soy based sauce.

If I'm in the mood for fish, I can go to the fish section and select a fish. What's good about this place is that they will clean the fish, and if you want, they will even cut and fry the fish (you can choose between regular fry and deep fry). You just pay for the fish (price per pound) and everything else is included. The cost is dependent on what type if fish you select and how heavy it is.

Above is a bass type fish that was caught in the wild in Canada. It was on sale for $2.99 a pound, and this cost about $3.37. At first, I found it to be intimidating to pick out a fish because it's sometimes hard to tell if a fish is fresh, but from what I'm been taught, there are a few things to look for:

• skin - the skin should be shiny
  
• eyes - look for clear looking eyes (don't go for ones that have cloudy eyes)
• gills - the gills should be red (not pinkish or greyish)
• flesh - the flesh should be firm and bounce back a bit when you press the skin (it shouldn't stay sunken).
  

I generally also look fish caught in the wild (not farmed fish) from countries that have strict or ok environmental standards. I read this article in the N.Y. Times, "In China, Farming Fish in Toxic Waters", which discussed the fish farming techniques in China, its poor environmental standards and how it affects their fish. Now I generally refrain from fish that originate from China (among other products).

So on a day that I don't feel like I want to cook dinner, I can pop into 99 Ranch, pick up a small side of a vegetable (around $3), a medium rice ($1.85) and a fish all for under $10. Hard to beat this deal.