What should I buy from the Asian supermarket?
August 2, 2018 9:07 AM   Subscribe

I want to get some gochujang in a squeezy bottle (in the UK). The easiest way seems to be to buy it online from a specialist Asian grocer. I was looking at this one but it doesn’t have to be. But if I’m going to be paying more for delivery than for the actual goods I might as well put a couple more things in the basket.* Give me ideas!

I’m open to all kinds of suggestions: cooking ingredients, snacks, tea… just a few relatively inexpensive things that you think I might like.

*I know, the logic of this is dubious.
posted by Bloxworth Snout to Food & Drink (28 answers total) 18 users marked this as a favorite
 
1) What do you want to eat.
2) Which bit of the UK?
posted by pompomtom at 9:13 AM on August 2, 2018


I just took a trip to my awesome Asian market to stock up. I mostly got basics, but its what I like and what I use: Sesame oil; Soy sauce; Noodles of all shapes and sizes; Panko bread crumbs; Chili Garlic (this one is great, but I don't see it on your site.); Sweet chili sauce (I don't see this on your site either); Coconut milk.

If you eat instant soup, stock up on all types of ramen and other instant noodle soups. If you like sweets, you can find lots of unique sweets. If you like snacks, you can find lots of wasabi and rice cracker snacks.

Think about what you like to eat and how you like to cook.
posted by hydra77 at 9:17 AM on August 2, 2018


Best answer: Summer suggestions.

1. Matcha green tea ice cream + sweet red bean paste.
2. Barley tea bags, brewed in pitcher in fridge = super refreshing summer drink.
posted by Celsius1414 at 9:20 AM on August 2, 2018 [2 favorites]


Response by poster: Sorry, I left it intentionally vague but I should clarify: I’m really looking for relatively unusual things. I have a lot of basics already or can easily get them at the normal supermarket: things like sesame oil and coconut milk and sweet chilli sauce. But if go into an Asian supermarket there are lots of things that look interesting but I am paralysed by choice. I want specific suggestions of a few random things to try that I might not know about.
posted by Bloxworth Snout at 9:27 AM on August 2, 2018


Best answer: Do you have this Chinese bbq sauce? It will change your life. I use it for stir fry, noodles, and hot pot.

Also I saw they sell moon cakes. If you’ve never tried, you should get a small assorted pack. Some people love them, some do not. I am in the once a year camp and like the ones with yolk for a sweet/salty combo.
posted by inevitability at 9:31 AM on August 2, 2018


Best answer: I got some Japanese Yuzu Mayo a while back and it's fun.
posted by vunder at 9:33 AM on August 2, 2018


Best answer: I cook a lot with fermented soybean paste, though that may be something already available to you. There's generally two kinds, Korean (Doenjang) and Chinese (Doubanjiang), and as someone who can read neither language it confuses me but they're both similar broadly speaking, if different in specifics. I originally got it to make a recipe for chinese noodles in meat sauce (Zha Jiang Mian), but it's super great to add depth of flavor to all sorts of dishes (I sneak it into risottos, heavy sauces, braised/shredded meats, etc).`
posted by tocts at 9:46 AM on August 2, 2018 [3 favorites]


I always get tons of noodles. Authentic Asian noodles are (at least in the U.S.) wildly overpriced in a regular supermarket, and dirt cheap in Asian grocery stores.
posted by something something at 9:48 AM on August 2, 2018 [1 favorite]


Best answer: Check out different soy sauces. There's a whole world of them out there. I personally love to have kecap manis (Indonesian sweet soy sauce) on hand for noodles.
posted by General Malaise at 9:51 AM on August 2, 2018 [1 favorite]


Best answer: It looks like they changed the name for the international market, I usually see it sold at my nearest H Mart as Chungjungwon. I see over there, they call it Chung Jung One. If that's the same brand, that's the one you want to get.
posted by cazoo at 10:13 AM on August 2, 2018


Best answer: I'd second the green-tea or red-bean ice cream, but it's mail order, right?

Second the noodles. Especially the non-dehydrated udon. Dehydrated noodles that you buy in regular supermarkets can't touch the toothiness of real udon.

I'd get seaweed sheets for making sushi. Also, brown sushi rice. And good toasted sesame seeds.
posted by Dashy at 10:17 AM on August 2, 2018


Best answer: Chinese (Doubanjiang)

Specifically pixian doubanjiang, which is the Sichuan kind. Made with broad beans, which are not universal in Chinese doubanjiang. link on OP's online store

Here's a kick-ass recipe you can make with that, along with the chili garlic sauce mentioned above, and also tianmianjiang: pork in garlic sauce
posted by qxntpqbbbqxl at 10:24 AM on August 2, 2018 [1 favorite]


Best answer: Two things I recently discovered at our asian supermarket: dried tofu skin and green bean/mung bean starch for making noodles

Mochi is also really easy to make in the microwave with some glutinous rice flour.
posted by Bibliogeek at 10:47 AM on August 2, 2018


Best answer: If you get Hon Dashi you can make delicious miso soup any old time you like (assuming tofu is a grocery item where you are). Wakame is also commonly added.
posted by ftm at 10:50 AM on August 2, 2018


Best answer: Came here to post the very same suggestion as qxntpqbbbqxl. In a similar vein, Sichuan peppercorns. The two together give you authentic má là flavor. Black rice vinegar is also nice to have on hand for Chinese dishes, especially sweet-and-sour. It's mellower and with a deeper flavor than the clear stuff.
posted by serathen at 11:00 AM on August 2, 2018 [1 favorite]


Cooked and peeled chestnuts in perma-fresh foil packs are delicious and a lot cheaper than in common grocery stores; also, sunflower seeds.
posted by batter_my_heart at 11:00 AM on August 2, 2018 [1 favorite]


Laoganma Crispy Chilli Oil
posted by Ferrari328 at 11:05 AM on August 2, 2018


Best answer: If you end up at a site with Japanese products, some of my musts are seasonal snacky things-- flavors of pocky, pretz and kit kat that come and go, like plum and chestnut, and flavors that are not seasonal but appear only on and off in brick and mortar stores by me. Matcha kit kats are amazing.

And definitely different kinds of furikake.
posted by BibiRose at 11:26 AM on August 2, 2018


I tend to go ham on furikake when given options. I eat a lot of rice though, YMMV.
posted by phunniemee at 11:27 AM on August 2, 2018


You said you can get sesame oil at the grocery store; how about garlic oil and ginger oil? I love these for lazy stir fries when I don't want to chop fresh garlic and ginger.
posted by Former Congressional Representative Lenny Lemming at 11:34 AM on August 2, 2018


Best answer: Haw Flakes
posted by Sassyfras at 11:40 AM on August 2, 2018 [1 favorite]


Thai red curry paste from the Asian stores is way better and cheaper than what is available in the regular groceries by me.
posted by RoadScholar at 11:52 AM on August 2, 2018


Best answer: I just had a quick look. Things that you cannot get through Ocado/ the big four supermarkets that I would recommend are:

Mooncakes, as a poster said above. It's nearly Mooncake Festival/ Mid Autumn Festival!! Single yolk white lotus paste is the traditional one, but you can go all kinds of fancy.
Good instant noodles. I like the Korean ramen ones, or Indomee ones.
Glutinous rice balls. So much amazingness. I linked the salted egg yolk ones but they are all good.
Frozen dim sum, great for a quick snack.
posted by moiraine at 12:08 PM on August 2, 2018


Response by poster: Thank you everybody!

I have ordered gochujang, mandarin peel, hawthorn rolls, Laoganma crispy chilli oil, assorted mooncakes, kecap manis and mustard pickles. And I am going to stop there before it gets any more out of hand. Thanks again!
posted by Bloxworth Snout at 12:25 PM on August 2, 2018 [1 favorite]


Instant naengmyeon!
posted by soren_lorensen at 1:39 PM on August 2, 2018


I'm a sucker for "unusual" candy flavours: milk, tea (black & green both), coffee, melon, guava, lychee. Haw flakes, as mentioned above, are also good. Jelly cups are tasty, especially chilled.
posted by Secret Sparrow at 1:47 PM on August 2, 2018


If you make your own chicken stock, adding chicken feet will improve it immensely. I rarely find them outside Asian grocery stores.
posted by sapere aude at 4:27 PM on August 2, 2018


Response by poster: Just an update, since I had a ham sandwich with preserved mustard on it yesterday (wholemeal wrap, mayonnaise, ham, shredded cabbage, watercress and the pickled mustard: very nice), which means I’ve now tried everything.

As everyone says, the crispy chilli oil is fantastic. The hawthorn rolls were nice and I ate them all. I’ve tried two of the mooncakes and enjoyed them. I’m still experimenting with the sweet soy sauce — I put some in a chicken soup with ginger and lime juice for a generically Asian flavour, and that was nice.
posted by Bloxworth Snout at 2:27 AM on September 8, 2018


« Older How to paint an open floorplan house?   |   The Devil You Know Newer »
This thread is closed to new comments.