I finally went to visit the Asian supermarket (one of several, actually) and was amazed. It doesn’t look like much from the outside, and is kind of shabby/dusty inside by American supermarket standards, but oh my gosh. SOoooo much stuff. Not much in the way of fresh produce (although good quality garlic and ginger were available at much lower prices than the usual supermarket), but pretty much everything else. Lots of cold cases and a big frozen section. Homemade tofu and kim chi. Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Thai, and even some Indonesian ingredients! I found everything I was looking for, and then some.

And tons – TONS – of stuff I just didn’t recognize or couldn’t identify. That was the most exciting part. I can’t wait to find out what all of it is, and what to do with it.

I think this might make up for the total lack of availability of dried Mexican chiles in this area.

Big plans for the ingredients I purchased today. More to come in this space this weekend!