Picture this: You walk into an Asian Grocery Store and you’re greeted by a wide range of sauces, spices, and seasonings. They all look incredibly appetizing but the number of choices begins to overwhelm you.
So, where does a beginner start? The essentials, of course!
Getting the basic ingredients first will help you unlock thousands of traditional and popular Asian recipes. Here’s a beginner’s guide to some of the pantry essentials from famous cuisines in Asia to help you maximize your trip to the grocery and have everything you need to cook the dishes you love.
Chinese Grocery Essentials
Chinese cuisine is one of the most diverse cuisines in the world. While each province has its own cooking methods and preferences, there are key ingredients that are ubiquitous in Chinese cooking, such as garlic, ginger, Chinese five-spice, Sichuan peppercorns, soy sauce, rice vinegar, and more.
These key ingredients are commonly found in most Chinese seasoning sauces, giving recipes a distinct and delicious Oriental taste. Here are some of them:
- Oyster Sauce
Oyster sauce is a viscous seasoning sauce made with oyster extract, sugar, salt, and cornstarch. As expected, it has a salty and briny taste and a slight sweetness due to the sugar. It’s typically used as a flavoring sauce for several Chinese dishes like Lo Mein, Hainanese Chicken, Buddha’s Delight vegetables, and more.
While doing grocery shopping, check the ingredients list and consider choosing oyster sauces that use oyster extract and not just flavorings, so you can taste the rich umami of premium oyster sauce.
Vegetarian oyster sauces are also available in most groceries, where oyster or shiitake mushrooms are used to replace oyster extract.
- Hoisin Sauce
Hoisin sauce is a thick and shiny seasoning sauce that’s usually made from fermented soybeans, five-spice powder, garlic, red chili peppers, and sugar. Although hoisin means seafood in Cantonese, you won’t find any seafood in its ingredient list.
With a sweet, spicy, and umami-filled taste, you can use this multi-purpose sauce as a glaze for Peking Duck, dipping sauce for dumplings, flavoring sauce for stir-fries, marinade for meats, and so much more.
- Char Siu Sauce
This thick and dark red sauce is like hoisin sauce, but sweeter and stickier. It’s commonly made by combining hoisin, soy sauce, honey, five-spice powder, and sherry. Compared to the two sauces mentioned above, char siu has a hint of Oriental spice that makes Char Siu Pork a popular choice for Chinese food lovers.
Korean Grocery Store Must-Haves
You must have craved Korean food from YouTube mukbangs or K-dramas. Instead of ordering out, try your hand at making them at home using these classic Korean ingredients:
- Fermented Pastes
Head over to the Korean grocery or the Korean section of your local mart and one of the many things you’ll see is a wall of red, green, and brown tubs of fermented pastes. These are all essential in Korean cooking. Here’s a quick guide on which is which:
- Gochujang
The red tubs contain gochujang, a fermented chili paste that’s spicy and has a hint of sweet flavors. It is typically used in dishes like bibimbap, stews, and more. - Doenjang
The brown tubs contain doenjang fermented soybean paste. It’s briny, pungent, and miso-like in taste with a soft finish. It’s the main ingredient for Korean soybean stews and is also used as a dipping sauce when mixed with gochujang. - Ssamjang
The green tubs contain ssamjang, a seasoned soybean paste made from a spicy combination of doenjang, gochujang, and other seasonings. The word ssamjang literally means “wrap sauce” because it is typically used as a dipping sauce for lettuce-wrapped meat and barbeques. - Gochugaru
This Korean chili powder or chili flakes is made from pulverized chili pepper and is usually sold in large packets. Despite its vibrant red color, it has a smoky flavor with hints of fruitiness and a kick of spice. This powdered seasoning is the main spice used to flavor kimchi, tteokboki rice cakes, and other traditional Korean dishes.
- Spicy Korean Noodles
Ramyun or Korean noodles are must-haves in your cart. The Korean aisle is where you can find fun noodle flavors, including the popular 2x Spicy Hot Chicken Noodles from Samyang which boast a fiery hot 10,000 Scoville level. You can also find unique and non-spicy flavors like carbonara, cheese, curry, and black bean jjajang.
Japanese Grocery Store Finds
When you want to enjoy Japanese sushi from home or crave your favorite Japanese meal, a trip to the Japanese grocery store can do just the trick.
Japanese soy sauce or shoyu
We recommend buying this pantry staple in Asian or Japanese groceries only. What sets popular Japanese soy sauces apart from other brands is that they undergo a natural fermentation process called honjozo. Kikkoman, in particular, adds koji mold during the lengthy fermentation process to produce a richer taste and slightly sweeter tasting sauce compared to Chinese soy sauces.
Japanese short-grain rice and rice vinegar
You’ll want to add these two to your cart if you want to make homemade sushi. These are the key ingredients for making sticky, fragrant, and slightly tangy sushi rice. Choosing quality ones will make your sushi easier to roll and more pleasant to eat.
Wasabi
Because the plant that wasabi comes from is difficult to grow, it’s rare to see real wasabi in groceries. The wasabi that is commonly found in groceries is made from horseradish and mustard flour mixed with food coloring. These “fake wasabi” are usually greener in color, thicker in texture, and spicier in taste.
On the other hand, real wasabi has a freshly grated texture, pungent smell, and quickly fading heat that highlights the delicate taste of the fish in your sushi. While doing your Japanese grocery run, check the ingredients list for words like “100% real wasabia japonica” to know if you’re buying the real deal. Just don’t be too surprised when you see its price.
More Asian Grocery Favorites
Several other Asian ingredients deserve a place on your shopping list. However, these are items that you’ll always want to have in stock. Their versatility and irresistible taste have these ingredients running out fast!
- Fish Sauce
This liquid seasoning is a staple in East and Southeast Asian cuisine. The best fish sauces are those that are made with only fresh anchovies and sea salt. Fish sauces that are free from added water, MSG, and preservatives offer the most umami. It’s best used as a cooking sauce and a dipping sauce for almost any dish that needs a boost in savory flavors. When stored properly, its shelf life can go as long as 2 years.
- Thai Curry
Making Thai curry from scratch entails a lot of sourcing hard-to-find spices and ingredients. Thankfully, Asian grocery markets offer different kinds of ready-to-use Thai curry pastes. You can get a blend of shallots, chilies, lemongrass, garlic, Kaffir lime peel, and other assorted spices all in one tin can or tub of Thai curry. Whether its green curry, yellow curry, red curry, or the spicy massaman curry paste, you can make a restaurant-quality Thai curry dish in half an hour!
- Sriracha Sauce
You can’t leave any Asian grocery without a bottle or more of sriracha sauce. This all-purpose spicy sauce is primarily made from chili peppers, distilled vinegar, and garlic. It has gained global popularity due to its spicy and tangy flavors. This sauce is best added to Asian food favorites like Vietnamese pho and banh mi, as well as popular eats like pizza, burgers, chicken wings, and ribs.
Final thoughts
Whether you’re a beginner or an expert shopper, it’s almost impossible to leave an Asian Grocery store empty-handed. But you’ll want to make sure to get the right ingredients because these can make or break your dish. Instead of focusing on quantity, go for quality ingredients from a trusted online japanese food store and have your orders delivered right at your doorstep.