Post Punk Kitchen Forum

Which ones are your favorites? The one at 4th and Oregon has really good produce and the people working there are fairly helpful when you ask questions. The one at 16th & Washington has a ton of faux things I've never seen before (vegan head cheese? Vegan snails? They've got it all)! It's also the only place I've been able to find vegan fish sauce. Their produce section leaves a little to be desired though.

Which ones do you like and why?

Wow, 16th & Washington sounds great! I go to Asia Supermarket (the one in the basement on 11th & Race) just because it's closest to me, and I'm generally satisfied. I have to look through all of the dumplings every time, but usually find good vegan ones. Their soy sauce selection is excellent. So-so produce- if I want Asian produce I go to the place at 10th & Race usually.

hey diana! thank you for scoping out the 16th and washington supermarket. it is so close to my house, and yet i've never been. i think i'm scared. i will have to go one day now that i know they have interesting finds.

my fave is "oriental supermarket" at 6th and washington. sometimes i get some cheap produce, and perhaps a few may-wah meats and a ham tube or something. the one at 13th? and washington is ok, too.

fave things to get at asian grocery stores:
rice noodles
coconut milk
produce: yuca, cilantro, galangal, kaffir lime, bean sprouts
fake chicken (may wah)
curry pastes (the kind that come in cat food-like cans..double check ingredients, dudez, not all are veg.)
sesame oil, peanut oil

I went to the store at 6th & Washington today to get ingredients for banh mi. I was going to get carrots and daikon and make my own pickles, but they had small containers of what I'm assuming is in-house pickled carrots & daikon. I was stoked!

And Beka, we're neighbors now! I just moved into the neighborhood about a month ago

Which place at 10th and Race?

My Chinatown/RTM loop:
Asia Supermarket for noodles, sauces, tea, and soy products.
Produce at King Market (10th btwn Cherry and Race).
Produce at RTM - mostly Iovine and also the place in the middle of the market (esp. for their bargain bags, which Iovine also does) and the local-only market near Bassett's, I think?

I live on the wrong side of Center City.

Don't know what it's called- It's near the SE corner, on Race. Jung's maybe? I like that it's all produce- there is other stuff inside, but none of the fishy smelling creepy crawlies that are out front of so many of the 10th St. places.


I looove dollar bags! I always hit those up first.

i frequent the supermarket on 4th and spring garden for sirracha and whatnot as well as odd vegan goodies they have now.

as for the fake meats at these places, i stopped buying them after learning a bit more about how the ingredients might not always be correct. http://www.quarrygirl.com/2009/06/28/un ... staurants/ Old news but enough for me to limit my exposure.

Word. I'm gonna add that to the loop on my next visit. I'm sorta surprised that there's so much good produce in Chinatown. I guess I'm racist like that.

I just went here. Oh my. Sooo many good things going on here. Even more tofu options than the chinatown joint. And cheap Sriracha!

I'm at the one on 4th and spring garden almost daily since it's so close to work. It's decent and the people are friendly but it always smells like awful gross fish.

Yeah what's up with always putting soy near fish?

On a related note: 1st Oriental has a bulk tofu bin. I've never seen such a thing before. It's way back in the corner -- past the fish, of course -- and it's just two big plastic bins with blocks of tofu for 40cents. I'm not sure I want to "go there" though. They have packaged "restaurant tofu" - 4 blocks for $140... seems to be of decent quality. How does one even judge the quality of tofu?

one plus its usually cold and fish smelling, rather than really warm + fish

Ha, I never thought of that. I feel like being cold just makes me grumpy too. They do have the best yuba wraps I've found (tofu skin.) I use them when I feel like eating protein wrapped in more protein.

I want to try yuba! I don't know how to cook it, though, & I feel like I'd mess it up

Best deal for tofu is the Nature's Soy brand that they sell in all the asian markets. $2.49 for I think 8 blocks of tofu? It's all I ever buy now. You definitely have to press it if you're gonna slice it though because it's pretty crumbly. Works great for scrambles!

It's super easy. You precook whatever you'd like to stuff it with. Wrap it like a mini burrito. Lightly sear the outside to seal the edges and brown slightly and it's done. Feel free to pair it with a dipping sauce of your choice. They have some sheets that you have to reconstitute in water (they tend to be thinner) or you can get the kind that are already soft. I've done some pretty neat things with them, I encourage you to experiment.

I think this is what I got on my last visit. It was good for the price, but not the firmest and it had a skin to it that was kinda icky to get used to. It may have been a different brand though because it was a 4-pack. I'll take a closer look next time.