Sushi in a World of Comida Típica?

The other night, elbow-deep in sushi making, I said to my fellow volunteer who was staying the night at my place, "I can't believe we're making sushi in my house in Costa Rica." She laughed.

It all started 24 hours earlier when a site visit from my Peace Corps program manager alerted me to some Asian markets in San José. Previously unbeknownst to me, there exists a small "Chinatown" in the busy streets of our capital city. After some fiascos and failed attempts to find the area (getting lost a few times, asking numerous people, paying $4 to have a cab driver mistakingly take me to an Asian non-food market), I finally stumbled upon a few Asian markets...an area I walked passed and drove through in the cab mere minutes earlier. Boldly venturing into any store with Mandarin characters on the signs, behind each storefront I found what was a hidden surprise of one feeling like they had magically been transported to the heart of China. I was in love. I was suddenly sent back to my time in Japan or India where an innocent exploration of the markets turned into a guilty pleasure of another world. I suddenly became a kid in a candy store, picking up every item out of curiosity - touching it, feeling it, imagining eating it or even inventing ways of how to prepare it.

One hour later, and $26.00 later (eeeks! on a Peace Corps budget), I filled my canvas bag with the following, some things familiar, some new (see photo). I was ecstatic. Soon I would be filling my mouth with homemade sushi, dim sum, spicy ginger candies, tapioca pudding, curries made with coconut milk, tofu, and other recommended Chinese sweets.

So that night, I arrived home, back in my community with a cupboard full of ethnic ingredients. Heaven. On Earth. For me.

My fellow volunteer and I proceeded to "cook" up vegetarian sushi rolls and spring rolls made with purple cabbage, rice noodles, grilled tofu, and mangos with a peanut, garlic, and chili dipping sauce.

Spring roll assembly!

OOooooohhh my gosh, so excited to eat this:

Now that's a sushi roll:

A little red wine to top it all off, and some ginger candies and other Chinese sweets (some not so good) for dessert? We were more than satisfied, and suddenly incredibly sleepy.

It was one of those experiences that I sort of didn't believe was happening in Costa Rica. If I learned anything from this adventure, it's that EVERY place on earth (even when it seems you are only surrounded by comida típica) has it's secret hidden gems with which you can create beautiful pieces of jewelry.

Thanks again to my wonderful program manager, Natalia, for giving me the heads up! I've got many asian meals to look forward too.