# favourite asian grocer finds?



## spoiledbroth (Jan 12, 2016)

what do you like to grab at the asian market? I don't really mind if it's stuff from the kitchen supplies aisle (wok, chopsticks whatever) but preferably looking for food related stuff.


Bit of junk food here, I really have been enjoying this Glico Japanese instant curry. Just make a real basic stew and dissolve one of these cubes (like kerr bullion) once the beef is tender or what have you and you're off to the races! I dope it up with some cream and an egg yolk on top!







What are your favourites?


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## YG420 (Jan 12, 2016)

spoiledbroth said:


> what do you like to grab at the asian market? I don't really mind if it's stuff from the kitchen supplies aisle (wok, chopsticks whatever) but preferably looking for food related stuff.
> 
> 
> Bit of junk food here, I really have been enjoying this Glico Japanese instant curry. Just make a real basic stew and dissolve one of these cubes (like kerr bullion) once the beef is tender or what have you and you're off to the races! I dope it up with some cream and an egg yolk on top!
> ...



Thats a classic! I just bought some vermont brand curry the other day from the japanese market over in Costa Mesa, Ca. I also always pick up a bag of candy called "super cola." Very sour at first and once the sour shell disappears, the rest of the candy tastes like coca cola.


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## WingKKF (Jan 13, 2016)

Wei Chuan premium potstickers. Malaysian Milo malted cocoa drink. Nyonya kaya coconut based jam. Koka Singapore laksa instant noodles, Indomie instant fried noodles. Canned rambutan and pineapple in syrup. Maruchan Fresh Yakisoba noodles. All yummy.


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## spoiledbroth (Jan 13, 2016)

I like to buy the pure msg too but I'm not sure most people agree with better cooking through chemicals.


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## Asteger (Jan 13, 2016)

All depends where you live, of course. If you're already in Asia, then I guess anything you'd grab in any grocer would qualify.


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## Zwiefel (Jan 13, 2016)

YG420 said:


> Thats a classic! I just bought some vermont brand curry the other day from the japanese market over in Costa Mesa, Ca. I also always pick up a bag of candy called "super cola." Very sour at first and once the sour shell disappears, the rest of the candy tastes like coca cola.



I must have this now...two of my very favorite flavors: sour and cola!



spoiledbroth said:


> I like to buy the pure msg too but I'm not sure most people agree with better cooking through chemicals.



All cooking is done with chemicals...in fact, all cooking is chemistry


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## YG420 (Jan 13, 2016)

Lol it's very addicting, and it will leave your tongue a little tender, but addicting nonetheless!!


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## spoiledbroth (Jan 13, 2016)

Zwiefel said:


> I must have this now...two of my very favorite flavors: sour and cola!
> 
> 
> 
> All cooking is done with chemicals...in fact, all cooking is chemistry


on that note have you read herve this?!


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## Zwiefel (Jan 13, 2016)

spoiledbroth said:


> on that note have you read herve this?!



Never heard of....looks like another rabbit hole!


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## aboynamedsuita (Jan 13, 2016)

I've been looking for a place to drop this picture:





EDIT - saw it in the Asian/imported aisle at the store


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## spoiledbroth (Jan 13, 2016)

@zwiefel: This's pretty good I have been reading the translations by Columbia University Press (check out amazon) so far the science of the oven, molecular gastronomy and note by note cuisine (this one specifically deals with the use of "pure" lab grade chemicals to enhance flavour and eventually create entire dishes, a mock egg for instance, out of synthesized or decocted compounds). Most of them are really food for thought. He's got some lectures on youtube aswell, but very very thick french accent and poor english - I know some people have trouble with that.

I have really become a fan of Yamasa brand soy sauce (the regular variety). Quite good and available here for about $3/500ml. Good enough to drink! Also Maggi sauce! but I suspect most people here know about Maggi, I'm sure you can even get it in regular grocery stores.


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## tkern (Jan 13, 2016)

Carabao energy drink. $5 for 10. Only thing that kept the line slamming out food a few years back.


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## cheflivengood (Jan 13, 2016)

Kong Yen Black Vinegar


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## FireDragon76 (Jan 14, 2016)

I shop at Asian groceries all the time.

I love MSG also. Since I started cooking with it, my food tastes better. I really don't understand the American prejudice against it. It can make boring vegetables like a can of corn taste interesting.

I like picking up gai lan. Broccoli is only a pale substitute.


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## daveb (Jan 14, 2016)

It's physics Danny, not chemistry. I hated chem.


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## Asteger (Jan 14, 2016)

tjangula said:


> I've been looking for a place to drop this picture:
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Ah, nostalgia. Been a while since I've seen things so carefully binlingual.

I think it's a Jamaica-linked brand, and I remember seeing it often in Toronto and Montreal. Of course the '****' thing relates to a more Caribbean style of English

(Edit: the auto-blocker has ****-ed out the word. Linguistic imperialism. Anything to do with perceived foul lingo and banned sites)



FireDragon76 said:


> I like picking up gai lan. Broccoli is only a pale substitute.



Different vegs, both to be respected. Love gai lan


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## Smurfmacaw (Jan 14, 2016)

You meant of course "fowl" lingo. Got to love Canada. I was in Ottawa a few years ago and watched some parliamentary debates on tv at night. The whole one paragraph in English and then one paragraph in French is amusing to watch. Bilingualism is actually a good idea but French....meh. (Mike digs in and prepares to repel the invasion of pissed off Quebecers.)


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## Asteger (Jan 14, 2016)

Smurfmacaw said:


> Bilingualism is actually a good idea but French....meh. (Mike digs in and prepares to repel the invasion of pissed off Quebecers.)



Hey, not just pissed off Quebeckers! Oh-la-la

At some point recently something came up about national anthems, and (not being from a country where people play it _way too g-dmned much_, though that's probably changed) I remembered _Oh Canada_ and then that I didn't know the words in any one language because when we were 6, etc, we'd have to sing the first half in English and then in phonetic French.


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## Zwiefel (Jan 14, 2016)

daveb said:


> It's physics Danny, not chemistry. I hated chem.



Quantum physics?


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## gic (Jan 14, 2016)

Shirataki Noodles (best dieter aid ever), char sui (too lazy to make my own..)


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## spoiledbroth (Jan 14, 2016)

Oh yeah pancit!! I think they're a Philippine thing.


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## WingKKF (Jan 15, 2016)

Unfortunately, I've never had any store bought char siu or even restaurant char siu in the Bay Area as good as the kind I've had growing up in Malaysia/Singapore. If there was, I'd be eating that stuff a whole lot more.


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## OneS (Jan 15, 2016)

My wife got a shock years ago when we had just met


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## OneS (Jan 15, 2016)

And she found the glass jar of preserved salted fish, head, teeth and all - she found it hard to believe it was an essential component of my famous fried rice ......


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## DDPslice (Jan 16, 2016)

Coconut cream! It kicks coconut milks ass in taste. Many attempts in the PC to try and "maillard" it but nothing really too successful. 

Red chili and garlic paste

Kombu

Various herbs (only place I know that sells ground anise seed) and competitively priced with the Indian stores 

Only place I know that sells Cafe du Monde coffee


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## spoiledbroth (Jan 16, 2016)

Maybe you should try instead the dulce de leche method for the coconut cream


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## spoiledbroth (Jan 16, 2016)

oh yeah I looked it up for you too, cream of coconut by the can looks like its about 5.5 ph, maybe you can make it more alkaline to get a better browning reaction. Try it out!


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## DDPslice (Jan 16, 2016)

Interesting, I'll give it a go and let you know.


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## WingKKF (Jan 17, 2016)

Coconut cream is also the way to go for more authentic Thai curries. Those Mae Ploy curry pastes should call for coconut cream rather than coconut milk.


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## DDPslice (Jan 18, 2016)

I can definitely confirm, in coffee, soups, curries etc coconut cream is my go to but be careful not to look at the nutritional facts :/
.


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## WingKKF (Jan 19, 2016)

What nutritional facts? I thought coconut cream is good for you just like butter is, in moderate quantities, as they've just discovered. It's amazing what sort of bull**** have been passed off as nutritional facts. Remember when margarine was good for you? As long as it's not too processed and sugary, it's all good isn't it? Besides, I tell myself I work it all off anyways. 

MSG is like cheating, you got to make it taste good the hard way, with natural glutamic acids. MSG is plastic surgery. That exoticly good looking Asian gal was actually born ugly and when it came time to start a family, you discover your kids didn't turn out as good looking as you thought they would and they have to resort to plastic surgery to find desirable mates too, continuing the ugly and deceptive vicious cycle :>.


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## DDPslice (Jan 20, 2016)

Everything in moderation


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