Trip to an "Asian" store

Lovely Bloke

Anyone got any tips or hints about weird and wonderful stuff to pick up in an Asian shop?

If you do recommend something, maybe say that it can be used for.

I always see all kinds of veg in there, with no idea what to do with them, and they look a bit strange too, so a bit daunting. What are they? What do they taste like? Long green things, knobbly brown yokes.

I'm a pretty good cook, and buy all my spices in the Asian shop, noodles and rice too, soy sauce is much better value, fish sauce, chillis and ginger - all the kind of "normal" stuff.

I'm looking to get a bit more "weird and wonderful" tastes, textures and flavours.

ElleEm

Great idea for a thread, OP.

I recently bought some frozen banana leaves from an Asian shop for steaming fish in, but that was the first time I deviated away from all the sauces and oil.
I am really interested in any other ideas. There are Asian, Halal, Polish and African foodstores in my town.

syklops

You probably already know this but a bumper bottle of oyster sauce for stir fries. Works out waaaaaay cheaper.

Lovely Bloke

syklops wrote: »

You probably already know this but a bumper bottle of oyster sauce for stir fries. Works out waaaaaay cheaper.

Yep. Should have included it in my Soy & Fish Sauce list

Curry Addict

this particular brand of chilli in oil for tom yum soup is magic. having tried the rest its way out on its own :pac:

the beer revolu

Preserved black beans along with shaoxing rice wine will transform any Chinese stir fry (along with garlic, ginger, spring onion (optional chilli) soy sauce and sesame oil!;)).

Also try some of the green veg like chio sam, bok choi, pak choi etc. etc.
Just stir fry them or steam them - lovely greens.
Kai Lan is known as Chinese broccoli and is rather like tenderstem broccoli..mmmm!:D

5Kg bags of Thai fragrant rice are great.

Try some red rice or cargo rice as it is sometimes known.

They usually have a massive selection of wheat/rice/whole meal noodles - I've even seen sweet potato flour noodles - try them all!

I really like the 'posh' instant noodles they have - they come arranged like spaghetti rather than in sheets and have slightly tastier soup base with them.

Asian shops can be very good for frozen shrimp/prawns etc.

Try some frozen dim sum. Har gau (steamed shrimp dumplings), Sui Mai (open pork or shrimp dumplings), Cha Siu Bao (steamed BBQ pork buns), Lo Mai Gai (filled glutinous rice in wrapped in lotus leaf) are all commonly available in the frozen section and can all be steamed at home.

That's all I can think of for the moment.

Lovely Bloke

Curry Addict wrote: »

this particular brand of chilli in oil for tom yum soup is magic. having tried the rest its way out on its own :pac:

Do you want to stick that soup recipe up? I'm looking into a variety of soups for lunches - this sounds good.

Skill Magill

What are those big green bananas, that aren't bananas? What are they for?

the beer revolu

Curry Addict wrote: »

this particular brand of chilli in oil for tom yum soup is magic. having tried the rest its way out on its own :pac:

That reminds me, I've gotten lovely tom yum paste too.
Sort of instant soup mix, but best added to stock.
Throw in a couple of frozen prawns and a bit of veg and away you go.
No doubt, not as good as Curry Addict's home made version, though.

oscarBravo

the beer revolu wrote: »

...Cha Siu Bao (steamed BBQ pork buns)...

*drool*

If you can get these, do. You won't regret it.

shrapnel222

eoing1 wrote: »

What are those big green bananas, that aren't bananas? What are they for?

plantain. Really tasty baked or shallow fried.

few other things we usually buy.

Pomelo, delicious citrus fruit. so tasty.

large bags of basmati rice,

rice vermicelli noodles for simple prawn and vermicelli stir fries (they also have big bags, trays of delicious prawns, very cheap)

litre bottles of kikoman soy sauce, nuoc manh fish sauce etc..

frozen dumplings and raviolis

I'm hungry now!!!

tfak85

I love the variety of noodles, both plain for regular stir fry's and instant for a duurty quick dinner!!

Frozen dim sums are awesome, make for a really fun dinner, some can be cooked in the oven and some can be fried so you have a real mix of textures and flavours. You can also buy packs of gyoza wrappers to make your own, minced pork with scallions are lovely or if you grate up some veg and mushrooms (or blitz them with a hand blender) they can be great too!

Miso paste in tubs, nori for making sushi, Japanese rice vinegar (also for sushi) all great value. The japanese mayo is nice too, like a strong flavour of mayo with an almost citrussy tang, it's about 7quid a bottle though.

Tasty biscuity treats are always great!

I just keep popping in and out and checking stuff out until I get brave enough to buy!!

Lovely Bloke

tfak85 wrote: »

I just keep popping in and out and checking stuff out until I get brave enough to buy!!

Kind of the same, but I don't want to buy something, only to leave it at the back of the press, or rotting because I have no clue what to do with it.

MissFlitworth

Make your way over to the snack foods. Massive tins of Wasabi peas for 3 or 4 euro



Also tins of chicken peas (like wasabi peas but taste of chickatees), hot chili peas like what you might get in the hot nut machine in the pub.

Very American influence to the biscuits (especially Japanese and, I think, Korean ones.) so you can pick up things like peanut butter & chocolate oreos, chocolate covered pretzels, animal crackers etc. for buttons. (not literal buttons, they'll tell you to gtfo if you try pay with a duffel coat toggle). 'Pocky' chocolate covered pretzel sticks.

Ever make a recipe that called for 'corn syrup' only to spot it in a high end grocers for a tenner and give up glumly? Freely available for a couple of quid in the Korean section. And the spout is an elephants trunk.




I have recently discovered 'Furikake' which is a topping for rice. Little sachets of seaweed, salty goodness, fishy goodness etc. that you sprinkle over bowls of rice. It's lovely, goes great with onigiri if you're making it


This stuff - it's an intensely savoury chili/garlic paste. I *think* you're supposed to stir it into broths or use it with bulgogi but I used to add it to stir frys. And then lick the spoon. It comes in a red box as well which is a hotter version



When done with it you have a really sturdy little box for storing little kitchen things in

the beer revolu

+1 on the wasabi peas.
So addictive.

kylith

Konnyaku, either in a block or in noodle form. It looks kind of like a lump of stone (grey with black speckles), has a texture like bits of rubber, and doesn't taste of anything. However it's great for absorbing flavours and is very high in fibre.

conor052001

asia market doing tours all through february to educate people on different ingredients around the store, great idea..

earlytobed

Maybe you are coming at it the wrong way.
Get a couple of different Asian recipes that tickle your fancy, then get the stuff in the Asian shop.
After a few visits, you would be building up your store cupboard and confidence

Curry Addict

TheNinthGate wrote: »

Do you want to stick that soup recipe up? I'm looking into a variety of soups for lunches - this sounds good.

This is highly addictive so beware

just add all this to a saucepan and simmer for 10mins so its nice and quick. i ate this almost daily for a year and still eat it regularly its divine perfection. Note only add the prawns with 4 mins to go or they will overcook.

tom yum soup

for 2 portions
500ml chicken or fish stock
1tsp chilli in oil paste
1 stalk of lemongrass bashed and put in whole
2 kaffir lime leaves crushed
2 mushrooms chopped
1/2 a tomato chopped
1 red chilli chopped in ovals(optional can make the soup too spicey)
12 king prawns or precooked chicken
4tbs coconut milk(optional)
1tbs lime juice
1tsp sugar(palm sugar if u have)
1tbs fish sauce

that last 3 ingredients are to your own tastes i like a bolder soup with 2tbs lime juice 2 tbs fish sauce and 2tsp of palm sugar. the amount of fish sauce will depend on how salty your stock is.

note tom yum paste is different to chilli in oil paste and will not work with this recipe as it has a lot of salt and citrus flavors.

Lovely Bloke

I do have Palm Sugar, in a kind of block in a plastic beaker shaped thing.

It's hard to use.

Thud

bought some sticky rice cake noodles (Nian Gao) last week haven't used them yet

made Mapo chicken at the weekend with some szechwan peppercorns and spicy fermented bean paste

tfak85

Definitely going to sign up for one of those supermarket tours! That sounds so exciting!

GalwayGuy2

Definitely going to sign up for one of those supermarket tours! That sounds so exciting!

Pity not happening in my neck of the woods. Mind you, there quite small, but suprisingly numerous. I must admit, I find this whole thread intimidating:S I don't even know where to begin. And wouldn't it be expensive?

Also, I'm not sure I like the idea of food from china. Except for garlic...tbf I haven't heard anybody die from the frozen party food from aldi.

The Sweeper

+1 on the 'big green bananas'

Plantains have a tougher skin than bananas, and a firmer inside. Peel and slice on the diagonal into slices just under 1cm thick. Shallow fry them until golden brown on both sides. Just a sweet chili dipping sauce with those would be good. They're sort of savoury-sweet and starchy, very satisfying.

Twee.

Next time I'm going to pick up some wonton sheets/wrappers to make pot stickers, steamed dumplings. I saw them on the Food Network and they looked so delicious!

Seaneh

if they havent been said already. Sambal ans Sriracha.

Mrs Fox

Chilli condiments -- Chiu Chow, and Fortune Chilli Oil. Goes with eeeeeeeverything. Well, almost everything.

Gyalist

If you don't already have one, get one of these spiders/skimmers.



You'll wonder how you survived without one before.

ArtyC

Is stock up on shirataki noodles- carb free noodles, great help to losing weight.

Great idea for thread

nozzferrahhtoo

Thai Basil is the one thing I always reach out and grab whenever I pass through an Asian Supermarket. It works in all kinds of soup and stir fries and curries.

And more often than not every time I take someone to a Thai or Vietnamese restaurant and they end up saying "What IS that flavor???" it always turns out to be the Thai Basil.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thai_basil

Gauge

MissFlitworth wrote: »

Make your way over to the snack foods. Massive tins of Wasabi peas for 3 or 4 euro



Also tins of chicken peas (like wasabi peas but taste of chickatees), hot chili peas like what you might get in the hot nut machine in the pub.

Very American influence to the biscuits (especially Japanese and, I think, Korean ones.) so you can pick up things like peanut butter & chocolate oreos, chocolate covered pretzels, animal crackers etc. for buttons. (not literal buttons, they'll tell you to gtfo if you try pay with a duffel coat toggle). 'Pocky' chocolate covered pretzel sticks.

Which shop/where do you find the peanut butter oreos and chocolate pretzels? I do all my shopping in the Asian market but I've never been able to find these!

My staples would generally be:
- Soy sauce, oyster sauce, rice vinegar, basically all the stir fry essentials!
- Gyoza wrappers.
- Tofu Tau Kwa brand. It's firm and doesn't require draining, very easy to stir fry.
- Bags of pak choy and beansprouts- way better value than supermarkets.
- Edamame beans.
- Prawn dumplings
- Miso paste
- Noodles (so cheap!)
- Kaya (Coconut Jam)
- Paneer
- Halloumi

If you're in a shop with a focus on more Indian products, pick up parathas from the freezer section. They're flatbreads with various fillings and they're lovely.