About a month ago an Asian Market opened up about 20 miles from me, my daughter has visited it twice to buy candy and whatnot. I went today and came home with cookies and bokchoy.
What should I get next time I am there? Any suggestions? The fish dept looked scary but wonderful…whole fish, fish heads etc not the normal supermarket stuff. Give me some ideas, what do you buy at the asian market>
Make up a list of the products you usually buy and compare prices. You will probably find some items significantly cheaper at the Asian Market.
Ramen
Yellowtail; Sea Bass
Instant soups
Bento (boxed lunch)
Chocolate
Kimchi, if you like it. If you’ve never tried it, get some.
Pork belly much cheaper there
Fresh Asian greens. Aside from having better baby Bok Choy than you’d get at an ordinary market, they should have weirdly translated leafy dark greens of all shapes and varieties. They’re great stir-fried or steamed or in various Asian soups.
Fresh chickens, whole. Buddhist farmers treat their poultry better than the most organic American hippie farmer. They also raise varieties that Americans don’t like because they don’t have the overgrown breasts. Chinese chickens (most European as well) have a more reasonable proportion of dark meat to white, and are more muscular because they get to run around. Great for braising, and they make a MUCH more voluptuous soup. Be careful, though, when you unwrap…Buddhists don’t remove the heads or feet from whole birds. But these come off easy with a sharp knife and are great for the stockpot.
Green tea. It’s good for you!
Any shellfish or finfish you see there is likely to be cleaner and fresher than elsewhere. This is true in Manhattan and Brooklyn, anyway.
Try some weird meats. I love good tripe, and so do the Chinese.
A lot of Asian food markets make bahn mi, (Vietnamese for “sandwich”). A legacy of French imperialism, these are made on French loaves with pate, some kind of mystery pork meat, and pickled shredded cucumber, daikon radish, carrot, and hot chiles. Delicious.
- Green tea Kit-Kats
- A zillion varieties of instant noodles, including ramen, udon, and yakisoba.
Check out the freezer! Tons of delicious snacky appetizery things are yours for the steaming!
Pork buns, potstickers, green onion pancakes, paratha, mochi…
I also get cuts of meat not often available at supermarkets.
Durian? 
A local Asian market has it in the freezer, and even frozen solid, it still smells like sweaty gym socks.
Did buy durian candy for the girl. Thanks for the suggestions, I may buy some goat meat next time to make a stew. We have two pet goats so this may not go over well.
I frequent the Asian markets for seafood because I love seafood.
Bamboo shoots in chili oil. Should be in a glass jar, seriously delicious stuff.
Produce is fun to try.
If they have a hot food section, try it all!
Prince of Peace Ginger tea w honey.
Indo Mie, THE best ramen, 5 flavour packets!
Kechap Manis, thick sweet soya sauce, so many uses!
Dragon fruit, because Yum!
I tend to find just the opposite in the Queens markets I visit, but a much greater variety. And forget trying to get them to do anything if one doesn’t speak what I presume is Mandarin. Even worse in the butcher shop. Try asking them to cut the beef short ribs English-style and suddenly one is playing charades. Certainly a better variety of fruits and vegetables, so that’s good.
Some things one can get mostly only in the Asian markets:
Good fish sauce. (Tiparos or Lucky brand)
Datu Puti brand Cane Vinegar (clear) and Sukang Iloco (fermented cane vinegar)
Differing rice varieties
Large sizes of “Asian” condiments, like soy sauce
Actual Asian soy sauces
I find the price for staples, like milk and eggs and other supermarket food and non-food items, to be more expensive, so I only get the things I can’t source at the supermarket at the Asian markets.
Try the tamarind candies. Damn, I love those sweet/sour treats. They should have good ginger and sesame candies too.
This, for the Asian supermarkets in Houston. That said, they’ve amazing stuff you’re not going to find elsewhere: live Dungeness crab and abalone, live geoduck and sea cucumber, chicken feet, whole duck at non-wallet violating prices, etc…
Produce is often cheaper, but quality is caveat emptor.
Depends on the size and type of the Asian market. It also depends on how well you know Asian foodstuffs and how willing/able you are to try cooking them. I’ve got a few small family-run ones of different types about forty miles away in Binghamton. About once or twice a year, when I go visit my dad, I stock up at Mitsuwa Market, the huge Japanese supermarket center in New Jersey.
On a general note, I would suggest the following:
-Noodles: I don’t mean instant ramen or the like (although you certainly get an amazing variety at an Asian market), but actual noodles of all types. Rice noodles, udon noodles, buckwheat noodles, lo mein noodles, etc.
-Soup base: Either powdered or base. Wonton soup base, pho base, tom yam base, dashi base, etc
-Condiments: You can get more variety and also buy common items in larger containers (and thus pay less). Soy sauce, Mirin, Gochujang, Cooking sake, etc
-Curry: Either Japanese/Korean blocks of curry roux, or cans of thai curry paste, or Indian curry powders.
-Frozen section: Lots of good stuff can be found here. Dumplings, spring rolls, shumai, samosa, etc.
If you like edamame, they usually have bags in the frozen section. Also gyoza…yum.
Like others have said, it a great place to pick up a variety of noodles. I buy soya sauce there, as it’s usually a lot cheaper for a lot more and we go through it fairly quickly. I also get sesame oil, black bean paste, water chestnuts, and an assorted variety of spices. I don’t usually shop there for produce but they have a lettuce I like using for making pork lettuce rolls. Holds the meat in better than iceberg.
Kimchi might be an acquired taste, but it is worth trying if you haven’t already.
I like chili peppers, and Asian markets are the only place I can get the really hot ones. But the smallest bag I could find was about a three year’s supply for me. Good thing they freeze well.
Yes, see if they have the freshly made, big flat rice noodles for stir frying Chinese or Thai style. If you make Thai curry, you’ll also need fresh galanga root, Thai basil, etc., too, while you’re there.
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Asian markets in small towns usually try to be generic Asian, but there is usually a bias towards a specific region - most commonly Korea or China/Taiwan.
Korean markets usually sell ready-made side dishes (Banchan) in the refrigerated section which can be very good.
Kimchi is great to eat as is (cut into bite size pieces), but if you like it, also try Kimchi jjigae - it’s a very easy stew, and the key ingredients (gochujang, gochugaru and kimchi) are available in any Asian market.
Chinese markets tend to have interesting greens, fish and fruits. I really like rambutan. Lychee and logan are good too. Be careful with persimmons, this kind (somewhat flattened), they can be eaten as soon as they are ripe (not rock hard). The ones that look like this (elongated and pointed) need to be really ripe, with the skin becoming almost translucent.
Frozen dumplings (filled buns) and potstickers are good, as already mentioned. Pay attention to the microwaving directions on frozen dumplings, some buns need to be microwaved with a damp paper towel over it, but some get too soggy if you do that.
Lots of great dried foods too. Wood ear mushrooms and dried lily flowers are awesome for Chinese stir fries.