When I saw the new Chung Fat Supermarket I could hardly believe my eyes. The sprawling grocery that just opened on Main Street in Flushing takes up more than three storefronts. Since I was unable to find someone to translate what the name means, I can only guess that it's Chinese for "gargantuan supermarket with tons of fresh meat, seafood and vegetables." That, or it’s a tribute to the Chinese film producer. Either way there’s quite the variety of seafood, including abalone. I’ve never been able to overcome the price barrier of ordering this mollusk in a Chinese restaurant. Nor do I know how to prepare it, so I had put it out of my mind until I entered the snack aisle. There amidst a myriad of dried fruit and chicken biscuits was a box of one dozen abalone pastries, for a mere $3.49. That’s quite the price break compared to a restaurant. Japanese abalone has been known to fetch $108 an order at Ping’s Seafood. And that was eight years ago!

I read the label on the box and was excited to learn that the Abalone Pastries, or Pâtisseries aux ormeaux, were from the Choi Heong Bakery Macau. I’d never eaten anything from Macau and was quite beside myself about consuming a gastropod confection. I tore open one of the individually wrapped packages and slid out a flaky sesame-studded biscuit. The first bite was sweet, crunchy and salty, but it held no oceanic flavor whatsoever. The second nibble was kind of oniony and peppery. Then I decided to look at the ingredients. Turns out there’s absolutely no abalone in these pastries.

I was tempted to rail against this as some sort of bait-and-switch, then I realized that these are meant to be abalone-shaped treats, rather than contain any mollusk. I felt kind of silly for assuming that I was going to be eating abalone. Oh well, at least they make for a tasty snack with a cup of tea.

Chung Fat Supermarket

41-86 Main Street, Flushing NY 11355 (map)
718-886-9368