California ! Snacking at The Boiling Crab & Snow Station

I spent several days in California recently to visit family.  We stayed with my aunt in Garden Grove in the last two days which entailed just sitting at home, marveling at the fruit from her garden, eating the fruit, and watching Vietnamese television.  

So in the downtime, when both aunt and mom lay on the couch and start falling asleep, I jaunt off to hang out with Jean to partake in the art of "snacking."

Garden Grove is in the heart of Little Saigon, and in addition to the dozens of pho places that dot every corner, there are also several cajun seafood spots in each marketplace - the most popular being The Boiling Crab.

The waits can be intense at The Boiling Crab, but once your lucky name is called, you are escorted to your table which is promptly covered with a clean sheet of white plastic.  A mound of limes is dumped on top for you to make your own salt and pepper dipping sauce.

Since we were here just to "snack," we just shared a half dozen briny oysters (also accompanied by many limes), a pile of cajun fries (which were long, crispy and delicious),

and a pound of shrimp in the 'whole sha-bang' style sauce, which is the kitchen sink of butter, garlic and spice.  The levels of spice you can order are: mild, medium or XXX - the medium ends up being just fine.

The shrimp were beautifully fat, perfectly cooked, and plump enough for dipping in the bag of sauce or your own handmade salt/pepper/lime concoction.  The pound of shrimp had Jean and me busy for half an hour as we sucked on heads, filling our bellies up with sweet, tasty shellfish.

After, we cleansed our palates and cooled our jets at Snow Station, a Taiwanese style shaved snow spot.  Sizes start in mini then baby bear and go up to gigantic loch ness monster sized plates.  The baby bear seemed ample.

The best thing that happens at Snow Station is after you pick your flavor (we did green tea), and the two complimentary toppings (jackfruit + lychee popping boba), you can pick a sauce which there are many options but you should only choose one: CONDENSED MILK.

And then the clerk will say, "Tell me when," as she squeezes the most giant bottle of condensed milk over your frozen treat, zigzagging back and forth until your mind will tell you to stop but your heart will tell them to go on.  

The clerk will then say, "Feel free to come back up for more sauce."  What?  Even more condensed milk is at my ready disposal?  Did I just die and enter heaven?

And the answer was, yes, I did enter heaven.  Each spoonful melted on my tongue like freshly fallen snow, melding with the creamy richness of the condensed milk, the fruity pop from each boba and the tender sweetness of good ol' jackfruit.

God, I love snacking in California.

The Boiling Crab
14241 N Euclid St, Garden Grove, CA 92843


Snow Station
9938 Bolsa Ave #117, Westminster, CA 92683