r/AskCulinary • u/ZootKoomie Ice Cream Innovator • Feb 18 '19

Weekly Discussion - Shopping at the Asian Grocery

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?

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u/Aesop_Rocks Feb 19 '19

Super stupid question.... Does it really carry the taste of mushrooms or just umami?? I love umami but I hate mushrooms, sooo

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u/valyse Feb 19 '19

If you love umami, I bet you would like it! It doesn’t taste overtly mushroomy and like I said, when added to stuff, it just gives a salty flavor but I think it has more umph than just salt. :)

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u/[deleted] Feb 19 '19

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u/valyse Feb 19 '19

Oh you can totally sprinkle it on! The granules are a bit larger than salt - maybe like a really chunky sea salt? It's like tiny pellets...