If you have found this blog you are like a lot like me. You have an adventurous palate. You think of food in the context of an experience, and you care about what you eat. If you are not here for those reasons, you’re probably my mom. Hi mom! Thanks for the support.
But let’s say you are like me. You’re probably a little pretentious. You aren’t making a lot of money because you are doing what you love. And you live in a hip up-and-coming area not because you’re broke, but because you like keeping it real. If all of those things are true, chances are you also live close to and have always wanted to shop at an Asian Supermarket.
So why haven’t you taken the plunge? You took a sociology course in undergrad, you’re legit. You don’t see or judge in terms of race or class. The real reason is you are scared of being embarrassed and rightfully so. The staffs in these stores can be very unhelpful because of language barriers or impatience. The labels are rarely in English and if they are you are skeptical about the quality or authenticity. What are you to do? God forbid you come home with the wrong package of rice noodles or a foul smelling paste. But how will you impress your former, equally douchy classmates if they peer into your pantry and don’t see rice paper or fish sauce?
That’s where I come in. Recently, I took a trip to Kam Man Supermarket in Quincy, Mass. I went to buy your typical Asian condiments (chili paste, soy sauce, hoisin sauce) and the fundamental ingredients for spring rolls, fried spring rolls, and pad thai (a friend classifies spring rolls and fried springs rolls as “things white people order” when in a Vietnamese restaurant, the friend is white so that’s cool). Below some of the items I bought that people always tell me they can't find or get too confused to buy. I have posted pictures, warm/fuzzy aisle locations, white people uses, and prices. I will post a best brands glossary to help you pick a soy sauce or some other condiment among the overwhelming number of options. The best brands have been selected by the only expert in Asian condiments I have access to, my mother. True story, if my mom finds a receipt of mine from an Asian restaurant she doesn’t approve of she’ll interrogate me about why I didn’t go to the one she prefers and threaten to disown me for not being a good son. To her, a long line or longer travel distance is no excuse to eschew quality. You guessed correctly, she is particular about her soy sauces and Kikkoman doesn’t cut it.
So, throw on your hippest skinny jeans and don't comb your hair and meet me over by the chicken feet.
NEXT TIME - Mom's Condiment Brands OR Steve's Cooking Playlist
ITEM - PRICE - USES - WARM/FUZZY STORE LOCATION
Vermicelli Noodles - $1.39 - Fried Spring Rolls- Dried Noodles Aisle
(aka Glass Noodles, Cellophane noodles. People always cross these up with the noodles require for summer rolls. These are clear and shaped as little bird's nests.)
Black Fungus - $3.69 - Fried Spring Rolls- Dried Mushroom Aisle
(The name isn't appealing, but these are crucial to the texture of good fried spring rolls, I don't know what else to tell you other than Man/Woman up)
Spring Roll Pastry - $2.29 - Fried Spring Rolls- Refridgerater Case
Rice Stick Noodles-$1.59 - Pad Thai- Dried Noodles Aisle
Tamarind - $2.19 - Pad Thai- I blacked out at this point, can't give you the location yet.
Dongguan Rice Stick Noodles - $0.67 - Summer Rolls- Dried Noodles Aisle
(People tend to mix these noodles up with cellophane/glass noodles which will F your summer rolls up. These noodles are packaged as dried square blocks and white.)
Spring Roll Wrapper - $1.49 - Summer Rolls- Dried Noodles Aisle
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