Chinese supermarket

[user1471464218]

Going to the Chinese supermarket tomorrow. Haven't been in ages! Definitely going to the café and getting low salt soy sauce. Definitely not getting rice, as I've got plenty and it's hardly any cheaper. Looking other ideas please......

I buy the following when I go to chinese supermarket;

Frozen: takoyaki (octopus balls), eel in sauce, dim sum for steaming at home, gyoza.

Dried; glutinous rice flour (for making mochi or leen go), huge containers of cornflour, desicated coconut, panko, dried mushrooms, red beans for sweet soup or paste (filling for mochi), various seaweeds for making stock, in salads, sprinkling on stuff.

I really like smoked tuna stuff so I get smoked tuna fish stock and the katsuobushi shaved tuna flakes.

Soba noodles, vacuum packed udon noodles, Nissen noodles in black garlic flavour or sesame.

Snacks; tempura crisps things, mami monster noodles, pocky, peanut mochi, dried shrimp floss, whole dried fish with chilli (they make your breath stink though...)

Also mirin, sake, dark soy, light soy, rice vinegar, choya plum wine, genmaicha brown rice tea (it tastes like popcorn).

If they have kabocha pumpkin (wrong time of year but for future reference) they are the best pumpkins, so tasty!

Chinese pears are very refreshing, pomelo, daikon radish. Cream cakes that look like Swiss rolls.

Also the brown sugar is great! Its like fudge or kendal mint cake. You can buy it in a pack containing multiple blocks. I always have that in the cupboard at home.

I do not suppose you could recommend any particular favourite outlets? I don’t necessarily just mean London (or other UK) Chinatown but let’s say worth a drive and big shop within Greater London area? I think Wing Yip is possibly the biggest in the UK as there is no 99 Ranch Market Taiwanese-American branch here. New Malden London South Korea Town is of interest with Korea Foods and H Mart. Anyone have an views on Vietnamese, Filipino supermarkets or South Asian Bangladeshi/Indian cash and carry types?

Our local East Asian supermarket is multinational, owned by a Korean family but stocks things from all over. Thank goodness as the 'normal supermarkets here have next to no stuff in. I get fish balls and seasoning for Chinese hotpot, frozen sliced meats, diacon, Choi sum, brown garlic, golden mushrooms, dim sum, wonton wrappers, soy, sweet chilli, ferment soy beans, wooden ears, Vietnamese rice noodle for Pho. Sushi rice, mirrin, nam pla, seaweed wraps.

Thanks ODFOx. I like the concept of a global digital capitalist nomad intrepid and curious explorer lifestyle and that naturally includes culture and cuisine.

If you are London centric places like Bang Bang Oriental Foodhall and Mercato Metropolitano (obviously more Southern European and not particularly East Asian) are worth a visit to inspire the taste buds and then stock up on ingredients to scratch cook at home. London is a global village melting pot with lots of interesting ethnic enclaves including Portuguese and Brazilian in little Portugal Stockwell, Turkish in Green Lanes and Jewish Golders Green eruv with food retail, restaurants and bakeries etc. Worth a detour when bored of the usual supermarket staples!

Not sure what the other Mums Net threads regarding low stock supermarkets issue is as so much is online delivery too these days and all the large supermarkets seem to be fine on groceries despite Covid and Brexit.

Not wishing to hijack this thread as food usually springs to mind - much more of an appetite than say for Covid or Brexshit!

We have several small international food shops in Plymouth, and one large Chinese supermarket. I tend to go a bit wild...

Dim sum - work the freezers! Aways something nice in there.

It depends on whether you want ingredients or ready made produce.

Thanks....got the low salt soy sauce, rice wine vinegar and spices on my list then got some of th suggestions here.....left the frozen dim sum in my mum's freezer oops, got pocky and the pork candy floss,plus loads of instant noodles (have been oos in all my local shops for months) and crisps and sweets and...oddly .. Turkish delight and baklava. A successful trip!

@user1471464218

Not blatantly advertising but could you possibly share or hint at which particular supermarkets or wholesaler you visited? Just for curiosity and reference reasons and in case we happen to be nearby without knowing?

Well done on your trip as pleased you are happily restocked. Do note that much of the Middle Eastern Baklava and Turkish delight etc will usually be available in most UK large out of town supermarkets.