Chinese shops - Cheap Ingredients!!!

sillywilly

Hi - I am not sure if this has been posted before but here goes.

I have just started getting a bit more creative in my cooking extending to Indian curries and dishes and stir fries etc. You get a real sense of satisfaction cooking your own dish that would cost you a fortune from the takeaway whilst knowing exactly what goes in it.

I made a simple healthy stir fry and had to use some fresh ginger. Got it with everything else from Tescos but this measly little bit of ginger cost £2.50 or something ridiculous.

Anyway - next time I made a curry and needed some Garam masala - most Indian dishes need this kind of all spice. Went to our local chinese shop and got that there and asked if they had some ginger. The guy came back with a huge stem of ginger that was very fresh. He weighed it and I asked him how much it was.

20 p!!!!!

This was about 3 times as much as you got in Tescos for a 10th of the price - and it was fresher.

Sorry about the long post - I am just reccommending ethnic shops for ingredients that the big 4 will rob you blind for. If this guy could make a profit on that just look at the theft that Tescos were getting away with with their buying power!!

Scandalous:o

Trinny

Hi there

Yes there is a thread somewhere - so i am sure that the mods will move this sometime soon

We live about 30 miles from a city with a diverse ethnic profile - therefore we have a number of halal butchers, some chinese and indian supermarkets and a recent kurdish supermarket which i am yet to check out.

The halal meat is great quality and a good deal cheaper than the supermarket, also we usually pick up chinese noodles, soy sauce and chinese greens. We buy rice in big packs and at times there are large sacks of onions available as many of them supply the local take aways

i would say though that you can get spices reasonably cheaply in places like julian graves - our local market also has a spice shop which will sell you big pieces of ginger for not very much

Its amazing what you can find really in these types of retailers

Trin

sillywilly

Yes - the local "greengrocers" round our way are actually quite expensive and I can't tell the difference between Lidl and Aldi who so some good deals if you are canny.

Just having a few decent dried spices and things like ginger, chillies and some fresh herbs in a planter - like coriander and basil - it is amazing what you can rustle up!!"