Asian Grocery Store Favs

[Schielke]

I make a habit of trying to get to an asian grocery store at least once a month. I have a fascination with new products, and interesting packaging so these places are like heaven for me.

A few favorites of mine are: Mochi wrapped Ice Cream (green tea or red bean flavor), Pocky, The chips that are shaped like sugar peas, Doraiecki (spelling) cakes, and the little milk coffee drinks.

What are some of your favorite items.

Yesterday I picked up some Kewpie Mayonaise, it is in the coolest bottle.

Ben

[nightscotsman]

Kewpie Mayonaise is great! Very rich tasting and a must for Okonomiyaki. Mmmmm... Okonomiyaki.

I'm a sucker for elaborately overpackaged Japanese candy. Most of them are seasonal, so the types available at any given time vary, but I especially like "Melty Kiss" (if just to be able to say to a date "would you like a melty kiss?" ), and the tiny (about 3/4 inch), individually wrapped "cheese cakes" complete with crust. Japanese chocolate tends to be higher quality and dark like European chocolate. They also tend to use more natural fruit flavors - often if a candy is strawberry it is actually flavored with real, dried and ground strawberries and has a fresher, non-artificial taste.

My favorite mints are the tiny "5mm" (literally five millimeters) breath mints packaged in a little plastic tube dispenser. They are the strongest I have found.

I'll buy any candy that is green tea flavored - just this weekend I found a Pocky knockoff from Kirin that is green tea and cream flavored. I also love the green tea mochi-wrapped ice cream and I'm so glad Trader Joes carries it (cheaper than Uwajimaya).

There is a kind of cookie called Kyoeido Kakugiri Yatsuhashi that I can sometimes find at Uwajimaya in the rice cracker aisle. It's a specialty of Kyoto. They are dark-golden brown, shaped like little half-round roof tiles (but not disk-shaped like a tuille), very firm and crunchy and taste strongly of cinnamon. When I was in Japan last year several ice cream sellers included these with their cones so you could use them as a spoon. Fun and delicious - and they never got soggy from the ice cream.

I actually really like the Japanese soft drinks like Pokari Sweat (yep, as in persperation - that's not a typo). They tend to be lightly flavored, non-carbonated, and very little sugar. Much more refreshing than our overly heavy and sweet sodas. My favorites are green apple and muscat grape.

I also stock up on the baked Hombows - BBQ pork and curry chicken flavors - when I go to Uwajimaya. They make great quick lunches.

[mamster]

I could go on and on, but here are some things that come to mind:

Thai salted radish and preserved mustard greens. These aren't really similar except that they're both salty vegetables from Thailand. The salted radish is available minced (handy, and it seems to taste just as good) or whole, and the preserved mustard green is one slice in a plastic pouch. The salted radish is a must for phad thai, and the mustard green is good in soups.

Milo. This is the Southeast Asian equivalent of Nestle Quik. It's not actually good (not even as good as Quik), but they sell Milo ice cream bars all over Bangkok, so it's a little taste of home-away-from-home.

Unagi nigiri. They sell it in four packs at Uwajimaya, and it's pretty good.

Pork fat. I never see this for sale anywhere else, and there's no butcher shop near my house. Practically free.

Is there a place in town that sells okonomiyaki, or do you make them at home?

[Beachfan]

Pickled garlic (and other pickled vegetables).

[Fat Guy]

they sell Milo ice cream bars all over Bangkok, so it's a little taste of home-away-from-home

As you are an American living in Seattle, would it not be a taste of away-from-home-at-home?

I but those Thai curry pastes, the Mae Ploy brand. Also rice, noodles, hot sauce, oyster sauce, and soy sauce of all kinds. And various fresh and dried vegetables that don't appear in Western stores.

I wouldn't lump Asian grocery stores together, though. At least in the New York area, there's a huge difference between, on the one hand, a Chinatown grocery store and, on the other hand, the Mitsuwa Japanese store in Edgewater, NJ. Some overlap of products, to be sure, but huge differences too.

[nightscotsman]

By the way, does anyone know where I can get yuba bean curd? It's actually thin sheets of skin that forms on top of tofu before it congeals while it's cooling. I know it doesn't sound pretty, but it has a nice, fresh, almost creamy flavor. It can be used to wrap around a filling and fry like an egg roll, or you can eat it uncooked or in soup.

[Blue Heron]

I wouldn't lump Asian grocery stores together, though. At least in the New York area, there's a huge difference between, on the one hand, a Chinatown grocery store and, on the other hand, the Mitsuwa Japanese store in Edgewater, NJ. Some overlap of products, to be sure, but huge differences too.

Steven, what are some of the differences?

I tend to buy jarred sauces and condiments at our Asian grocery stores. I guess some of these I could make from scratch, but it's handy to just have them. I like the char sui barbeque paste, Korean Kalbi barbeque paste, sweet soy sauce from Indonesia, garlic black bean paste, Thai sweet chili sauce, chili oil, fish sauce, sriracha, etc. A lot of these are available in the regular grocery, but are so much cheaper to buy in Chinatown.

I would like to experiment with buying more of the interesting fresh produce that I see (other than baby bok choy and that other produce that looks like baby bok choy which I always load up on). mamster, thanks for the tips on preserved mustard greens and Thai salted radish, as I have not ventured to buy these products yet.

[mamster]

Fat Guy, I'm down with the Mae Ploy, too, and I think Mae Ploy would be a good name for a Thai rapper.

I already mentioned the pork fat, but an Asian grocery is also the best place to get ground pork--it's cheap and not too lean. Here's a tip: if you're at Uwajimaya, get the regular ground pork, not the "premium"--the premium is lower in fat and they charge more for this. I wouldn't suggest that a fine establishment like Uwajimaya would offer sucker items for non-Asians, but if they did, lean ground pork would be one of them.

[Jinmyo]

By the way, does anyone know where I can get yuba bean curd? It's actually thin sheets of skin that forms on top of tofu before it congeals while it's cooling. I know it doesn't sound pretty, but it has a nice, fresh, almost creamy flavor. It can be used to wrap around a filling and fry like an egg roll, or you can eat it uncooked or in soup.

Soirry, I don't know about Seattle and area.

But yuba! Yuba! Yuba is great! Roll it up, deep-fry for 30 seconds salt it and serve with sake. Roll things in it like sliced shitake and rice and deep fry it! Lay out many sheets of it, stuff and tie it, steam and then quyick-roast it for 1,000 Layer Roll!

Hahahahaha!

(cough)

Um. Yuba.

[Schielke]

This last weekend at Uwajimaya, I picked up some bamboo shoots, which I had never used before. They had a really interesting texture and shape. I put them in a stir fry and they came out pretty good, esp with the fresh water chestnuts.

I also saw that they had fresh wasabi root for... $60/lb!!!!!! Good lord!

[Fat Guy]

BH: The Chinese stores have more Chinese products and the Japanese stores have more Japanese products.

Seriously, that really is the major difference. Mitsuwa is probably the biggest Japanese grocery in the region (I assume somewhere in California there is a bigger one) and it's got a full inventory of, for example, everything you'd need to make sushi including the right types of fish for that application, and all those Japanese candies, and those wild Japanese baked goods, snack foods, etc. I don't see much of that stuff in the Chinese stores. It's like looking for ethnic ingredients in an American grocery store: They may have a little here and there but it's not a comprehensive selection. But what they do have in the Chinese stores is a million kinds of sauces and vegetables and fruits and such that I don't really see in the Japanese places, where, again, you might find a limited selection of Chinese products (and surely some Chinese and Japanese products are synonymous but just packaged differently) but not the same selection. And if you want the full line of Thai stuff you'll do much better at the tiny Thai market in Woodside, Queens, than in a large Chinatown store.

[Blue Heron]

BH: The Chinese stores have more Chinese products and the Japanese stores have more Japanese products.        

hahaha, yes that was a silly question I asked! (don't worry, I got a million of them) ... Fortunately Uwajimaya seems to carry quite a few different asian products, however I tend to go to Viet Wah more often (maybe sentimental reasons).

Are there some brands of chinese sausage better than others? I only bought it once, and it was pretty awful (don't remember the brand), but if there is a good brand, I would like to buy some.

Also, I forgot where I read which is the best brand of fish sauce to buy...anybody remember?

[LaurieA-B]

Also, I forgot where I read which is the best brand of fish sauce to buy...anybody remember?

Blue Heron, here's the grubshack word on fish sauce. We have Baby right now, which Matthew bought in Richmond BC. As mentioned in the article, Squid is readily available in Seattle.

[mamster]

if you want the full line of Thai stuff you'll do much better at the tiny Thai market in Woodside, Queens, than in a large Chinatown store.

There's also (wait, what board is this?) the Bangkok Center Grocery in Chinatown, which has at least one brand of premium fish sauce, occasionally fresh wild limes, and various other exotica.

[tighe]

There seems to be dueling Asian grocery threads going on which confuses and frightens me, but then I again, I'm just a simple caveman.....

Number one Asian grocery item of all time: dried wasabi peas baybee!!! I can, and do, eat them by the bucket-full. My wife thinks I'm lucky to have any mucus membrane left inside my head....

I see that BH mentioned Viet Wah as her fav Asian grocery. Have you been to the SUPER Viet Wah down on MLK?? They have it ALL, and cheaper than Uwaji's...

[mb7o]

There's a tofu maker up on 12th just north of Yesler, maybe they have what you want?

As for candy...

http://www.laboratorium.net/candy.html

or even better, asian candy:

http://www.laboratorium.net/candy2.html

[nightscotsman]

mb7o: loved the link to the candy testers. This is a great quote: "How many sickening crunches does it take to get to the center of a licorice olive?"

I'll have to check out the tofu factory - thanks!

[Blue Heron]

I see that BH mentioned Viet Wah as her fav Asian grocery.  Have you been to the SUPER Viet Wah down on MLK??  They have it ALL, and cheaper than Uwaji's...

tighe, I have not heard of the SUPER Viet Wah on MLK...thanks for the tip! A quick google search reveals they are at: Viet Wah Super Food;6040 M L King Way S. And I was just in that neighborhood over the weekend to see the Blue Angels and a bit of the boat races... oh well, I just have to go back and check them out! Thanks!

[nightscotsman]

Just got back from Viet Wah Super Food, and while it has a fairly good selection and prices I'll stick with Uwajimaya as they have more of the Japanese products I like.

However, I did get fresh young coconut for the first time. Wow! Very different flavor and texture. The milk is clear and refreshing and the meat is thinner than mature coconut and has a soft, almost jelly-like texture. Does anybody know what to do with this stuff other than just eat it fresh? I'm sure there must be some southeast Asian recipes, but I'm wondering if any French or pastry chefs have used it successfully?

[malarkey]

Try some of the different mushrooms they have at Uwajimaya. I've been getting off on these ones.. good god I can't spell it but I know 'em when I see 'em. They are white to light tan, with big stems and small caps. They cook up incredibly well, holding their texture through lengthy cooking times. gawd they are good. And I adore shittakes too. I've tried some of the 'other' vegetables: chinese broccoli, chinese mustard greens, both really good. I also buy the jarred sauces, the Lee Kum Kee garlic black bean sauce is killer good. Also LKK makes the best oyster sauce IMO, be sure to buy the "premium" one. I love going there, I can stare at all the stuff for hours.

[malarkey]

I think the mushrooms are called Eryengi or something like that. Killer good.