/ck/ - Food & Cooking

>The few that I’ve been in have super cold employees so I’d prefer not to bother them
Because you're an obese white man in your late 20s/early 30s and there are a million of you in there on a daily basis. They hate you.

>>15344027
Nah I’m good looking and in shape

prebaked tofu to add to your salads/sandwiches
Walmart/whole foods has them at like $4/8oz yet Asian markets have them at $.75/8oz
they last five times longer and actually have flavor compared to the American versions

>>15344017
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-pvfuOqZlqg
what I've found already and will probably use in the future:
. bamboo
. shitake mushrooms
. oyster sauce

>>15344068
>oyster sauce
>>mix of soy sauce and barbecue sauce
Interesting

>>15344145
2bh I have no clue what it even is, just that the recipe that I want to follow it has it

Picked up lotsa Yuri Camp merch awhile ago. Lotsa dragonball shit now and then. You sometimes get the recent animes.

>>15344017
They usually have an excellent selection of offal that you can't find anywhere else. If they have a seafood/fish processing department you can often find fresher than anywhere else, but you have to be knowledgeable about evaluating how fresh it is like typical asians are.

>>15344017
Dried shitake mushrooms. You soak them for about an hour before cooking. Upgrades most ramen and stir-fry.

>>15344250
I saw those and almost picked them up. You just soak them in room temp water for an hour then toss them in?

>>15344250
>>15344283
where I go I can buy them fresh and also dried up, there's also another variety of shrooms I'm not familiar with.

>>15344027
>hating customers who pay the bills
sure

>>15344017
>>15344027
this is all the more reason to be obnoxiously friendly and ignore their cold responses, also the more stupid the questions the better

deliberately mispronounce jalapeno for example

>>15344017
>What’s the best stuff to buy at these places?
The human slaves they keep in the back

>he supports non-white businesses

>>15344017
50 ct bags of dumplings in the frozen section.
S&B hot mustard powder, its really hot and almost as good as Colman's but a lot less expensive.
Big bags of bean sprouts are good and freeze nicely.
If they have the roast duck that they'll chop up in front of you then that's pretty damn good. Some places have such high volume in that they'll be packaged already sometimes by the registers, those are fine.
There's a lot of stuff, those are a few from the top of my head.

they have good ramen noodles, dried mushrooms, sate/chili oil, canned bamboo, sprouts, seafood if you're into that, interesting candies and snacks, chopsticks and cookware for cheap, good rice cookers, sometimes funny little gadgets and toys

>>15344027
They're cold to everyone. Try eating at a Chinese-style cafe, the ladies there don't hide their contempt for their job and the restaurant.

>>15344017
Laoganma and shiro miso paste.

Buying the whole fish can be really useful because then you can get home and take one out of the bag and wave it in your gf's face. And say stuff like "blub blub blub I'm Trish the fish. Suck my dick and eat my fish shit". The Asian culture is truly a beautiful and learning more about their culinary traditions is a never ending quest of amazement.

>>15344866
>blub blub blub I'm Trish the fish. Suck my dick and eat my fish shit
What does Trish think about this?

There are different tiers of Asian marts. The lowest tier are the chinese and viet run ones like Ranch Mart, China Mart, etc. The mid tier is almost exclusively Lotte Mart which is a very ghetto asian mart catering poor koreans and pajeets. The top tier is H-Mart and Mitsuya. Mitsuya is run by Japs and is concentrated on the West and East Coasts. Mitsuya is probably the closest that you will get to a Japanese combini in the US. H-Mart is run by Koreans and it is the highest quality of all the asian marts but also the most expensive. I would recommend trying out the wide variety of korean banchan (side dishes) and different kimchis. H-Marts usually have extensive prepared foods to include sushi/sashimi and/or food courts so that is always good to try out. The instant ramen selections are great and I can find about 90% of the staples that I bought when I lived in Korea and Japan in your average H-Mart. I will advise caution when it comes to buying produce and fresh meat. Check produce carefully for freshness. For meat, if it is priced too good to be true then it might be from an older animal/not as high grade.

>>15344283
You'll likely need longer than one hour if you're using room temp water. I typically either pour boiling water over them if I need it quickly, or the lazy route is just soak in water ovenight. Put a paper towel on top so that even if they float, they're still exposed to the soaking liquid.

After than, the majority of the stem will remain woody and inedible so slice it off- save that for stock. Slice and stir fry the rest of the mushroom.

Additionally, do not throw away the soaking liquid, either use it as part of the stir fry sauce, or save it for a stock/soup/boil your instant ramen in that shit.

If you're completely new to Chinese food, a basic pantry should consist of soy sauce, oyster sauce, sesame oil, hoisin sauce, cornstarch, and +/- MSG or chicken bouillion powder at a minimum. Seasoned mirin is really useful if you like sweet, teriyaki sauce type things, shaoxing wine if you like a lot of Chinese stirfries, rice vinegar has numerous uses and is part of the base for a good dumpling sauce, white pepper is pretty common in Chinese food but most whitey's I've cooked for seem to dislike it so YMMV.

And yeah, those fuckers are cold to everyone, not just you.

>>15344017
My go-tos are miso, mirin, gochujang, sesame oil, bulk rice, and whatever teas look good. Sometimes they have good deals on prawns or weird meats that are worth picking up. There are also these crispy little shrimp flavored chips that are tasty, but I usually steer clear of the snack isles.

>>15344017
Seaweed snax

>>15344017
- frozen edamame
- garlic paste
- ginger paste
- rice and glass noodles
- miso
- dried mushrooms
- mock duck (especially if you don't eat meat, but it's nice nevertheless)
- oils/vinegars
- whatever snacks/teas/sweets seem nice to you, I find it fun to shop around a little

>>15344027
The best Asian grocery stores are the ones other white people don't shop at. The concept of customer service is unknown to most of the employees.

>>15345043
Depends on the type of mushrooms you buy, if they're the thin sliced ones 30-45 minutes is usually enough time to soak and rehydrate in my experience. After soaking the mushrooms give them a quick rinse and then squeeze the water out. I like dried black fungus too and use it fairly regularly in Chinese dishes. The mushroom water can be used as broth. If it's gritty, run it through a coffee filter.

My store gets produce on Tuesday. Gorgeous thai basil, galangal, eggplant, etc. Pick up a Kiwi deba for $4

>>15345153
>dried black fungus
You talking about wood ear mushrooms? Because those are delicious, but definitely not the most friendly for non-asians as their texture is basically like cooked cartilage like from chicken wings.

I've never even seen sliced shitakes, but yeah, if they're sliced then I guess a quick soak could do. The only thing I'd be worried about using those is that they're using shitty mushrooms where they sliced off the shitty part and sliced the rest.

Agreed about the grittiness of the mushroom water, but my previous post was getting wordy enough.

-frozen korean dumplings
-frozen grilled eel (unagi)
-fresh ramen (comes in refrigerated packs)
-instant ramen (chapagetti, shin ramyun)
-furikaki
-wasabi, karashi
-soy sauce (light and dark), mirin
-asian vinegars
-korean shrimp crackers
-wasabi peas
-choco pies
-korean side dishes
-kimchi
-korean soups in the foil pouches
-umeboshi
-pickled ginger
-japanese curry mixes/rouxes
-sriacha
-chili sauce
-bottled japanese green tea
-asahi/sapporo beer

>>15344017
The fish. If they don't have aquariums, it's not a real Asian market.

>>15345199
I think black fungus is just another name for wood ear mushrooms, I can't tell the difference between the two.

>>15345153
>The best Asian grocery stores are the ones other white people don't shop at.
This. I go to one where nothing is in english. Every one is asian but the ppl who are sticking the shelves, they're Mexican.

>>15344017
get the frozen ramen
ajinomono gyuudon frozen beef bowl
furikake
gobo and renkon for kinpira
rakkyo
curry mix

>>15344283
You wash them first, then just soak them for an hour, then you can just cook them. It adds a strong fragrance to most dishes.

>>15345043
Yes this. I was the poster who recommended the dried shitake. This poster is right.

>>15344223
And never Let the guy choose the fish. They will give you the stuff that the asians wont buy.

>>15345103
Talkin' 'bout

>>15345741

>>15345332
I figured as much, but black fungus is so ambiguous so I wasn't sure. Any Asian language to English translations tend to be such trash.

There is a little Japanese shop on the other side of town I usually hit up a couple times a year. They actually do their best to recreate a Japanese conbini, so they have all type of awesome snacks, drinks ( I love the iced coffees/teas ) and food ( sushi, katsu, curry rice, etc.. ) they'll cook in the back to-order. I usually stock up on sweets ( candies, melon pan, mochi ) and condiments like Bulldog sauce. Place is seriously awesome - hope they are still open.

>>15346295
4 years of Biden will ensure it closes anon. I'm sorry.

>>15344866
>>15344889
You can make a singing fish out of it, like from the Sopranos so it sings out her name.

frozen fishball to add to ramen
frozen everything for hotpot
frozen cha siu buns
sesame cookie
grass jelly drink
always cheap asian veg
curry spice pastes

>>15344017
depends on what you want to cook. I am getting into chinese food right now, but even in those markets some stuff is impossible to get. Anyway get some Chingkiang VInegar, Shaoxing Wine, Szechuan Peppercorns and Doubanjiang and you can make some baic Szechuan dishes.

>>15344017
>The few that I’ve been in have super cold employees

I find the eastern european ones to be quite similar in unfriendliness from staff.

>>15344866
>Buying the whole fish can be really useful because then you can get home and take one out of the bag and wave it in your gf's face. And say stuff like "blub blub blub I'm Trish the fish. Suck my dick and eat my fish shit".

dead

>>15347295
>like from the Sopranos
Big Mouth Billy is a cultural icon that you're clearly too young to understand. Please educate yourself before posting further

>>15344976

Found both a Mistuwa and an Hmart near me. Gonna go in on my day off this week and look for some crazy ingredients I've never worked with before. Thanks for the tip anon. I'm excited now.

>>15344017
OP, you can buy some Gai buns, I’m sure you’d like them.

>>15347443
I'm pretty disgusted that someone in /box/ thinks Big Mouth Billy Bass was just a Sopranos thing

>>15347662
Oops, this isn't /box/ at all :-(

>>15344017
google translate has a photo option and it's fairly decent
do a walk through the store with a basket, pick a few things that you know what they are, take photos of things you're curious about, translate at home, come back and get them next time

>>15346356
based Biden executing nips

>>15344017
>The few that I’ve been in have super cold employees so I’d prefer not to bother them
That's a typical misunderstanding westerners, particularly Americans, have about interactions with Asians because they don't run around with over-the-top fake smiles like they're posing for the cover of Vogue. Americans consider a normal looking face w/o a plastic grin/smile pasted on to be the ultimate insult. Asians find that kind of imitation bs disgusting.