What other treasures to look for in an asian supermarket?

leonie_2 · 4 May 2005 at 8:44PM

Well I visited an asian supermarket today looking for the big bottles of white vinegar and was certainly impressed by the variety and the prices!

I got a very big garlic bulb for 20p and a huge piece of fresh ginger for 34p! not only am I very pleased with the price, but the quality is far superior to the normal supermarket stuff.

The vinegar wasnt as cheap as some people have found, it was £2.75 for five litres, this is far better than the £3.45 I was paying at makro however.

Anyway the purpose of my post.... what else should I be looking for in an asian supermarket? I only had a flying visit today but would love to know what to look out for next time. For instance, as a soapmaker I meant to look at the price of oils but forgot!

So what shall I put on my shopping list for next time?

squeaky · 4 May 2005 at 8:47PM

Spices!!!!!!

Quackers · 4 May 2005 at 8:53PM

Humungous bunches of fresh coriander for about 50p.

Yoga_Girl · 4 May 2005 at 9:29PM

Large bottles of soy sauce (naturally fermented or brewed) such as Kikoman or Pearl River, you can get bottles that are wine bottle size that are cheaper than those little bottles they sell in the supermarket.

Large bags of rice, such as basmati.

Dried mushrooms ie sh-itake mushrooms are a lot cheaper in asian supermarkets, they are so tasty as well.

If you use dried pulses, lentils etc then its worth stocking up on those.

Other useful things are sauces such as oyster sauce, chilli bean sauce, yellow bean sauce, you can do some really tasty meals with those.

Rice noodles are also quite cheap.

Some shops sell reasonably priced cooking equipment as well, like woks or bamboo steamers.

(edited so I could re-word the type of dried mushrooms without being bleeped out!)

Queenie · 4 May 2005 at 9:30PM

Mung beans! Dessicated coconut. Chickpeas!! They do them in HUGE bags

foreverskint · 4 May 2005 at 9:43PM

poppadoms, spring roll wrappers, chinese pancakes for those lovely duck pancake thingys. Spice pastes, cheaper and more variety than the supermarkets. spices and herbs as they are in bigger packs and still cheaper than those naff little jars in the supermarket.
Try not to get too carried away though and try to buy your spices whole not ground and grind them yourself as they do not sytay as fresh when ready ground. I always come away from asian shops with enough stuff to make curries for about 5 years!:o

Caterina · 4 May 2005 at 10:06PM

Tofu, fresh, steamed, marinated, stuffed, fried etc...Lovely healty stuff full of complete veg proteins and high in calcium (you need to savour it with sauces and stir fry stuff though as by itself is flavourless).

Very good for perimenopausal and menopausal women as well as made with soya beans that are phyto-oestrogens (hormone-like stuff).

Humongous packs of green tea at ridiculously cheap prices.

Chili sauces of more varieties than I can describe here.

Tinned coconut milk for curries.

Fun to shop in, don't need to buy lots, just go and look at all the amazing stuff!

Caterina

moggins · 5 May 2005 at 12:46AM

Fresh fruit, our local one does an amazing selection of stuff that is really expensive in a supermarket like pineapples and mangoes and they are dirt cheap. I always spend far more than I intend to whenever I go there as he has such an amazing range of goodies.

Hoi-sin sauce is another good one as I buy a kilo of chicken wings, coat them in hoi-sin sauce and bake them in the oven for an hour and let every body get good and gooey when they eat them

System · 5 May 2005 at 9:06AM

I used to buy henna and jasmine oil for my hair.

leonie_2 · 5 May 2005 at 9:40AM

Gosh thanks everyone, looks like I will have to write out a list!

I could have spent hours in there, but I had my daughter sat in the car so I had to rush :-/

Im really looking forward to going again, but I have a feeling that i'll be spending a fortune!!

filigree_2 · 5 May 2005 at 2:18PM

Is it Indian Asian, or does it stock Oriental Asian as well?

I don't have an Asian supermarket handy but the local high street is stuffed with shops catering for the Indian subcontinent. I get my spices from there, far far cheaper than buying Schwartz in the supermarket. If you like such things, they have really cheap bombay mix and similar snacks (bad for the waistline though :eek: ).

I occasionally visit Wing Yip which is more geared towards Oriental cooking. Their ramen/noodles are much nicer than Super Noodles and cheaper, and come in an amazing range of flavours. Yum yum.

Not very moneysaving, but if you can get Pocky biscuits they are very more-ish. They're like little breadsticks coated in chocolate.

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What other treasures to look for in an asian supermarket?

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