Informal market at Angel Cruz Park in Stockton, CA
Angel Cruz Park is a public park in Stockton, CA where a number of Hmong vendors set up each afternoon to sell traditional foods. Some offer pickled veggies and tropical fruits, others set up grills and cook meats over charcoal, and others bring mortar and pestle and prepare fresh papaya salad on the spot. This has been going on for years, apparently with no concern for legalities or permits from the local authorities. Being in the Bay Area with a rental car, I decided to check it out.
Not the papaya salad vendor I was looking for, but Hmong Facebook group says she is equal to “30 years lady”.
The papaya salad was the main attraction, prepared before my eyes by a woman who started by asking how spicy I wanted it (I successfully communicated a little spicy but not mild) and then proceeded to pound chilis, rice powder and shrimp paste then add mysterious liquids followed by tomato slices, papaya, noodles (an option) and cabbage. The result was perfect and a huge portion was $7. The same lady sold me a grilled lao sausage for $2.
I also picked up a couple of grill sticks (beef stick, $2, chicken wing stick, $1), a pair of fried bananas (2 for $1), a quart of pickled greens ($5) and a nice bunch of fresh Chinese broccoli ($2). Good prices and good eating. Vendors were friendly and did not mind my taking a few pictures since I was buying from them.
Beef and chicken sticks grilling.
There is no official schedule but the vendors seem to be in the park every day starting in the early afternoon; a Yelp page says the market begins at 2:30 but everybody was set up and selling when I arrived at 1:30. There was a steady stream of visitors until I left a little before 3.
I had learned about the Angel Cruz vendors through the delightful Our Hmong Table Facebook group (private, but I was admitted quickly when I asked to join). After my visit, I posted a query about the best time to visit with my photo of papaya salad in progress. I mentioned that I had looked for a papaya salad lady who puts up a sign saying she has been coming to the park for 30 years; she was not there on my visit and I wondered if she was ok. The group responded quickly: “The 30years papaya lady is alright. The women in the picture and 30years are about the same in terms of making papaya.” Translation (I love the way Hmong posters express themselves in English): the lady you were looking for just took the day off but don’t worry; the lady you found is just as good as making papaya salad. The commenters also told me some vendors take time off during the cooler months and summer is the best time to visit.
Cross section of fried banana… really good.
Stockton, which is actually quite a large city (#11 in CA, #55 in the US according to Wikipedia), has suffered some hard knocks in recent years. It had the nation’s sharpest drop in real estate prices in the recession of 2008, then the city went bankrupt in 2012 because of the declining tax base and also some fiscal mismanagement. More recently the main news has been a serial killer, who has apparently been captured. Yet I found it a positive, vibrant environment. Before vising the park I ate at Mitapheap, a restaurant a few blocks away serving delicious Cambodian food, and I recommend you do the same. On the way out of town I visited the town marina—you can actually navigate a boat here all the way from the bay—and strolled the promenade. I’d consider coming back for an overnight visit and eating more ethnic food.
