Heading to the BIG GIANT ASIAN MARKET next week.

[eyesroll]

Near my parents house is Mitsuwa Marketplace, an enormous Japanese (but they have plenty of Chinese and other Asian stuff) mini-mall.

What do I need? (Aside from some light soy sauce, I'm good on condiments.)

I'm planning on stocking up on noodles (why are soba noodles 79 cents a pack at the Asian market and $3.49 a pack at the regular supermarket?) and I'll get some bonito and kelp so I can make stock.

What else should I get?

[babylonsister]

1. Back away from the Durian fruit!

I bought what I thought were lemon wafers at the Hong Kong market down the road. I got them home, took a bite, and discovered, to my horror, they were durian-flavored. I don't think you want to go there.

Edit to add: I enjoy checking out all the weird produce items and occasionally buy fresh herbs.
Also, our market has some terrific fresh and frozen seafood; that's usually where we get our Phillipino (a?) clams when we need a fix, as clams are not to be had in TX.

[eyesroll]

2. Heheheh...no.

I'm familiar (from a distance) with durian.

I might get some jackfruit, though. I ordered "Jackfruit Drink" once at a Vietnamese restaurant, and it turned out to be a great, frothy, almost smoothie-like beverage. Perfect, as it was Atlanta-hot out here.

On edit: I do have a weakness for Japanese snacks and sweets, too, so that aisle and the bakery will be DANGEROUS. (STEP AWAY FROM THE SWEET BEAN BUNS!)

[babylonsister]

3. You just reminded me: our market has tons of different and unique

fruit juices. I'm a recent convert to all things mango, so I think I may be taking a trip myself.
Also, if they have a bakery, the best rolls around here come from the HK market. There are lots of sweet things to be had, too. Amazing how tiny Asian people can be; they have a big appetite for sweets!

[politicat]

4. Thai tea to make thai iced tea; sesame oil, bao if they have it.

You brew the thai tea at double strength,. Fill a glass with ice, and put a tablespoon of sweetened, condensed milk over the ice. Then pour the hot tea over the ice and milk and stir. Perfect for cooling down on a hot day.

Sesame oil is always cheaper and usually better than at the supermarket, and if they have a frozen foods section, go look for bao - they're a chinese steamed bun that reheat in the microwave really well. I like the pork and chicken ones, but DH says the beef ones with sichuan seasoning are incredible.

I get most of our fish at the asian market here; they usually have sushi quality blocks that are incredible.

[eyesroll]

5. Mm....bao (I didn't know what they were called; thanks!)...

I'm not sure about the fish at the Asian markets here, so I'll have to look next week. I'll keep the tea in mind.


And you're right about the sesame oil...$4 for a tiny bottle at Pick n Save. And I go through a lot of it.

[Warpy]

6. Produce!

Yard long green beans tend to be sweeter than the European variety and they're super for grilling as well as for dry fried beans. Green onions are generally a lot bigger than the supermarket variety, and fresher, also. You can't beat fresh water chestnuts, and they will freeze if you peel and slice and blanch. It's amazing to taste water chestnuts without tasting the can.

Red-in-snow, AKA Sichuan pickled vegetable, a cruciferous root pickled in a chili paste, one small piece chopped finely and added to chicken stock and veggies adds a huge amount of flavor. It will keep in a glass jar in the fridge forever. It'll be with the canned stuff.

Fish. Sometimes it's live, so if you're squeamish about that sort of thing, go for the already dead blocks of sushi grade tuna, swordfish, and salmon. Fish has to be exquisitely fresh in an Asian market.

Rice spring roll wrappers, come dry in a cellophane package, will keep forever, great to grab for a quick snack or appetizer in hot weather.

If you ever deep fry, pick up some prawn crackers. They look like pieces of plastic until you put them into hot oil. They puff up enormously and turn into light, crispy and delicately shrimp flavored crackers, great when you've got guests to impress (or when you just want somethign super good to nosh on). They come in a cellophane covered box and they'll keep forever, too.

[eyesroll]

7. I actually have spring roll wrappers and shrimp chips here

But that does remind me...I must get frozen gyoza/wonton/etc. skins.

Thanks for the tip about red-in-snow. Sounds great!

[Warpy]

8. Just treat it with great respect

and use it sparingly, like fish sauce.

I little dab'll do ya, in other words.

[spinbaby]

9. I LOVE Mitsuwa!

New Jersey or Chicago? Be sure to get some sembe rice crackers.

[eyesroll]

10. Chicago!

It's about an hour south of me, near my parents' house. I'm not big on rice crackers, though (although I made some tuna tartare once that went GREAT with rice crackers).

[Tyler Durden]

11. LIGHT Soy Sauce???

Heretic!

Don't forget the Sesame Oil.

[eyesroll]

12. It's not what you think (if you're thinking low cal/low sodium/whatever).

It's a Chinese-style soy sauce I use mostly for Thai cooking. (I also keep Tamari, dark soy sauce -- which is thick and syrupy and used mostly for color -- and I think there's a basic bottle of Kikoman in here somewhere.)