Eight years ago, when I came back from a vacation in Thailand, I wanted to find all the new ingredients I learned about and I searched everywhere for an Asian market. I discovered an incredible selection of produce for amazing prices. If you live near a large Asian market you should try to do most of your fruit and vegetable shopping there. Not all Asian markets are created alike, some are better than others and you have to find the best one near you. Here is why it is worth the hunt.
Asian markets have large and impressive produce section with a tremendous variety of fruits and vegetables. They have so many green vegetables that you can cook for a month without eating the same thing twice. I’ve tried sweet potato greens, Yu Toy, Bok Choy, several new kinds of cabbages, and my favorite, Thai Basil to make a Thai Slaw orThai Pesto you will love. You can find pomelo, dragon fruit and Asian pears. You will also find an incredible array of inexpensive mushrooms to make a delicious Roasted Mushrooms, yum.
They have the most impressive selection of sauces and I find the most interesting kosher certified products that I can’t find anywhere else, at least not as cheap and authentic. Mushroom soy sauce, hoisin sauce, regular soy sauce, teriyaki, Mirin, rice vinegar and tofu. Sometimes I can even get kosher certified seaweed for sushi. I buy kosher dumpling wrappers that I prefer to the ones I can find everywhere else. You just never know what you are going to find, and that’s part of the fun. You can also buy large quantities of great quality rice of all varieties. Once you try high quality imported Japanese rice it’s hard to go back.
Check out your local market and let us know what you find.
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