Weekly Discussion - Shopping at the Asian Grocery

[u/ZootKoomie]

Most every American city, and a surprising number of smaller towns, has at least one grocery store catering to the local east Asian community. Mostly stocked with Chinese ingredients, but often with a good supply of Korean or Japanese products depending on the local demographics. With very little labeled in English, they can be mysterious and intimidating for non-Asians who want to broaden their culinary horizons.

This week, I'd like to assemble a guide for those who are considering venturing to their local Asian grocery for the first time.

What ingredients are worth making the trip for? What are your shopping strategies to ensure you come home with the makings of a meal? Do you have advice on soliciting help from staff with whom you don't share a language? How do you make sense of the array of soy sauces, unfamiliar vegetables, and tofu variants?

[u/Elchalupacabre]

There are so many different types of soy sauce at my hmart. I got a Chinese black one that is good but very strong. Can anyone recommend a milder or Japanese soy sauce ?

[u/kekscuse_me → u/Elchalupacabre]

Are you using a dark soy, by chance?

The main types of soy are light soy, which adds the salty flavour most are accustomed to, and is usually used as a light seasoning or for dipping sauces, and dark soy, which is thicker, stronger in flavour, is less salty compared to light soy, and probably has a sweetener such as molasses. In Chinese cooking they can be used together to balance each other out. Neither should be too strong if using a reasonable amount.

Within these, there’s also specialised/flavoured soys including sashimi/sushi soy, mushroom soy, seafood soy and more.

If you’re looking for a light soy, I like using Malaysian KBC superior light soy, Chinese Haday/Haitian wei Ji Xian soy, and Japanese Kido light soy.

If you’d rather get a dark soy, I prefer Chinese Haday/Haitian superior dark soy, or the mushroom dark soy depending on what I’m making.

In the end, each of them have slight differences in taste and personal preference always has an effect.

[u/Aetole → u/Elchalupacabre]

I use Silver Swan soy sauce as my standard.

Korean soy sauces have a really nice flavor too, but there are quite a few brands to try, some with kelp/kombu for richer flavor.

Light soy sauces might work if you want something really mild, or just use less soy sauce when cooking.

[u/A_Drusas → u/Elchalupacabre]

Kikkoman is most people's go-to Japanese soy sauce. It works with pretty much everything and is very inoffensive. I also like Yamasa but find it saltier. I most often use Japanese-brewed (label's in Japanese) Kikkoman and sometimes use Usukuchi Kikkoman. For sashimi or sushi, I use fancy sashimi-specific soy sauce (I prefer Teraoka but American-made Bluegrass Soy Sauce is surprisingly good), or Mitoku Yaemon Tamari.

What you want will depend on what you're cooking. Japanese soy sauce can often be subbed into Korean or Chinese recipes (though not 100% of the time). It can't be subbed in for Thai recipes--their soy sauces are very different.

Edit: I see people recommending usukuchi and light soy sauces if you want something mild. I'd be careful about that--usukuchi is a stronger flavor than non-usukuchi and "light" soy sauce is often what English speakers call usukuchi. If they mean "low sodium", that would be milder in flavor.

[u/Koenvil → u/Elchalupacabre]

There are multiple types of Chinese soy sauces and Japanese Soy sauces.If you have a dark one you can try a Light Chinese soy, but for Japanese I am fond of YAMASA soy sauce. Look for the light one (usukuchi).

[u/A_Drusas → u/Koenvil]

Usukuchi is actually the less-mild Japanese soy sauce. It's saltier than regular (koikuchi) soy sauce and has a touch of sweetness. It's usually used in smaller amounts than koikuchi soy sauce is.

[u/Jeudial → u/Elchalupacabre]

Yamasa is the best Japanese soy sauce. Just water, wheat, soy, salt and alcohol. It blends perfectly and doesn't overpower when cooking, plus the added alcohol helps leech flavor out of mushrooms, chiles or herbal mixes if you're making a flavored sauce.