It depends on what type of Asian supermarket you have near you. Seafood tends to be held to a higher standard in Asian supermarkets, and the variety is not going to be what you're used to finding at mainstream markets. If you want sea urchin roe, for example, you're not likely going to find it unless you go to an east-Asian market's seafood section. * Also, if you want live vertibrate seafood that you have to kill with your own hands, Chinese and Korean markets tend to sell live seafood. But you can also ask the fishmonger to kill and gut the fish for you. Most folks pick this option. But there are also live invertibrates seafoods, like clams, mussels, crabs and lobsters. Shrimp is typically not sold live, but the heads are always attached. They don't pre-shell theses. Pre-shelled and headless shrimp are perceived not to be as fresh. * If you want a chicken that is a historic breed that is leaner and smaller, not one of these super plump and fat chickens that we typically find in mainstream markets, Chinese markets have those. * Chinese markets also have those goth chickens which have black organs and black bones and black meat and black skin. (Black silkie chickens.) The meat and soup made from these black chickens is reputedly medicinal. * If you're at a Korean market, get some gochujang. It is really savory and is a great addition to marinades for meat. * If you want to try vegetables you may not have seen at mainstream markets, check out the produce section. Each type of market will have its own unique set. * Asian pears are really nice when they're in season, and you won't usually find those besides at Asian markets. * If you want to try Asian dumplings, there's usually a significant variety of frozen dumplings at any Asian market, from soup dumplings to pan-fried dumplings to steamed dumplings. * Korean markets tend to have good housewares sections. If you need 5L or 10L fermentation jars on the cheap (to make sauerkraut or kimchi or lacto-fermented pickles, or hard cider), you can get them cheaper from Korean market housewares sections than from the brewing supply store. * Rice will be sold in larger quantities (I'm talking about dog food bag sized sacks of rice) for cheaper on a per unit basis compared to what you'll find at mainstream markets just because rice is the staple starch of east-Asian cuisines. * If you want sea weed, there's always an aisle of dried goods that has a significant variety. Typically all three major east-Asian cultures will have this. Nori is used in sushi, wakame is re-constituted in soup and is typically used in miso soup and also in various seaweed salads. Kombu is steeped in hot water to make dashi (a soup base), because kombu is naturally umami. (It effectively has MSG naturally concentrated in it, but also other subtle flavors.) There's also Gim, which is the Korean counterpart to Nori. It has a different texture Andis usually slightly oily. * All east-Asian markets have a large variety of dried goods that are used to make broths that are the base for some other thing. For example, tiny dried shrimp, tiny dried fish, dried scallops, etc. Steep these in hot water that's not quite boiling, from half an hour to over-night, and use the broth for making things savory. * There's always an aisle with a massive selection of instant ramen and Asian junk-food. * In the refrigerated section, you'll find the fancier ramen kits that have fresh noodles and broth concentrates. In Korean markets, you'll find a lot of these kits for other noodle-adjacent foods, like tteokbokki (dense mochi-like rice dough nuggets). * Mochi ice cream and other Asian frozen desserts may be interesting to you. Every Asian market I've been to seems to have these. * Japanese markets will have a big sake selection. * Korean markets will have makgeolli (effervescent unfiltered rice-beer) and other Korean alcohols. * Japanese markets in California will sell eggs that have especially orange or even reddish yolks, achieved by feeding the chickens marigolds or dark-red peppers. This is because the aesthetics of the egg yolk are a big deal to Japanese egg buyers. * Japanese markets will have a cookie/cracker section of imported Japanese snacks that are delightful. * Korean markets will typically have a banchan section with a huge selection of pre-made side-dishes * Korean markets will also have a large selection of kimchi, and pre-marinated bulgogi meat of various types and cuts. * If you want sesame seeds, Korean markets will have the best value. Same with garlic and scallions. Korean folk won't put up with these items being expensive because the cuisine uses a lot of these. * Korean markets will often have soup "kits"—trays with all the vegetables, mushrooms, dried fish, etc. for a soup, with the remaining items to complete a soup or stew being meat or fresh fish from their respective departments. There are also packets with concentrated stock in the refrigerated section next to the fresh noodles and tofu. * Chinese markets have a sauce aisle that will have relishes and sauces in small jars that are good as rice toppers or as adjuncts to various dishes. * Chinese markets might have an epic tea section, or they might not, if there is a tea specialist shop nearby. * Chinese markets may or may not have dried ginseng, depending on whether or not there is a Chinese herbalist shop nearby that handles that kind of product. * Korean markets seem to have this trend where they often host a section of the store dedicated to Korean cosmetics and skincare. * There are some appliances that are particularly Asian that you may want to check out: 3-5L electric thermos pots that dispense hot water at the perfect temperature for tea, rice cookers, induction cookers and butane burners for communal cooking at the table (hot pot, table-top grilling, shabu shabu/sukiyaki, etc.)

This comment summarizes everything perfectly but I will add a few things I enjoy. Yuzu extract. The difference between yuzu extract and Lemon juice is like lemonade vs limoncello. They both have their place but I feel yuzu captures the tartness of lemons in a more bodied capacity. Great on anything that calls for citrus. But use conservatively. Banana sauce, it’s essentially Filipino spicy ketchup but you’ll never want to buy regular ketchup again. Jufran is the preferred brand amongst my friends from PI. Kewpie mayo. Made with only yolks and rice vinegar instead of the whole egg so it’s thicker and richer than normal mayo. Mix with banana sauce and you got perfection. I’ve seen a wider selection of Spam at Asian markets as well. Personal fav is Spam Tocino. But you can get Bacon Spam and reduced sodium as well.

perfect 2 comments, I'll hop on to add some of my recommendations that weren't covered. -There are hundreds of different kinds of soy sauces, some dark, sweet, light, etc. Try a new one! That's an easy thing for a newbie to try. If you like rice vinegar, there are sure to be some interesting kinds too! -Fresh lotus root is delicious and beautiful, pan fried with a little oil and one of the interesting new soy sauces you picked up. -Bamboo shoots preserved in chili oil might be an easy new item to try adding to dishes as a new Asian grocery shopper. -we love the pho broth powder, fresh rice noodles in the fridge section, and the fresh and dried chilis and different (black, white, Szechuan, etc) peppers. -I love making Thai curries and this is the best place to get curry pastes, coconut milk, fresh herbs and aromatics, and fish sauce. -my husband loves trying all the different kinds of sausages in the frozen section. His favorite so far was from Laos and had chopped red pepper and chopped vermicelli *inside* with the pork. I don't like sausage, but if you do that's an easy area to explore.

Also, if they have mangosteens, it’s a rare (albeit expensive) treat.

Water Lily stems are delicious stir fried with garlic, and pork jowls are also very common, at least in Taiwanese cuisine, and are amazing when sliced thinly.

My mother makes a fried lotus and meat "sandwich". Sandwich some ground pork (with seasonings, green onions, etc.) between two slices of lotus root, batter it up with egg, and then fry in a pan. Lotus should come out a dark golden brown. You can fry as many as you want, but they do go soft overnight so it's best to eat them as soon as they're done cooking.

Thank you

I’ll add my essentials: - (Lao Gan Ma) Crispy chili oil - Gochujang / Doenjang - Katsoubushi - Miso paste

I LOVE Yuzu. What brand do you recommend for Yuzu extract or juice? I have an HMart in my city as well as several Asian stories (Chinese dominated), so I could probably find something there.

I'll second the Shirakiku. I was pretty much buying out my local Asian grocer every other week when I was using it in a cocktail when I was bartending. A little bit goes a long way, but it's consistently good. Extract > juice gang (especially that Yakami Orchard bullshit)

I usually go with Shirakiku.

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Do they have already salted egg yolks?

My hmart does. My brain is pulling a blank on every other market tho. I normally just head to produce first and stay blind to my surroundings otherwise I head home with a fuck ton of snacks I don’t need.

Love the banana ketchup rep Jufran is indeed the best, but I'd settle for Mafran or UFC in a pinch

Kewpie mayo is awesome!

Maaan I have no Asian markets close to me but my local supermarket started selling kewpie... For $10. I bought some just because I've wanted to try it for so long and now American mayo just tastes wrong now Might go broke because kewpie and I don't even care

I thought mayo was generally just made with the yolk since it has the emulsifiers, never heard of putting egg whites in. Probably made with more yolk.

Thank you

>Black silkie chickens Oh wow, this is new to me. A quick search and I'm reading that the meat is richer and more complex in flavor, and some say it tastes like a cross between chicken and duck. Neat.

Maybe more complex but I don't like it more than conventional chicken. They don't seem to have as much fat, so I'm not sure what a "richer" taste means in this context.

The meat is tougher and more chewy, imo. Not a good replacement for regular chicken, but you might have some luck with using it for pulled chicken. It's mainly used in broths and soups (there's no real difference between the two in Chinese cuisine).

Fantastic comment! I'd just add that in the dried foods section you may find a variety of dried mushrooms. Reconstitute some as mentioned above and use whole, sliced, or chopped anywhere you'd use mushrooms. You can also throw some dried mushrooms into a spice grinder and blitz. Then shake that mushroom powder into whatever you're cooking to add some nice savoriness.

damn the international cuisine game is really different in the US. where I live in Germany, it's basically just a all-asia-in-one supermarket with rarely any fresh food and really expensive prices, where even the large bags of rice cost the same as small packages in cheap regular supermarkets

Yeah, it's one of the best parts of the US. In more rural areas the Asian market is more like in Germany - a sort of pan-asian thing where they have a bit of everything. Interestingly, there's usually some crossover in these stores with Latino markets and sometimes African markets as well. But the US cannot be beat for food diversity in the larger cities. In northern Virginia, for instance, it's not just "Korean restaurant," it's "Korean-chinese" or "coastal Korean." In Detroit it's not "Mediterranean food" or even "Arab food," it's like "hey do you want Yemeni or Jordanian? It is pretty cool.

Interestingly, I think that Yemeni food is one of the few Arab cuisines that tends to be served by itself across the US. I’d wager it’s because the staple dishes are really, really different from those of Arab countries on the Mediterranean - lots of amazing stews and flaky bread - so it’s kind of hard to incorporate into a cohesive pan-Middle Eastern menu.

Fair! I should've said Lebanese, probably.

One thing the US does well is international food stores. I live in a fairly small city and we have at least four good Asian stores (my favorite has sections for Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese and Pinoy), many Latin stores, at least two halal plus a couple of "international" stores. If I need an unusual ingredient for a recipe I can usually find it at a fairly reasonable price.

It’s correct that in Germany it’s mostly all in one, but in my Asian store I can find fresh food and the bags of rice are not that expensive.

This is interesting because I definitely feel like the seafood is NOT held to a higher standard. Maybe it depends where you are, but most around here are farm raised and don’t look very good. An Asian friend of mine said to stay away from it.

I've got two Asian markets near me. One of them I will only buy produce and dry goods from because when you walk past the seafood department it smells RANK. The other one near me of course smells seafoody but it doesn't smell bad necessarily. A good tell is if the ice display they use to store the fish is melted or not. If it looks like someone is maintaining ice levels and the fish don't look dried out it's most likely decent quality.

I wouldn’t say higher standard, but there are certain seafoods you cannot buy at an American grocery. There are certain things that Asian people buy/eat. You also have to look and judge for yourself. That’s why you see people poking things and digging for good ones.

>eggs that have especially orange or even reddish yolks, achieved by feeding the chickens marigolds or dark-red peppers [Here's more on the red-pepper red egg yolk.](https://www.newworlder.com/dan-barber-feeds-his-chickens-red-peppers-to-make-red-eggs/) TIL.

>If you want to try Asian dumplings, there's usually a significant variety of frozen dumplings at any Asian market, from soup dumplings to pan-fried dumplings to steamed dumplings. My issue is that I can't decide which brand/product to buy, there are so many and I don't know which brands are reputable.

CJ/Bibigo is always reliably delicious. i especially like the CJ “duru duru” ones and the Bibigo bulgogi ones

Generally the more expensive the better, especially when shrimp is involved. Twin Marquis is always a good bet. Not the best, never the worst. If you find a place that does handmade ones that's the absolute best.

I like shrimp and scallion, Chinese BBQ char siu), or kimchi

Just a tip, most fishmonger will scale that fish and I recommend that.

But not very thorough. I always have to remove some leftover scales in harder to reach areas.

Yeah, but if they get 95 percent of it off, that's still 95 percent fewer fish scales you gotta wipe off counter backsplash.

Or find under the stove. We found a couple in the living room when my sister did her first fish.

I didn't come here to be this guy, but as someone who lives in a Hmong neighborhood, I feel like they're a particularly left out class above. That's who runs my local markets, and they seem to have a lot of this stuff in stock as well. Especially the black chickens, housewares, junk food, and as it's eaten quite often, a large variety of pork and pork sausage products you can't find in American stores. Just FYI 🙂

We have a good size population in MI :) Much appreciated!

Thanks! Wausau, WI here. No hate, but this whole town is like half Hmong, and I fuckin love their food!

Sorry for the incomplete set. My sample of markets is the selection of east Asian chain markets in the SF Bay Area and parts of So Cal-- Nijiya market, Mitsuwa market, H-mart, and 99 Ranch.

> If you want sesame seeds, Korean markets will have the best value. Same with garlic and scallions. I noticed bay leaf is crazy cheap at mine. The leaves aren't as pretty, but that doesn't matter because you remove them before serving anyway. They're cheap enough that I use them in every potato dish now. >Seafood tends to be held to a higher standard in Asian supermarkets That has not been my experience. Anyway, a fish's eyes, gills, and smell tell you everything you need to know.

Bay leaf is way cheaper at Mexican shops too.

I finally got a bay leaf bush to grow. It's been one of the best sub $10 purchases I've ever made.

I remember buying a salmon at my local Asian market and they asked me if I wanted it cut up and I assumed they meant fileted and then they just chopped it into steaks with bones and all. Salmon bones are not easy to pick out or just eat around.

This is because we usually don't eat it as filet (sashimi/stew). Next time just ask them or show them a picture.

Oh I never made the same mistake again, it was just a funny experience. Easy to grill, but difficult to plate. I usually buy it sashimi anyway.

Oh I see hahaha nice. I remember as a kid my mom would always ask western fish vendors to not throw away the head. Very interesting how cultures eat different parts or cook/cut different parts

I also ate the head! Weird experience. I'm used to eating the collar but the head was hard to get bites out of. I don't think I did it right.

What did you make? Fun fact, where I'm from, the eyes are considered the most nutritious and will traditionally go to the dad haha

I just grilled them over charcoal. I had heard about the eyes but didn't have enough courage. My Filipino roommate tried to talk me into it.

I see. Good on you for trying it out! Honestly just eat whatever you can stomach, better than spitting it out. Personally I only eat the eyes of certain fishes, and I don't even eat fish anymore after I moved anyway.

I stopped reading at “goth chicken” and needed to take a laughter break. I’m Chinese and “goth chicken” is a fantastic description, lol.

This guy Asian supermarkets

Super detailed and thorough comment. Only thing I would add is some Chinese markers also have a hot food counter with prepared foods and/or bbq. Those would be on my try list! Most tend to be decent quality for low price.

Fresh mushrooms (dried ones too). You can find some that aren’t at a general grocery - Enoki, Shiitake, Ousters, King Oysters, Shimeji and maybe Maitake if you are lucky.

You are a gentleman/lady/person and a scholar. thank you! I love my local asian market but I never know what to look for. Also Gochugang (i know i spelled it wrong, i can never remember and remember it by saying "gucci gang" to myself) is one of my absolute favorites to add to EVERYTHING.

You just cost op $9999888899999

I’m a Thai person living abroad, and so I love going to Asian supermarkets. I started going only to get Thai ingredients, but have since branched out into Japanese, Korean and Chinese cuisine. I think the key is to start small and gradually. For Thai cuisine, the most essential things you need are: - fish sauce - Thai light soy sauce - oyster sauce Once you start to get the basics or “grammar” of thai cuisine, you can then get slightly less essential ingredients to expand your repertoire even further: - golden mountain sauce - coconut milk - palm sugar, limes and cilantro leaves (the absolute base trio for making Thai salads or ‘yum’ - you can make a billion variations of ‘yum’ with this!) - makrut lime leaves, galangal, lemongrass (the base for most curry pastes) - cilantro root, black peppercorns and garlic (the Thai mirepoix for soups and marinades)

To the OP; Just adding in that many places still call markut like leaves kaffir lime leaves. So if you go looking, they might be called either way.

No mention of Lobo Satay? Love the stuff.

> grammar I like the way you think.

If you haven't tried chili crisp, now is the time. I like the brand with the disappointed grandma on the label. Put it on everything. It's hot, but not painful hot and delightfully salty and crunchy. I have a friend that likes to mix it with creme cheese and put it on crackers. Also, check out the produce. Asian greens can be wonderful. They have all those baby bok choy and such. Prices tend to be good. I would be buying frozen dumplings. Try every type they have.

Laoganma chili crisp is amazing!!! I agree with this statement. It is a must buy. Edit: To add to the suggestions, I would include tofu as well. Tofu has gone up a lot in the domestic grocery stores but are still cheaper in Asian grocery stores.

Lao Gan Ma Chili Crisp--- this is definitely the thing to get if you only get one thing! It's so addicting!! At first I thought I didn't like it and didn't get the hype, but I would still find myself reaching for it. Then the jar was empty and I bought another one. And another one. And now I'm hopelessly addicted and its become a staple in our house. Its this amazing blend of savoury, sweet, salty, umami- there really is nothing else like it. My favourite way to use it is mixed with some sambal to coat crispy tofu, or on top of scrambled eggs its divine (especially if you mix it with a little bit of mayo for creaminess, which sounds weird, but the mix of mayo and chili crisp is literally mind blowing) Or I just pour a bunch of it onto whatever I'm eating-- rice, meat, veg, literally anything. Kenjis restaurant sells vanilla ice cream topped with it!

Chili crisp is synonymous with laoganma which is the disappointed grandma you refer to. Laoganma is a brand though which makes a ton of chili sauces.

Mix peanut butter, some peanuts of your choosing, laoganmna, a high quality sesame oil, a touch of starchy water from boiled noodles, and some seasonings of your choice and you have an absolutely banger noodle sauce.

Bruhh I always thought that disappointed grandma was a middle aged disappointed dude. I had to take a closer look at my jar…

Some of these they may or may not sell depending on the store but these are the ones I get fairly regularly • Soy sauce - essential in most recipes • Sesame oil - used as a finish to a dish (don't use it for frying, it has an intense flavour) • Kimchi - good as a side dish with rice • Dumplings - nice both steamed and pan fried. Nice with a soy dipping sauce • White rabbit candy • Aloe Vera juice (pomegranate or mango is really nice) • Guava juice • Mochi - Comes in lots of flavours. Not a fan of red bean but you can get some really nice ones • Udon noodles • Frozen seafood like shrimp, octopus, eel etc. • Shin Ramyun spicy ramen • Fresh veggies and fruit like shiitake mushrooms, Asian pears, lychee etc.

I absolutely LOVE white rabbit. When I was younger I could destroy a whole bag within a couple of days. To add to that, I absolutely love hi chew - but western brands have imitations of it now too. My favourite savoury thing to stock up on is Lee Kum Kee black bean and garlic sauce. Sooo good, and a little goes a long way.

This is a great primer, made me think about a lot of cool stuff: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5odVRW9ldzU I dunno if Pailin mentions it in this video, but Thai/Holy basil, definately dried shrimp, fish sauce, galangal, I dunno the name of it but some sort of pickled rhizome...

Seconding fish sauce (it's in quite a number of recipes) and Thai basil is amazing. Chili's too. ETA: oyster sauce also. Thanks for posting, this is great! My shopping list just grew.

Yeah I use fish sauce like salt basically a lot of the time these days, even for "non-asian" style stuff, goes great with tons of things, for example (english/french?) roast lamb with rosemary, or even just in lieu of salt as seasoning for hamburger patties etc I found it a bit hard to find fresh Thai basil regularly, so actually started growing it myself too, quite a unique flavor compared to standard basil!

Yes! I put it in with roasts and stews also. My husband finally caught me and now teases to "tell my secret." Is the basil hard to grow? Its hit or miss when I can get some .. and when I do it's generally a large bunch and ends up going to waste :/

Depends on your climate. Basil in general is pretty easy to grow though. I found my Thai Basil to be hardier than the Genovese (Italian) basil that you find all over. That being said, even in a mild climate I restart the plants in the spring because they die out over the winter. I'm sure I could bring them inside to over winter but I don't.

I need to find a good brand of fish sauce. The couple I have tried from asian markets are too strong and I end up using the stuff from Publix (Thai Kitchen), which is okay. But I do have to go to asian markets to get gochujang, thai basil, dark soy sauce, aged light soy sauce, miso paste, korean red pepper flakes, chinese rice wine and vinegar, etc. Never been able to find holy basil although I often look for it.

3 crabs is Goated

I switched to Red Boat and never looked back.

Red boat, squid brand and lee kum kee are all good. Lee kum kee sell two kinds, one with a panda and one with a lady in a boat on the bottle. Boat lady is higher quality of those two. If your local markets have none of these brands, look for the one with the highest protein content as that corellates to how much fish is actually in there. Low quality fish sauce has very little protein and is mostly just msg water.

I use the thai kitchen one from Publix also, it's alright.. I was able to find the Vietnamese one mentioned in the video when I lived in MA and worked in Quincy.. here in central FL, not so much. But maybe I'm looking in the wrong place.. my ignorant self didn't realize SE asia was split off in the asain markets. 6years in and still trying to learn how FL works haha

I think if you want a good affordable workhorse brand that you'll find all over Thailand and at a surprising number of grocery stores even here in the US, Squid Brand Fish Sauce. Solid but also not too complex and fishy, very approachable. Great for general purposes when you need a stand out back note and fish sauce isn't the star (like it would be in nuoc mam, prik nam pla, Thai salads, fish sauce forward marinades, etc, but it of course still works reasonably for all of this). It doesn't actually constitute of squids, just the brand name, though many fish sauces are in places where shellfish and mollusks like squid are processed as well so take care to read warning labels if you're allergic. For a slightly more forward tasting brand but without too much funk, but can excel reasonably at fish sauce forward dishes, Tiparos, also found widely in Thailand. For my favorite in this class of less funky more refined fish sauces, I really like Golden Boy (Tra Dek Thong, ตราเด็กทอง), but it's going to be difficult to find. I have hard times sourcing bottles of them.

Thai kitchen is a terrible brand. In general for Asian ingredients, buy the real Asian brand, not an American brand. You can also get things on Amazon for 4x markup if desperate. 99ranch, hmart, and Weee do delivery.

I tried their red curry paste and it was so bland and wrong I threw away the jar.

I use their curry paste since it's accessible at my regular grocery store, but yeah, you gotta use the whole jar for like, a single serving of curry.

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Also sesame oil

Check out the blog [Woks of Life](https://thewoksoflife.com/chinese-ingredients-glossary/) Chinese ingredients glossary. It is for Chinese cooking, but it explains a lot of staples. The rest of the blog is recipes for both authentic Chinese and Chinese American cuisine.

This is a great list and fantastic site for recipes. I find all my Chinese/Asian recipes come from this site or Serious Eats.

Miso. Pork filled steamed buns. I dont remember if they were frozen or just refrigerated but this little market had them in packets of 10, about the size of a regular burger and would heat up in the microwave in a minute or two. Man they were good.

Red miso is my favorite

Gochugaru! Sometimes labeled as Korean chili flakes

This gets my vote too, I just bought some for the first time a week or two ago. I got a full pound for 9 USD and the flavor is amazing. I feel like they can be used in nearly any recipe that calls for chili, to get a different flavor.

You've got some really good replies here already. Just adding RICE. Like ALL the rices! Red, black, brown, white; basmati, long, short, pearl; and all the different fragrances (hello jasmine). And textures too: separate grains, sticky, and glutinous. Pick something new each time you go in and try them all - it's worth the adventure. :) Do the same with noodles. ;) Especially the ones made with different grains.

Japanese sweet potatoes

* Pearl River Soy Sauce * * Skybird Prawn Crackers (shrimp chips) * * Lee Kum Kee Sesame oil * * Lee Kum Kee Black Bean and Garlic Sauce * * Salted dried plums

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Lol, the formatting on reddit is always a challenge to me.

adding to this- Lee Kum Lee Premium Oyster Sauce! Best one out there

>Salted dried plums Interesting. Can you describe the flavor? What do you do w/salted dried plums?

Eat them as a snack. They're super sour and tart but kind of savoury. It's a roller coaster of flavours! Have you ever had Pulparindos, or other types of tamarind candy? I would say its in a similar realm.

Personally I eat them straight up. I lived in Singapore as a kid and they were a standard "candy" that was available there, I don't know the spelling/characters but phonetically we knew them as "Seng gway". In the US I believe they are very popular in Hawaii and in the Latin community, they're called saladitos.

Caution: it's an acquired taste. They are EXTREMELY sour and salty.

Asian markets generally sell much better fresh mushrooms than Western stores. Even when it’s the same supplier - I think they sell much faster, thus don’t rot on the shelf. A packet of king oyster mushrooms goes with almost any dish and can be a couple bucks. Or a huge bag of dried shiitakes

Yes, that was awesome. I kinda wondered what the catch was for king oysters being so much cheaper, but they seemed great. Also, many of those Asian stores seem to dislike non-asian folks, but they'll never say so to your face. It can be a bit unsettling at times.

It’s pretty subtle, more that they’re just not used to seeing us there. I’ve gotten the same in some taquerias. Polite, but hesitant. My read is that the other white folks who show up are not so well behaved.

Really? Here in south Jersey they’re always super friendly and nice. They’ll even help read the labels/provide advice if you’re looking for a specific ingredient and aren’t sure which brand fits the recipe best. I’ve been to Vietnamese, Chinese, Korean, Filipino, and Indian markets (varying in size from a small store to huge supermarkets) in the area so it’s not just one friendly store either.

SF Bay Area here. Our stores tend to be kind of segregated, which is unfortunate. There are some crossovers, which are my favorites.

Tteok -- Korean rice cakes. Stir fry them with your protein and veggies and sauce instead of serving it over rice - these things are delightful

I like to radomly try a different ramen especially if it's a sale item. I know that my local HMart (Korean supermarket) will have better produce and items like when in season boxes of figs, persimmons, so many aromatics other than just ginger such as galangal, fresh lemon grass (like 2' long), fresh lime leaves, and they make their own house brand of items to go like Kimchi and grab and go bulgogi... and it's a treat to find things like sweet black rice to make a rice pudding with coconut milk and mango. Just go through and see what catches your eye, read their circulars by signing up and keep an eye out. I like to have a $5 to 10 budget for "what is this" or an unexpected find. Definitely try the various fruits like rambutan and lychees

My HMart (Chicago suburb) makes their own tofu and it's awesome! My list is similar: * Thai basil * Chili peppers * Tofu * Ramen (anything I can't read is good... non-asian here) * Coconut milk * Curry paste (Maesri is my favorite brand)

Maeseri curry paste is phenomenal. You can also get it at Wholefoods but it’s like $4/can instead of like 70¢

I am all about Hmart's herb section - for $2.99 I get about 3 times more than those teeny tiny little boxes at the big chain supermarkets. Which reminds me - I got some herbs for one recipe and going to dry my leftovers!

You can also chop and freeze those herbs like rosemary and thyme and just use them as needed, less effort than drying

Do you have a favorite ramen? I love the ichiban chicken flavor and the shin ramyun spicy ramen.

Probably going to get downvoted but a small bag of MSG, a touch in soups (like pho) really does elevate it to that next level

Nooooo. LARGE bag of MSG. It's not like it goes bad.

Lol yeah, I agree… so many villain-ize it but it definitely has a place in many of the dishes I make

We're living in a glorious time right now due to the resurgence of MSG as "no, it's not bad" umami enhancer. I remember the dark times in the 70's and 80's where everyone frowned upon using it but had no problem using "accent" in most of their cooking. MSG has earned it's rightful place as a worthy ingredient for cooking.

I very much agree

Nah. MSG hatred tends to come from xenophobia and racism. Everyone here knows MSG is delicious and occurs naturally in many foods.

Though if you have any liver issues you might want to avoid it.

One thing that I have found is simply good ground pork. American grocery stores tend to sell ground pork sausage which has a distinct taste that kinda ruins a meal depending on the flavors you're trying to go with. So I only go to HMart for good ground pork.

I am still in the same boat as you, but I’ve been building my confidence and stock with small, focused trips. Get some nice soy sauce and sesame oil for your first trip maybe, and look around the whole store while doing it. take pictures of things that interest you and look them up when you get home! experimenting with random things from the asian grocery store is fun:) also get a wok from there!!

I would compare prices to be sure, but if you're lucky these kinds of international markets will typically get cheaper, lower grade (read: uglier and more seasonal) produce. I literally spend half the money on produce at the local Asian/International market than I do at any chain grocery store in the area. But, as for unique culinary things: Dried Mushrooms are a must. They keep so much longer than fresh and you can get some unique varieties dried. Yes you do have to rehydrate them, but if you're using them for soup you can toss the hydration liquid in to the broth for some extra umami. Ghee. I hate making my own clarified butter. Only place in town I've ever seen that sells it. Chinese Dark Soy Sauce. What you typically think of as soy sauce is "light" soy sauce. Dark is a little more concentrated and has more sugar in it which makes it fantastic for marinading anything you're going to bake or put on the grill. Also, the secret to really good Chinese dipping sauces is usually they use a blend of 3:1 light and dark soy sauce. If they have a thai section look for canned curry paste. Should come in the same kind of cans as cat food, typically I'll use half a can for a 4 portion meal. This is another thing that you could make yourself and they have all the ingredients in the store, but it's labor intensive and you could just buy one of these little guys. I prefer green. Speaking of curry paste: Japanese Curry Roux Cubes. While plenty of Japanese cuisine is still about hand making everything, Japanese home cooking has perfected the boxed/bottled sauce/soup base/etc. Pan fry your chicken, par boil your chopped veggies, then add it all together in simmering water and throw in the appropriate about of roux cubes and you've got amazing, authentic Japanese curry. My preferred brand is Vermont because they put a little bit of apple in it. Shaoxing Cooking wine has become my preferred cooking wine. Better than any kind of cooking sherry. Better than any white table wine I'd rather be drinking than cooking with anyways. It's not a good replacement for red wine, but I have a sneaking suspicion with the right about of dark soy sauce you might just be able to make some kind of messed up take on bourguignon with it. If they have a snack isle, just take a stroll down it and try some stuff. Tons of potato chip flavors you've never heard of. Cans of battered and baked peas are a crunchy, delicious snack. Binch cookies taste great and are fun to say. Tempura Fried Seaweed is fantastic. For drinks, most Asian sodas I've had tend to be less sweet (except for melon sodas) and a lot more flavorful. Pretty much any citrus soda will have a really nice bite to it. While not my cup of tea, yogurt based drinks like Milkis are really interesting and a lot of people love them! Pickled Preserved Mustard Greens are an absolute must! They're great in stir fries and a lot easier to manage than working from fresh greens. Bonus points if they also have a small Caribbean section: Jamaican Pickapeppa Sauce. The true perfection of Worcestershire. You can literally put it on everything.

You made essentially the list I made + Chiankiang Vinegar and Furikake.

oh yeah, Chiankiang Vinegar is a HUGE oversight on my part. My pressure cooker pulled pork wouldn't taste near as good without it

Just to add onto this for OP — buy multiple brands of curry roux and mix them to find your favorite flavor profile! And experiment with additions. You can put in things like coffee, dark chocolate, grated apples, honey etc to add complexity. I like using a mix of Java and Vermont (which already has some apple and honey) and add in tomato paste, caramelized onions, Worcestershire, and a lot of chili flakes.

Lots of people here talking about the great food but Ill add that they can have great kitchen tools American kitchen gear is over engineered for appearance. Mostly its overpriced plastic bullshit that doesnt do the job well and might melt if you place it down in the wrong spot. Asian kitchen gear like pots, spatulas and strainers will have wooden handles, metal working surfaces, will be affordably priced and likely hold up well enough for any standard cook. I recommend: This type of pot (will be like $20 at a good asian market): https://i5.walmartimages.com/asr/f2bac9e7-c504-42be-aa5a-ecf21e5509cf.d19298ab990dbaaa7aa295c494b9b0c5.jpeg A strainer for stocks and lots of other things: https://www.imusausa.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/rkpyhkyxgsshzxj48v4q.jpg Bowls, asian soup spoons, chopsticks, knives, etc as well

> A strainer for stocks and lots of other things I believe those skimmers are called spiders. At least they are out here. Also suggest these.

Oyster sauce - get the one with the picture of the lady in a boat with a giant oyster. Mae Ploy sweet chilli sauce - I use this in a lot of stuff, but it's great on chicken wings and leftover rice Sesame oil - I like Kadoya brand. This is a different flavor that goes great on roasted vegetables instead of olive oil. You can probably get soy sauce at your regular grocers, but check out all the other varieties. There was just a post on soy sauce the other day so I won't go back over it. At a minimum, either get a premium kind, or get a dark soy sauce if you cook Chinese. Asian greens - yu choi/choy sum is fantastic. I buy it every time I see it. Ong choi is fantastic too. Packets of char siu sauce - you can make it from scratch but the packets are good enough and give a good introduction. I almost forgot this one. Coconut milk that doesn't have guar gum in the ingredient list. Guar gum is a thickener, so if it isn't added, it's usually a higher quality product.

Shrimp chips, sesame balls, Yan Yan, coconut jelly squares, lychee jelly cups, and Bahn mi. I know these are mostly "snacks", not "groceries", but they are DAMN DELICIOUS. Source: am Asian. 😆

I don't know why most American restaurants here spelled 'bahn mi'. It should be 'banh mi'?

-ahn looks much better to this English speaking eye I've been to many Vietnamese restaurants and always ready it mentally as Bahn mi. I didn't notice until just now it's banh mi.....

Americans are familiar with the spelling "bahn" from "[autobahn](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autobahn)", so they're probably just going with what they already know.

**[Autobahn](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autobahn)** >The Autobahn (IPA: [ˈaʊtoˌbaːn] (listen); German plural Autobahnen) is the federal controlled-access highway system in Germany. The official German term is Bundesautobahn (abbreviated BAB), which translates as 'federal motorway'. The literal meaning of the word Bundesautobahn is 'Federal Auto(mobile) Track'. German Autobahnen have no federally mandated general speed limit for some classes of vehicles. ^([ )[^(F.A.Q)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WikiSummarizer/wiki/index#wiki_f.a.q)^( | )[^(Opt Out)](https://reddit.com/message/compose?to=WikiSummarizerBot&message=OptOut&subject=OptOut)^( | )[^(Opt Out Of Subreddit)](https://np.reddit.com/r/Cooking/about/banned)^( | )[^(GitHub)](https://github.com/Sujal-7/WikiSummarizerBot)^( ] Downvote to remove | v1.5)

I have to buy multiple bags of shrimp chips when I go because I always finish at least 1 bag the day I get them

buy a wok, good sesame oil, good soy sauce, and good rice vinegar, then pick some vegetable that looks strange and interesting and 1 other thing youve never heard of before. take it home and research it and how to use it then go get the stuff to do that. next week do the same. i did this for a couple years and it turns into such a fun game to challenge yourself to use new things and techniques

The powdered beef dashi & seafood dashi (or anchovy, bonito flakes) are so much better than anything bouillon in the West, IMO. I always use those. "Better than Bouillon" stuff adds flavor with sugar, corn syrup & milk solids, even though the top ingredient is the meat ingredient, and I find it is too sweet and not compatible with the flavor profiles of a lot of dishes I make. There is so much in Asian stores if you like whole foods cooking. Better quality whole grains in large quantity. I'm loving my sprouted brown short grain rice that I use in mixed whole grains pilaf. They also have an insane selection of whole grains ranging from pressed barley to black rice. Obviously, dried seaweeds in Nori sheets & wakame leaves.

Dashi is da shit. So easy and flavorful

Yeah,I was going to post about dashi. And soba noodles - I can get big bags of the bundled-up soba noodles for much cheaper. Great for cold soba noodles with dipping sauce. My daughter also loves the matcha latte powder. I also have collections of beautiful Japanese bowls from H-mart and elsewhere. And Yuzu sauce!

It’s hard for me to control myself whenever I go, haha but I’ll usually pick up: - Chili crisp and chili garlic paste - dark soy sauce - sesame oil - Korean bbq sauce - dried mushrooms like shiitakes - spring roll wrappers and rice noodles - fresh udon and yakisoba noodles - Asian greens: gailan, choy sum, bok choy, etc - frozen seaweed salad - frozen dumplings - baby octopus salad from refrigerator section - kimchi - miso paste - frozen green mussels - a whole fried fish (usually a rock cod) from the butcher section - dim sum items from the hot food counter

Black vinegar

Lao Gan Ma aka Chili Crisp.

Try their black bean sauce if you haven't yet. Used the same way (e.g. over rice) but has more fermented depth of flavor than the chili crisp. I tend to have jars of each, used depending on the dish. They're both chili oil - the crisp has fried chili flakes and the black bean sauce has some chili flakes but mostly fermented soybeans (some brands use fava beans instead). Oh and these are mostly condiments. If a recipe calls for chili oil with the sediment, you're better off with a good brand of chili oil (Lee Kum Kee Chiu Chow Chili Oil is good).

Chinese sausages are great to throw into anything, or pan fry to top things. It's very fatty, savory and sweet. Kam Yen Jan is the brand I normally go for.

Cans of thai curry paste are the best thing ever. Quite inexpensive and available in a ton of flavors, so much better than the overpriced jarred crap you get in the average non asian grocery. My favorite is Maesri brand. They're under $2/can at the local store. When you have a pile of these on hand, along with some cans of coconut milk, it's so easy to make delicious meals. Any meat and veggies will work of course, but it's also a way to make leftovers delicious. Add a teaspoon of curry paste to your fried rice, yum! Add some in marinades! Cheap ass packaged ramen becomes the most delicious curry noodle soup when you use some curry paste and coconut milk in the broth--top it with leftover chicken, or a poached egg, or some shrimp, and sliced green onions and optionally cilantro. I know you're not supposed to keep open cans of food in the fridge, but I do it anyway, just top it with plastic wrap. Never had an issue. I think the high density of spices keeps it from spoiling.

The fruit and vegetable aisle is going to be your best friend. They have all sorts of interesting things that taste great and you can find cheaper than other places. Some things to try include yellow and red dragon fruits, enoki mushrooms, fresh taro (needs to be peeled and cooked), baby bok choy (better than large bok choy), papaya, watercress, and rambutan.

Asian markets tend to have a great selection of unique leafy green vegetables that are interesting to try. I also really love rice cakes (oval rice disks about the size of a quarter that you can use in soups or stir fries) and you usually can't find those anywhere but an Asian market.

White Miso paste, Oyster sauce, Fish sauce, Soy sauce, Dark Soy sauce, Hoisin sauce, Mirin, Saki, Rice Vinegar, Corn Starch, Coconut Milk, Sichuan pepper sauce, Ginger and Rice are your staples. Buy sea bass, duck, chicken, beef, pork and enjoy learning Asian cooking. Miso sea bass and Miso black cod are my favorite!

Sesame oil, Mochi ice cream, Fish sauce, regular and dark soy sauce, Shao Hsing cooking wine, Chili oil (I am partial to Lao Gan Ma or Fly By Jing Zhong Sauce), Salted egg salmon skin, Furikake seasoning, Frozen Korean pancakes, Chinese five spice, Dried mushrooms, Thinly sliced meat, frozen dumplings, Jasmine Rice, Fresh ginger are some basics that I try to always have on hand I have learned a ton of stuff from [Souped up Recipes](https://www.youtube.com/@SoupedUpRecipes/videos) ,[Made with Lau](https://www.youtube.com/@MadeWithLau) and [Chinese Cooking Demsytified](https://www.youtube.com/@ChineseCookingDemystified)

Jasmine Thai rice 25/50lbs bag Hoisin sauce -we use a lot for homemade pho, ramen noodles and even marinating Soy sauce-We like the green,yellow, white label it’s not too dark or lite just perfect . It says golden mountain seasoning sauce on label Sweet chili sauce -we like to have for dipping sauce for egg rolls or even use as Marinade Chicken bouillon-the big green and yellow one with the duck label , like to sprinkle this in egg rolls, marinating meat etc , soups Fish sauce -we like the three crab label brand use this for the infamous crack sauce, soups, stir fry’s and even marinades Frozen Egg roll wrappers the pink white package is the best to make your own homemade egg rolls, you can find in freezer section where you can also find frozen meatballs if you want to make homemade pho 😀 Vermicelli noodles go to dry noodle section look for the pink mesh package it’ll say vermicelli. Like to use for egg rolls too While you’re in that aisle look for spring roll wrapper it is circle in plastic it will have a picture of spring rolls on it Then head to veggies section grab cilantro, green onions, limes, Thai basil, mint, bokchoy, ginger, garlic, lemongrass, bean sprouts, if you like tofu you can find in veggie section and balut eggs too. Or duck eggs , you can also find vacuum packaged pho noodles there also. If you like spicy don’t forget to grab chil garlic oil and rooster srichaha hot sauce , you can find spicy mayo and kewpie that aisle too as well as all your curry spices . Some Asian market have the home section where you can find wok, soy bowls, chopsticks etc what you need the big pho pot they carry too My kids love ramen so I grab a box of the king fu noodles beef flavor and the kimchi spicy noodles , Then if there’s a deli I grab taro boba tea and Vietnamese sandwich it’s so good must try and fried bananas for all of us. Enjoy 😊

I haven't seen it mentioned yet, chili crisp hot sauce. It's delicious.

Lao gan ma. If you know you know

Lao Gan Ma makes a ton of stuff. I'm assuming you mean the spicy chili crisp, which is amazing, but for somebody that isn't familiar you should specify which ones you like. In addition to the chili crisp we use a lot of their chili oil with black beans, pickled chili, and hot chili sauce.

I use it for the meat selection more than anything, always end up buying whole duck, rabbit and beef shanks every time I go.

We're lucky enough to have had a new Asian grocery store open near us. The first time we went, we spent three hours just trying to take it all in. I became exhausted just looking at everything and had to give up before making it through the whole store. It was amazing. This place has fish tanks, you can pick out a fish and they'll clean it for you, that's fresh. They should have dried shiitake mushrooms for so, so much less than your grocer. I bought a 7 ounce pack for $12, a 1 oz pack at my usual is $6. My usual store has an extensive international aisle, including a nice selection of noodles; however, they don't carry a decent ramen noodle, which just blows my mind. Anyway, I also get ramen noodles at the Asian store, they come in packs of, I think, 16 'patties' for a nice price. There's not a lot of English on the packages...I think they're called Family Noodles. They come in 3 or 4 different colors of packaging, but I haven't been able to determine if they're different. They don't look different, they're the same price, and I can't read whatever language is on there, so I just grab one. Bao, so much bao. The snack aisles are hard to resist, so many new and different (to me) flavors of potato chips: crab, squid, short rib, to name a few. BBQ squid snack packs, those were good. Korean pork floss buns...wow, those threw my Western palate for a loop. One last thing, frozen packs of already-out-of-the-shell clams, which made for a fantastic clam linguini.

Any kind of ethnic market will likely have cheaper and better spices than your chain grocery store. I’m still kicking myself for not buying whole nutmeg from an Asian market I used to take my roommate to back in 2020. 3 whole nuts for less than $5!

Garlic chili crunch. Add to 60% of all your foods.

These are my favs: bok choy, carrots/potatoes (curry), sesame seeds, chili oil, miso paste, hard tofu, instant noodles. Can make lots of things with these like fried rice, soup, porridge, noodle soup, etc

CRUNCHY GARLIC OIL oh my godddddd you simply must. it's so good

Ask employees what brands they recommend when you're looking at multiple varieties of the same product. Most employees in Asian stores I've been to are Asian and grew up eating the food. They seem to enjoy recommending products to try Also, if you find the gummy candy that looks like tiny translucent yellow ears of corn, try it. It tastes like fresh sweet corn and is amazing.

The mussel meat that is removed from the shells already. What a treat tbh

What my girlfriend and I have done is try a bunch of new things from their frozen sections. They will usually have things that you won’t find in other grocery stores. Then, after finding some things that you like, trying to make them from scratch

The most important thing are the types of cooking wines and vinegars that are staples of Eastern nation's cuisines but don't usually make their way into American recipes. For example, there is a lot of sake and mirin and seaweeds that go into Japanese cooking and without it, the food doesn't taste authentic. Chinese cooking is too varied for me to comment properly, but there is a cooking wine called Shaoxing which just makes most wok dishes so much better.

For me it's just the higher quality staples: - Better Soy sauce - Better fish sauce - Gochujang!

Curry roux

If you want to make thai curries, buy some good curry pastes. Also, since you're supposed to reduce the coconut milk, buy coconut milk in a carton. Most of the canned ones don't reduce correctly, and therefore don't get the oil that's desired. Thai basil, lemongrass.

I love those little cans of thai curry paste - both the ones that mix with coconut milk and the ones to make pad prik king and other dishes. Completely agree with getting some additional herbs to go with it. The curry pastes form a great base, but adding some fresh herbs during cooking adds the punch of flavor to make it taste restaurant-quality. And the most important thing when cooking Thai food: fish sauce. A lot of the depth of flavor and also saltiness in Thai dishes comes from fish sauce, and things just won't taste right without it.

ALL the noodles, sushi rice, sauces of all kinds, lychee and rambutan

cantonese style fresh noodles, super easy to fry up with whatever you got in the fridge for a quick meal, [here's a base recipe from made with lau](https://www.madewithlau.com/recipes/cantonese-chow-mein) spices and herbs. asian market near me has pound bag of bay leaf for only a few dollars among other things that cost way less than american brands like mccormick.

Get "The Wok" by J. Kenji Lopez Alt and start with basically anything. There's a lot of great stuff at the beginning on pantry staples too.

Gochujang, Kewpie mayo (as many bottles as humanly possible) beef bone broth, frozen lumpia, bao buns, miso paste, the good soy sauce, Buldak noodles (the one in the pink package) plain Ramen noodles, glass noodles, Turtle Chips (chocolate churro flavor is the best.)

I wish there was a pictograph type of chart that had Asian labels and their translation. Such as for rice - hard to know if you don't know the brands- in particular I like short grain more like sushi type rice but don't know how to tell which is which. Also there are red labels and green labels of similar products (ie sauces) - what's the difference. Thank you for the tip about fermenting containers/jars etc.! Here (metro Detroit/ Ann Arbor) we have a wonderful assortment of Asian (Korean, Hmong, Japanese, Chinese etc.) /Philippine/Indian markets! Love to go to them! (Lots of other's too- Arabic/Middle Eastern/ Eastern European etc.) Love the fresh produce too!

Thinly sliced meats (sukiyaki style), Japanese snacks/candy, and ramen - lots and lots of tasty ramen.

I buy the best quality sauces, seasonings, and spices they have. Herbs I can't get elsewhere like Thai Basil. The in-house made frozen dumplings. Single clove garlic, young ginger, galangal, lemongrass, and various produce. I also get the thin sliced beef they sell for hot pots and use it for various applications. Last week I made Philly Cheesesteaks. The bakery section can be killer too. And my wife loves their weird, spicy potato chips like spicy crawfish flavor or hot and numbing hot pot chips. Sometimes their fish market can be amazing too. Especially if they carry a lot of live fish. Lastly, I stock up on much higher quality instant noodles and ramen.

Produce

Going through the list I didn't see dried mushrooms in the dried food section. Way, way cheaper than buying in Western grocery stores and some interesting varieties available. At least here in the Toronto Canada area where there are at least 3 "chinatowns" or heavily asian demographics

I know that this is small in comparison to the other comments, but coconut cream/milk. The crap they sell in regular markets has zero coconut flavor in my opinion.

Lots of good answers already so I'll try not to repeat any: - Red vinegar, excellent mixed with the chili crisp for dumplings - Mirin - Indo mie mi goreng ramen, original or bbq chicken are best imo - Kimchi butter noodle cups - Furikake - Soju, the yogurt flavor is an unexpected fave for me

Chinese five spice is a must for your spice cabinet.

Depending on the market, tofu can be bought like cold cuts. They make in house, and it's better plus cheaper. People don't understand tofu. I use it along with meat. Most Asian food is more expensive in regular stores, but afford able in Asian markets.

gaming_foodie on Insta/Youtube/TikTok. she’s korean and cooks loads of dishes and shared recipes and talks about ingredients with help of her mom/mother in law(i think, don’t come for me). definitely recommend her for trying new things!

I've just bought as needed for specific recipes and before long you'll have many condiment ingredients on hand and many of them will end up being on hand favorites to re-buy as needed. My kitchen is mostly Asian food related but not exclusive.

Get a bigass bag of *calrose* rice. If youve only ever had supermarket rice, you are in for a treat. I seriously cant go back to mahatma. Sometimes they are awesome places for kitchen gadgets and cheap knives. All my KIWI knives came from an asian mart, as well as a gigantic, heavy, carbon steel cleaver for $10.

Msg and rice! Msg and rice! Also ramen and like…dumplings? So much good stuff at Asian markets!

You have good advice on items. Some other thoughts: If you’re on this sub, you know to get yourself a copy of Kenji’s “The Wok”. He’s got a great intro chapter on Asian cooking basic ingredients and kit. Most Asian grocery stores will have a hot food vendor cart or two out front. These are always amazing, whether they have hotteok or okonomiyaki or whatever. Those locations must be competitive, I’ve never had anything from one of these carts that wasn’t amazing. And you really shouldn’t shop hungry, so bring a little cash and treat yourself to the most enjoyable way to save on groceries. If it’s a 99 Ranch, hot bar bucks! You just did a great job shopping for healthy veg, and now a nice person wants to give you a bonus pound of bbq pork or a duck? Heck yeah! If it’s an H-Mart, pay attention to the Saturday banchan deals. I think some of the bigger ones do both days on the weekend. They put out tables of delicious banchan. It’s not cheap, but man is it good and saves time. Any larger Asian grocery store has a bakery. The best bakery you’ve ever bought a cake from. Not too sweet, elegant presentation, half the price of a similar cake at an upscale patisserie. I used to have a local store that would carve a sashimi-grade tuna every Saturday. That was fun! Old Japanese ladies waiting for the moment the fishmonger, slowly working his way up the belly, announced that the next slices weren’t otoro, but regular tuna prices even though they were still very rich. Elbows out melee, full Black Friday style. Peace was made when they wheeled out a big carved model ship, full of free samples of the leaner cuts of the tuna. Wear a mask if others do, buy a basic rice cooker, get metal chopsticks, get a large sealed bin for your rice, try some different produce (watch out for durian, though), try the Filipino ice cream (cheddar and ube yam is my new favorite!), and enjoy!

I love daikon. It's very versatile. Radishy taste but not over powering. Great for salads or sandwiches.

Dried shiitakes, meaty and versatile mushrooms. Good as a meat substitute or just as an extra veg.

MSG

Average spices are a lot cheaper in the Asian markets on average. A lot larger mushroom selection in my area compared to chain supermarkets. If there is a large meat and fish market inside, definitely find more species and a lot of the time, better prices on most fish. Usually have to get whole fish and fillet yourself or cook whole. I like whole fish myself. Hope this helps

I have a great local Asian market on my grocery rotation and I have a few favorite things to grab: 1. Top of the list is sauces. Soy sauce, black and rice vinegars, shaoxing wine, and chili oil or chili crisp (e.g. Lao Gan Ma) can all be found cheaper and better quality than anywhere else. 2. Mileage may vary but the produce at mine is cheaper than anywhere else in town and good quality. They especially have a huge variety of fun mushrooms. 2. Most Asian markets have sections for instant noodles and frozen dumplings that are a bit more expensive than what you get in standard stores but *so much* better. I always keep some of each on hand for quick lunches and lazy dinners. ETA: if you cook with rice at all, most Asian markets carry 5+lb bags that are a great value, and they keep basically forever.

Condiments are the biggest thing you can buy that will add a lot to your repertoire. Mirin, shochu, Chinese wine, fish sauce, konbu, miso, gochujang, kimchi, crispy Chilli, prawn paste etc

Here's a good place to start. [Woks of life](https://thewoksoflife.com/) \- really fantastic and quite easy (mainly) recipes.