Asian supermarkets offer a produce bonanza at prices that cant be beat
Third in an occasional series
Kaz Okochi of Kaz Sushi Bistro in the District is a regular at H-Mart, the Korean supermarket that Washingtonians know well. That’s no surprise. Many Asian-restaurant chefs frequent the chain, which, like others of its kind, carries goods from all over the Far East.
What was surprising for Okochi was to run into his friend and fellow restaurateur Michel Richard at the Asian market, the French chef’s hands full of groceries. “He had no idea what they were,” Okochi told me by phone recently. “He just bought them to experiment.”
For me, that anecdote captures the spirit of this series. It is about curious food lovers wishing to enrich their pantry and their cooking vocabulary and being willing to break with convention and rules. Yes, we were all taught which specific ingredient goes into which specific cuisine. Now it’s time to shuffle them around.
And there’s no better place to do that than the Asian supermarkets in the Washington suburbs. Especially the grand ones, such as Chinese-owned Good Fortune in Centreville and its new location in the Eden Center; Chinese-owned Great Wall in Falls Church and Rockville; and any branch of Korean-owned H-Mart and Lotte in Maryland and Virginia. These establishments provide food adventures (foot-long okra! live snails!) and eye-opening bargains.
The variety of sauces and jarred pastes is truly wondrous, not to mention the entire aisles devoted to dried mushrooms and noodles. Whether imported from China, Korea, Thailand or Japan, all the Asian goodness on the shelves seems to coexist in perfect harmony.
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It also can be confusing. Janet Yu, chef and owner of Hong King-style Hollywood East Cafe in Wheaton; Aulie Bunyarataphan, chef and owner of Mama Rouge Southeast Asian Bistro in Georgetown; and chef Okochi all shop at the Korean or Chinese supermarkets for ingredients that suit their own cuisine. As your Ethnic Market Scout, I decided to include all those different cuisines under one rubric, as “Asian supermarkets.”
The following items and ways to use them are just a start. You’ll find thousands of other exciting foods on your visits. Do as chef Richard does: Grab a few mystery ingredients and start experimenting.
Fermented bean pastes are popular in East and Southeast Asia. Japanese miso can add a savory umami-rich flavor to many foods, from soups to salad dressings and chocolate desserts. It comes in a variety of colors — white through yellow and to brownish-red — and it can be mild and almost sweet, or salty and strongly flavored. Okochi prefers Marukome, a Japanese brand of miso. Korean miso (doenjang) is chunky, with whole beans in it, and has a more pronounced flavor. Chinese fermented black bean sauce (douchi) is often flavored with ginger, chili pepper, garlic and/or soy sauce and is excellent in stir-fry and stews.
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I’ve found the white miso to be especially versatile, with a nutty flavor that complements dressings and highlight nuts and chocolate even in desserts, as in a hazelnut, chocolate and miso cake.
When experimenting with miso, add it spoon by spoon, tasting along the way to discover what works for you. Mix a little miso with mayonnaise for a more flavorful sandwich spread. Blend it with butter to brush on fish or vegetables. Use it to glaze chicken, and stir it into mushroom soup or any stew.
Soy sauce. The neat rows of bottles that stretch down a long aisle in an Asian market pose a challenge for novice home cooks: Which one will work best? How many kinds are good to have on hand? Light (regular) soy sauce is well established in America, but it's a good idea to try the Chinese dark soy sauce that's made with caramel or molasses, or the thick soy sauce that has even more sugar and a very intense. Yu prefers the Hong Kong brand Koon Chun, which is hoisin-like.
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Japanese soy sauce is mild and has a rounder taste than Chinese-made soy sauce. Okochi prefers the Japanese brand Yamasa. Chef Bunyarataphan recommended using Thai black soy sauce (not to be confused with the Chinese dark sauce), which adds a nice dark color even to quick stir-fry dishes.
Seaweed. You can find it dried, roasted, powdered and, on occasion, fresh. Sprinkle the last over eggs instead of or in addition to salt. Add it to veggie smoothies; it will enhance the flavor the way salt does. Sprinkle roasted, shredded seaweed over salads, or simply snack on it. Hydrate dried seaweed and add it to salads with cucumber and radish. Use the fresh kind to make seaweed salad.
Gluten-free noodles. Among the dozens of types available in Asian supermarkets, fresh and dried, many are gluten-free. Buckwheat noodles, like the Japanese soba and Korean vermicelli, pair well with heavy tomato sauces. Rice noodles, fresh and dried, work well in soups and salads.
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For the adventurous palate: fresh Chinese tofu noodles, Korean sweet potato noodles, Vietnamese tapioca noodles and black fern root noodles (the last is a vegetarian answer to squid ink noodles). All have a delicate texture that will work best in salads and soups or with a light sauce.
Rice cakes. Short logs of rice dough are used just like gnocchi and are another great gluten-free option. They are available in the refrigerated and freezer sections of Korean supermarkets and, just like gnocchi, should be cooked in boiling salted water before serving with your favorite Italian/Korean sauce.
Tofu skin. The skins (sold in sheets) come fresh or dried. They are used for making spring rolls but are easy to adapt for Italian (think lasagna sheets) or Balkan (instead of phyllo dough) cuisine, with the added benefits of extra protein and no carbs.
Share this articleShareJapanese rice seasoning. Called furikake, the blend usually contains sesame seeds, shaved dried fish and seaweed. Wasabi fumi furikake is especially good: a little spicy thanks to the wasabi, and it works well not only with rice but also sprinkled over salads and mixed into mayonnaise for sandwiches and salads. A dash of furikake in scrambled eggs makes them divine; add one teaspoon for every two eggs.
Fruits and vegetables. Besides low prices, the freshness and variety of what you'll find at Asian markets are hard to beat. Look for Thai, Chinese and Indian eggplants, purple and white yams, long beans, bok choy tips, mustard greens, Chinese broccoli and lotus root; rambutan, prickly jackfruit, pink and green dragon fruit, litchi, guava and even a reasonably priced prickly pear.
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Fresh turmeric root. A member of the ginger family, turmeric root has the same anti-inflammatory powers. It can elevate any dish to the next level, including stews, rice, marinades and veggie smoothies. Grate it into any dish that calls for ground turmeric (one to two inches of the root for every teaspoon of ground turmeric). Don food-safe gloves to handle it, and an apron, and cover the surface you're working on, as the root stains without mercy.
Cook them as you would any beans; you’ll be adding more protein to your dish than with other beans. To make soybean hummus: Combine two cups of cooked soybeans,
cup of their cooking water,
cup of tahini,
cup of fresh lemon juice and three garlic cloves in the bowl of a food processor. Mix for five minutes, until very smooth. Season with salt and crushed red pepper flakes.
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Licorice root. There is anise-y aroma and a bit of sweetness in shaved dried licorice root, which makes it lovely for stirring into a hot cup of tea.
Do you have questions about ethnic markets in the Washington area? Guttman will join Wednesday's Free Range chat at noon: live.washingtonpost.com. She writes the Modern Manna food column for Haaretz.com and is chef and owner of Cardamom & Mint Catering.
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