Shopping for unusual ingredients

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GotGarlic

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A grocery store chain in my area closed last year. One of the stores, located in my city, was purchased by someone who owns an Asian grocery store in the area. It reopened recently with a large variety of unusual fruits, vegetables, meats and canned goods from Asia and South America. I wandered through it the other day and I'm really excited to have this kind of food more easily available now. DH likes their salad bar, so he goes there regularly for lunch and can pick up things for me.

Here are some pictures I took.
Fresh longans! 0311191825.jpg
 
Dang it, hit the wrong button [emoji38]

Mangoes and papayas.
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So many roots.
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Who knew there are so many kinds of bananas?!
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Dried mushrooms.
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Lotsa beans.
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All kinds of seasonings.
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Fresh wrappers and noodles.
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That's oxtails on the top shelf. Less than $9 for a package of four.
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I love stores like that. Dragnlaw and I went to Marché Sheng Tai, something similar. It's just under 5 km from where I live. I need to get there again.
 
I love stores like that. Dragnlaw and I went to Marché Sheng Tai, something similar. It's just under 5 km from where I live. I need to get there again.
The really cool thing about this one is that it's about half "regular" grocery store items plus several aisles and refrigerator/freezer sections with more unusual ingredients. So you can get both in one place.
 
I'm soooo jealous GG !! Dang, those are beautiful oxtails, and I hope you got some.
Did you happen to notice the price per pound? From the looks of them I'd guess they are lots less than the $6.lb I paid. They were worth every penny of that though.
I don't like ordinary banana's but those baby ones are delicious, and not easy to find in these parts.



So many fun foods to look at, you'll have a ball shopping there!
 
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The really cool thing about this one is that it's about half "regular" grocery store items plus several aisles and refrigerator/freezer sections with more unusual ingredients. So you can get both in one place.
That is cool, and handy. Makes shopping more fun. :)

The one near me has about half "ethnic" food. The rest is "regular groceries" and kitchen tools. There are spiders and woks and bamboo steamers and things I have no idea what are. I think I remember seeing rice cookers too.
 
I'm soooo jealous GG !! Dang, those are beautiful oxtails, and I hope you got some.
Did you happen to notice the price per pound? From the looks of them I'd guess they are lots less than the $6.lb I paid. They were worth every penny of that though.
I don't like ordinary banana's but those baby ones are delicious, and not easy to find in these parts.



So many fun foods to look at, you'll have a ball shopping there!
I didn't, but I did see that it was $8.75 for four oxtails. My feet were hurting by that point, so I just skimmed the meat and freezer sections. I didn't get any this trip, but I will soon. I've got some stuff in my freezer I need to work through.
 
That is cool, and handy. Makes shopping more fun. [emoji2]

The one near me has about half "ethnic" food. The rest is "regular groceries" and kitchen tools. There are spiders and woks and bamboo steamers and things I have no idea what are. I think I remember seeing rice cookers too.
Yes, this one has tools and dishes, too, along with 25-lb. bags of rice etc. [emoji38] Way too much for us, but I can see that being necessary for families that eat rice 2-3 times a day.
 
Yes, this one has tools and dishes, too, along with 25-lb. bags of rice etc. [emoji38] Way too much for us, but I can see that being necessary for families that eat rice 2-3 times a day.
We sometimes get 10 lb bags of rice and they last so long that I'm always shocked when they are nearly empty. :ermm::LOL:
 
We have a large Asian World Market nearby..

I spend a lot of time there just checking the aisles for things I'm familiar with and many things which are new to me.. Everything from exotic vegetables and meats to packaged goods and all types of kitchenware.. The frozen section is amazing..

Each visit is a learning experience..

Ross
 
That looks like a really fun store, GG. Your post makes me think of how lucky I am to have a wide variety of different odd foods available at two of my local stores, though (less than 8 miles away each). Market Basket has increased their Asian offerings enough that I don't need to drive 60 miles to get to H-Mart, although that store is a hoot to walk around. Too bad it's in a very traffic-heavy area as well a being so far away. MB also sells huge bags of rice in several varieties. Also, the little one-off family run grocery store in the next town has all sorts of root veggies, probably 8 varieties of eggplants, and more Asian fresh veggies. Their prices aren't bad, either. There aren't too many things I'll miss about MA whenif we ever move back home, but I know I can't find the same variety so close to wherever we live back home, unless we live in downtown Cleveland in the shadow of the West Side Market.

Happy shopping!
 
Nice, GG! :ohmy: I'd have a blast walking around a market like that. We don't even have a supermarket with a salad bar anymore, since Von's closed down several years back.

Have fun!
 
I love stores like that. My daughter and wife love browsing the malls for clothes and beauty crap, I love browsing stores like that and farmers markets for things I've either never seen or heard of before, or those that I heard of but never knew where to get them . The more unique and exotic , the better for me. I dont travel internationally much ( or at all), so I find these markets bring the world to me. I once joined an 'exotic fruit of the month club'. When in in Chinatown ( any city USA), I make an effort to scout out the markets. I actually have an exotic fruit and vegetable cook book. Every time I find something unique, I see if there is a recipe in the cookbook to try. We have a Korean super market not too far, and its a full sized supermarket. I can spend hours in there. Within a short distance I have Indian, Asian ( focussing primarily on china and Japan), Italian, Hispanic/ South American ( the varieties of potatoes in there are endless), Korean, and probably others Im just not aware of yet. I literally can make a day of going to each one.
 
A Ranch 99 Asian market opened last month just a few miles from me. I have no idea how they came up with the name (it is a chain), but it is definitely Asian, including big tanks of live fish.

One thing that got my attention was a good selection of Wagyu beef.

CD
 
Glad to hear that you had such a great store open nearby! It's fun when you find all those "new foods", then try them in something new. I used to have to travel to NYC for all of those ethnic foods, back in the early to mid 80s, then some stores opened in Philly, and about 10 years ago, in Jersey, about 8 miles from here. There is nowhere that you can get the varieties of produce and meats that you find in these places.
 
A Ranch 99 Asian market opened last month just a few miles from me. I have no idea how they came up with the name (it is a chain), but it is definitely Asian, including big tanks of live fish.

One thing that got my attention was a good selection of Wagyu beef.

CD
We’ve got 3 of them here in Vegas. They’re a bit pricier than some of the other Asian supermarkets, but their seafood section is great! Sometimes they’ll have live lobsters on sale.

I don’t know how they came up with the name either. Something for me to google later. Took me the longest time to figure out if it was 99 Ranch, or Ranch 99!
 
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