Hi everyone, Kaitlin here. I’m here to introduce the Asian or Chinese grocery store, and hopefully demystify a few things if you’ve never shopped in one. Here we go:
When I was younger, the power and allure of the Chinese grocery store was so strong that I thought that the forty-five minute drive from our house to the store or to Chinatown was all it took to go to China—as in…the country. I would literally ask my parents if we were planning on “going to China” that day (My sense of perspective didn’t really kick in until later in life).
I was always engulfed by the sweet heady smells of the bakery case, the allure of the fresh produce, the liveliness of the fish and meat counters, and the quiet peacefulness of the dry noodles, seaweeds, and mushrooms, spices, and sauces. Then there was the hot food bar, with the rows and rows of vegetables, tofu, braised meat, buns, dumplings, fish, and stacked Styrofoam containers of complementary soup ready to go next to the cash register. And of course, the piece de resistance: the roasted meat case with glistening portions of roast pork, roast duck, poached chicken, and stewed octopus enticing everyone who passed.
All Chinese grocery stores are usually organized in the same format. There’s the produce section where you can find all of your leafy greens, ginger, scallions, peppers, and mushrooms.
The meat section with slabs of pork belly, ground pork, chicken, and dried sausage. Often, you’ll see a case of meat to choose from and tell the butcher what you want, how you want it cut, and how much you’d like.
There’s seafood section with fresh fish in tanks, crabs in baskets, and maybe even a plastic barrel of live frogs (the frog thing is usually just available in Chinatown. Which is just as well. We’re not big on frog.) All of the seafood should be cleaned for you (with the exception of crab and lobster, which are usually sold live to maintain freshness).
Then, there is the frozen section that has pre-prepared seafood, frozen vegetables (soy beans, bamboo shoots, and Shepherd’s purse veggies for dumplings, etc.), ice cream and popsicles in Chinese flavors like red bean, green tea, green mung bean, and mango, buns, frozen dumplings, and scallion pancakes, among other things.
You’ll also find a refrigerated aisle with rice cakes, tofu, and fresh noodles in every Chinese grocery store.
From there you get into the dry goods—aisles of hot sauces, pickled vegetables, soy sauce, vinegar, cooking wines, oil, spices, dried seaweed, dried mushroom/fungi, dried noodles, and all sorts of tantalizing Chinese junk foods like crunchy shrimp-flavored chips (don’t knock them until you’ve tried them!
Bigger grocery stores will often have a hot food and bakery area, but not all do, and the size and extent of their offerings varies greatly. Walnut Cookies Pie, anyone? (not sure what this is exactly, but doesn’t it sound absolutely delightful!?)
These days, Asian grocery stores are increasingly common, and are even frequented by a lot more non-Chinese people, who are often drawn by the cheaper produce and meat. If there’s one near you, it’s a great place to get inspired and stock up on ingredients!
If you’re just getting to know Chinese cooking, here are a few items that you’ll want to pick up–a selection of the basic, bread and butter pantry items that are essential to any cook’s stockpile.
- Soy sauce
- Dark soy sauce
- Black vinegar
- Sesame oil
- White pepper
- Shaoxing cooking wine
- Cornstarch
- Garlic
- Ginger
- Rice
That base will give you a good start, but as you get the hang of things, start exploring other ingredients. You must peruse our Chinese Ingredients Glossary that contains a wealth of information and most importantly, check out our recipes for ideas!
Hello! Thank you for this, I was wondering- where could I find pre made pork rind jelly/ aspic for soup dumplings?
Hi Cassidy, not sure if you can buy pre-made pork aspic, as we have never seen it in the store.
What you are doing is wonderful. I thank you very much. When I was cooking for the whole family I wanted to do Chinese food – good for you and wonderful to eat – I found it difficult in all it’s parts. I would have been thrilled with something like this. Now that I am living alone I want food that is lighter than what most Americans usually eat. And here came your web site. Thank you.
You’re so welcome Lynne! We’re happy to help—thanks for reading!
Hi I am looking for SUI MA YA CAI and can’t get it anywhere. I live in Fife, Scotland and need this for my recipe DAN DAN NOODLES. I have everything else the recipe calls for but cant get the SUI MA YA CAI. Can you help?
Hi May, my only suggestion to others when they cannot find a local grocery store is to check on Amazon, though I don’t know if it is offered in Scotland. Otherwise, you can ask other local Chinese for sources or ask people who are traveling abroad to pick some up and bring it back?
You can get sui ma ya cai here in Nottingham from the Asiana supermarket – they deliver throughout the UK:
https://www.foodforfoodies.co.uk/products/pigeon-pickled-mustard-green-350g?_pos=1&_sid=e2669f3e1&_ss=r
Just now realised that’s not what you are looking for. There is another shop locally called Oriental Mart and they have Sui Mi Ya Cai:
https://www.orientalmart.co.uk/sichuan-famous-brand-suimiyacai
They also deliver throughout the UK
Where can I order online soy meats like soy chicken , beef , pork ?
[email protected]
Hi Leigh, not sure where you can get them online, but my go-to is Amazon for anything online, so these results came up when I searched for soy vegan meat on Amazon
Hi, I love Asian cooking but actually have a rice allergy, similar to a gluten allergy but only with rice. I’m trying to recreate some of my favorite dishes I can’t eat, with lo mein, and at home. But do you have a substitute for rice vinegar? I’d appreciate the help.
Hi Tara, you can choose any common vinegar where rice is not used as a base.
I moved to Ridgeland, SC. As far as I know, there are no Asian markets around. Is there one in Savannah, Ga, or can I order Asian Chow Fun noodles and other ingredients from a on line market. I cook alot of Asian food, since there is no good Chinese restaurants around here. Thank-You
Hi Lynne, unfortunately I am not familiar with that area, but hopefully one of our readers can help out.
Hi Lynne, I can sympathize with your dilemma. It takes me about 30 to 45 minutes (sometimes even longer) to get to my favorite Asian grocery stores. I found a very cool site that is able to deliver the ingredients you are looking for right to your door.
https://infogrocery.com/top-online-asian-grocery-stores
Amazon is also a great site to use as well!
Good Luck!!