I used to eat at a local Thai restaurant in California once a week. They had an adjoining grocery store. One day, I decided I wanted to make my own pad see iew. I was wandering up and down the aisles, putting what I thought I needed into my cart. One of the waitresses saw me and asked me what I was shopping for. I told her. She took everything out of my cart, and said, "Now, I will show you what you need." I am so grateful for her kindness and help. My version wasn't as good as theirs, but it was 90% as good. Gotta have the right ingredients!
I wouldn't go overboard with the ingredients. Obviously, there would be differences, but the technique is also important. See the "Pro Chef & Home Cook Swap Ingredients" series from Epicurious ;) Personally, I swapped all the rice noodles with linguine pasta (flat spaghetti) and all the dishes are great. I like pasta and it is much cheaper and easier to get in Europe. It is non-traditional and all pro thai cooks would condemn and expell me from their communities, but it is great food! ;)
I was born in 🇰🇷 Adopted at 3 months. Now 43. I’ve just NOW got the time to start exploring ALL Asian dishes…I have learned the most from you! I made Nam Jim Jaew and my family loved it (including my 83 year old Caucasian father). I’m thankful for your channel! ❤
Wow. You're amazing. A Chinese store owner in Dallas when I was in college befriended me and showed me how to cook a number of dishes. We ended up friends even though he had very little English. He'd invite me for dinner with his family and demonstrate various techniques. That was more than 50 years ago. I've been enjoying cooking and eating Asian food ever since and thought I knew a lot about ingredients. But I got more useful information from this 17 minute video than in years of chatting with cooks and store owners. So concise and straight-forward. You've got a fan. Thank you!!
I like this woman a lot: intelligent, articulate, straight-forward, no nonsense. The Thai Restaurant in St. George, Utah, Benj's Thai Garden, is excellent. Unfortunately, St. George is relatively small (except in the Winter) and doesn't have a Thai or any Asian store. As a whole-food, plant-based fan, I'd cook a lot more Asian if we had a store here. And speaking of Asian, I could easily live on the superb Japanese rice, Koshihikari rice; it is exquisite! There's no comparison between Japanese rice and the rice you buy at your local supermarket. I've subscribed!
As a Thai-American child estranged from his family, this video (and your channel overall) has helped me to reconnect with my culture a lot. You make Som Tum just like the way my Yaipin used to. Thank you so much for sharing the best parts of our culture that many people don't get to interact with on a day to day basis unless they're Thai themselves.
Khun Pailin ka, I love you!!. I'm a Thai as I have found your channel recently. I always relied on my mom cook when I was a kid and when growing up I live alone as working in Bangkok. I usually don't kook as its cheaper if eating street food in a dish. I can cook for not manny recipe ( sure that only my favourite ones) . Im hooked with your channel, inspired me to cook more. I have to manage work life balance and then I would have time to enjoy cooking. Beyond watching you cook with fun and delight, I love to read the foreigners's comments to feel their enjoy and happy that they can follow you and make a nice meals to themselves , their family, their kids and their friends. Im happy with them, and proud of you that taught them to cook Thai food and yess!! Thai foods are flexible , they can also adapt for their taste and ingredients sometimes. Just woul love to Thank you to make your channel with talented cooking skills and always have beautiful smiles, you make lots of people delight, keep go on. Love love.
Overwhelmed is an understatement. In DFW we have an H Mart. It's the size of a super Walmart packed with interesting but unrecognizable items. There was literally an entire isle devoted to soy sauce as was and entire isle of noodles. I finally stopped a lady about my age to ask about black vinegar. She directed me to her daughter whose an accomplished cook. They both shared they were of Thai heritage and gave me a great tip. Once you find the item your'e looking for, see which brand has the most taken from the shelf. That might be a good indicator of which (black vinegar in this case) was most popular. I've used that tip several times over my many trips, usually with good results. Thanks for the education.
I shopped in a Vietnamese grocery once, where I was the only 6' 2" white guy in a store full of tiny Asian grandmas... At the checkout, the cashier noted my purchases and remarked "oh, you know how cook!" in an adorable accent. Yes, I know how cook, and was pleased with her validation.
So I work in the grocery industry building schematics for stocking sections. I just so happen to be working on Asian categories and have an interest in Thai and Japanese cooking. This unexpectedly gave me some very valuable insight. Not even what I watch your channel for but much appreciated. I love your videos. Very informative and you make it fun.
Dear Khun Pailin, This is a PERFECT guide to Thai food. I wrote a Thai cookbook in my native Sweden, which has remained a best-selller for years. I love Thai food, which is the best on the planet, I feel. You have taught me to like coconut milk in paper cartons, which I use exclisively now. I am addicted to Durian,which my partner makes me wrap very tightly and eat quickly! I love your programme/channel. Do keep it up.
Wow I like to go shopping in that store they should have one in my town of Oklahoma Love your tee shirt kiddo Thanks for sharing this video ไพลินน้องยังไม่แก่ที่จะเป็น auntie เป็นพี่สาวดีกว่า Bye bye
Love to go to T&T whenever I am in Toronto. I am a Chinese Jamaican living in Florida for the past 45 years and watch all your shows giving them a thumbs up and they are great. I cook a lot after I retired and watch your show to expand my repertoire.
Fantastic video! I visited 99 Ranch Market today and found so many products you recommended. My husband and I laughed when you talked about the soy sauce section. Your description of how it feels to the uninitiated is spot on!
I don’t think I’ve ever even eaten Thai food but this lady is so pleasant and informative I’m still watching, haha, makes me want to try some new things!
Wow I actually never bought coconut milk from the carton before. Good to know that it’s better than the canned version. I’ll try that next time. Thanks Pai!
Also another good thing about the carton is that you can store any remaining coconut cream/milk directly in the carton for a while, whereas in the tin you would want to remove unused portion to another container or else it risks going rancid/getting a tinny flavour.
@@swisski as a South Indian we use quite a lot of coconut paste and milk. But we r used to taking it fresh from the coconut 🥥. Never tried the packaged one before. It's a time saving idea for once in a while usage. Thank you.
@@sammys1010 Of course scraping the coconut fresh is the best way in terms of freshness and quality, but as you know it is rather labour intensive. Also most people living outside of tropical climates don’t have easy and cheap access to fresh coconuts so the convenience of prepared coconut cream/milk is almost always chosen. The brand that I like the best is called Kara (from Indonesia) and the stuff that comes in the tetra pack is 99.9% pure coconut cream.
Stands to reason, if I stop and think. I've bought the carton versions of chicken stock and broth for years, and just keep a couple of the canned ones for emergencies.
Another big thing to note when buying jasmine rice is the crop year. "2022 Crop" will tell you that you have rice that has been harvested and milled in the current year.
*Finally* I have a Thai auntie 🥰 I’ve been cooking Thai for a very long time. I recently moved to EU and don’t have access to the same brands as I used to. Your explanations of why certain brands are your favorites (i.e. ingredients) has been extremely helpful to choose what to buy here. Thank you! ❤
I spoke to a manager at the T&T market near me. I suggested that purhaps twice a month there could be a guide that takes groups of their non Asian customers or any customer thru the store teaching and showing what ingredients to use for maybe a couple of dishes to cook at home. I love Asian foods and would like to get a better understanding of the ingredients. It's a win win for all. New revenue for store and Lots more eager customers 😀
this video is the answer to my prayers. Many a time I have been lost and aimless in the store terrified of asking someone regarding the variety of ingredients that I’ve been seeking after. This is going to be so helpful for me. Thank you so much 😊
Maybe I've just been lucky. But the people I've asked for help in Asian stores seemed to enjoy going out of their way to help me.... kind of like spreading the gospel, I guess. :)
As a pretty experienced Thai and Vietnamese cook (Total Gringo from Mississippi), I still found this extremely helpful! Thank you so much! I have access to multiple very good Asian grocery stores. I definitely learned more about navigating them from you.
Just rewatched this video, had so much fun again. You really are a match made in heaven as a cook with your happy and fun personality. That's why your loved so much!!! Happy New Year from Japan!!
Thanks for your great advice and all the work you put into your videos. I struggled for years to make recipes from a Thai cookbook while asking many of the questions you answer in this and other videos. I am grateful for the intentionality you put into this channel. Will definitely keep seeing what is new. Thanks Pailin!
Been watching her since the start. Completely forgot about her for like 4 years. Just came back recently to watch her stuff again. Nice to see she's still cooking.
As always. Chef Pailin nails it! Approachable, knowledgeable, and generous with her advice for rookies. I've been cooking Thai/Chinese/Japanese/Vietnamese for many years at home. I always learning something new from Pailin's videos.
HAHAHA it's those smaller, family owned stores that are usually not so clean. Whenever I went shopping at one of these stores with my mom as a kid, I'd always ask to wait in the car cause I hated going in there lol. They make me feel claustrophobic.
The ones in the UK are often a bit untidy... or a lot. And a lot smaller than the one Pailin went to. I have to travel to another city about 10 miles away and there's a few there including a Thai specific one, but the biggest is one that has a lot of Chinese (especially Cantonese) but does still have things like Thai soy sauce. It can be a bit confusing what they put on the Thai/Korean etc shelves and what they put with the main noodle section.
🤔I like walking in and immediately smelling the in-store fishtank. I like leaving smelling like garlic and frying oil🤤I like looking at their grand opening photos on Google knowing IRL the building sign 亞洲超市 has letters missing. I like visiting the back of the store where they stopped tiling the floor. I like that there are three aisles of snacks that are always on sale I've never seen anyone buy.
@@nissan_skylinehahaha, I went to a place like that in the city only there was almost nothing in the store🤔it was an experience! Like grocery shopping in Russia
Same with the southern part of the USA. I go to the Asian store mainly to get fruits and veggies bc it's so much cheaper than I'm big market stores. Everything else is kinda meh since the stores are itty bitty and usually with very few options. I used to go to the Russian store for all the fish we'd eat, but they shut down :/ god I hope the little Asian stores here stay open! I much prefer the smaller stores to the big box stores as they're generally cheaper, with better ingredients, even despite the fewer options available!
Oh my goodness you must have been reading my mind from your last video. I was thinking wouldn’t it be great to have a video come out of touring and learning about products from an Asian grocery store. I have been to a few Asian grocery markets in the past and you are so right about all the different products. Thank you for this video. You have a beautiful store there in Canada too.
This is the great video of how to choose the right product to buy. I specifically learned about " the less ingredients the best, paper-pack for coconut milk, the quality trademarks of thai". Thank you so much Pai.
This might be one of the best videos ever made on how to navigate / shop for AsIan grocery store products. So well made, clear, informative and encouraging that I hit the LIKE and SUBSCRIBE buttons 👍
My gosh you are amazing in how you explain the differences in ingredients and your recommendations too ! You really got my attention ....and I have learned a lot. Thanks !!!
Really happy to see that I have access to genuine Thai brands and genuine Thai receipts. I used to work with a Thai chef and he showed us the way his mother cooks. It's definitely one of my favourite cuisines
This was very helpful! I'm Chinese but I really enjoy Thai food however going to my local Asian market I'm just overwhelmed with all the different brands! It's just like the Chinese brands it's just overload! Unless I know which brand to use I am stuck trying to determine which brand to buy. I have a hard enough time with the Chinese ingredients but when I am trying to throw together a Thai dish I honestly don't want to spend more time deciding which brands to buy than cooking. Thank you the video is very helpful!
I was raised in Richmond and I was so impressed with the new T&T location! So clean with fresh ingredients daily and their takeout and pastry section is amazing!
Pailin's Kitchen, is one of the top cooking channels on UA-cam and in the universe! Still so happy to take her advice and cook her recipes. Thai food is wonderful! Visit your local Thai restaurant or take out in your area. Take Pailin's advice and make some at home. She knows her stuff.
i just wanted to tell you how much you've helped me come closer to my culture!! as someone who's mixed, i don't have many opportunitites to just learn about thailand and co. and your recipes help me feel closer to that part of myself.. thank you so much !!
This was so helpful. I love Thai food but getting takeout all the time is not practical so I have been experimenting. The last time my dad came to visit we went out to a Thai cooking class. We figured out the reason we love it some much is that the spices and flavors used are very similar to Mexican food but with lemongrass instead of cumin and more seafood 😄. I was blown away to see how they made chile paste and how similar it is to how we make chile paste. We also LOVE tamarind. There’s a spicy tangy coating we pair with fruit or candy called chamoy. If you ever have trouble finding tamarind in the Asian store go to the Mexican store. There are always tons of options
Oh I'm an Indian and had never seen anybody explaining so detailed and wow about the sauces and other Asian ingredients... teally really usefull... this is the first time I'm watching ur video and it's really amazing. Thank you.
This is so helpful. I live in a very rural area in the UK and there are no large Asian groceries like this particular one near where I live. There *are* some very small convenience store sized places, but I've always been sort of nervous to go in because I've never had a clear idea of what I'm looking for. Now, even though the store in the video is different, I feel like I have a good idea of what I'm looking for, even in a small store. I think I'll go have a look at the weekend 😁 Thanks!
This video popping up for me tonight is very timely. My son and I used your green curry paste recipe just this evening. We were making it to dehydrate for camping. It turned out beautifully. Now, knowing what products to look for will make our next forays into Thai cooking that much better. Thank you for such helpful videos and for the delicious, easy to follow recipes!
The soy sauce section can be overwhelming with all the varieties it comes in, but generally what most recipe need is light soy sauce. Read the ingredients list. Good light soy sauce should only contain soy, wheat, salt, and maybe some preservatives and colouring. Absolutely avoid ones that are made from Hydrolyzed Vegetable Protein (HVP) or "soy extract" because they taste the worst, but also the cheapest. Some lower-medium quality soy sauces are a blend of both naturally fermented sauce and HVP. All soy sauce producing cultures has it's own unique variant and classification, some with no direct equivalent in other cultures. In the Chinese method, top grade "light" soy sauce are called Head Draw (Tau Chau), because they are the "first press" from the fermentation vat. More salt and water are added to the spent mash and brewed further to get lower grade sauces. "Dark" soy sauce are made from the last draw and mixed with caramel, and they are accordingly called Old Draw (Lou Chau). One variety of dark soy sauce is called Cooking Caramel (Sai Yau), where the mash is exposed to the sun yielding a thicker sauce and has larger amount of sugar and caramel added in later. Light soy sauce are less dark, more fragrant and saltier. Good for adding flavour and fragrance to your cooking without changing it's colour too much, making it a good all rounder. Dark soy sauce are less fragrant but still has flavour, usually used in braising stock, stews, and dishes where brown colouring is desired such as fried noodles. Cooking Caramel are usually used as a dipping sauce and can sometimes also be used in the same way as dark soy sauce. With its higher sugar content it adds a attractive luster but its higher caramel content also makes it a bit bitter, it's sticky texture makes it harder to handle, and it burns easily. It is also quite normal to use both light and dark soy sauce in the same dish, fried noodles being a good example. Light soy sauce is added during high heat stir frying, drizzled near the rim of the wok to intentionally avoid the noodles and hitting the hot metal instead so that the sauce is seared. This produces a very pleasant aroma, but does very little in colouring the noodles. For this purpose dark soy sauce is used, usually diluted with some water and at lower heat so that it is easier to mix in, then the heat is cranked back up after all the noodles are evenly coloured. The Japanese method has an entirely different classification method. Unlike the Chinese method, each variety of Japanese soy sauce has its own distinct recipes and processes. "Standard" Japanese soy sauce is dark/thick soy sauce (koiguchi). It is totally unrelated to Chinese dark soy sauce, and is best described as stronger version of Chinese light soy sauce. Light/thin soy sauce (usuguchi) are brewed with rice added in, making it less dark but fragrant, suitable for broths and delicate dishes. There are also other exotic types such as tamari (liquid byproduct from miso manufacturing), double fermented soy sauce, unrefined soy sauce, and white soy sauce (almost colourless). And then there are blends/flavoured soy sauces. The most common one is sweet soy sauce, which is Chinese dark soy sauce with added syrup. Chinese mushroom soy sauce has added straw mushroom extract, while Chinese seafood soy sauce contains extra spices. Japanese dashi soy sauce contains dashi stock made from dried fish, dried shellfish or seaweed. You might also find some odd ones such as spicy soy sauce made in Malaysia and Indonesia.
I've noticed that in every single cooking video I've ever watched where dark soy sauce is added, the cook always says "for color". Doesn't that short change it for the flavor it adds, however subtle?
@@TedInATL Good observation. It is a question of cultural preference really. Where I come from (Malaysia), our Chinese community are made up of numerous subethnics, and all have different opinion on the use of dark soy sauce. In my own experience, the Cantonese prefer their food "clean looking", so they tend to use less dark soy sauce and use it sparingly only for colouring. But in my hometown our Chinese population is mostly rural Hakka people. We don't put that much care on appearance in our more rustic food culture, so dark soy sauce are often used more liberally. We prefer heavier flavour, and because dark soy sauce is far less saltier, we can use much more of it to season our dishes before we start to oversalt it. Dark soy sauce works better for us. In fact in my family when we say soy sauce, what we really mean is dark soy sauce, and light soy sauce usually ended up forgotten in the back of the kitchen cupboard for months. One example of non stew/braise heavy dark soy sauce use is Kuala Lumpur style Hokkien Mee, a Malaysian Chinese fried noodle dish. Unlike that usual light golden brown colour most Cantonese cooks prefer, this one is so overloaded with dark soy sauce that the noodles are glistening. Some cooks even use Cooking Caramel for this dish. Ironically this dish manage to not only survive but end up a regional specialty in a city famous for its Cantonese cultural influence.
I luckily worked as a police officer for over 37 years in a mid size (I guess) city in Texas with about 10,000 of its 60,000 residents being Vietnamese with a scattering of Lao and Thai. For that reason there are several Asian stores in the city with a heavy southeast Asia influence. I worked almost exclusively for several years in the heavily Asian populated areas so I ate Vietnamese food about four days a week. Fortunately again, about 20 years ago a Thai restaurant opened out of our city but only about 15 miles away. It became my mother’s favorite food. About 75 miles away is Houston with huge Asian stores. I retired about a year ago but still live within about 15 miles of several Asian stores My wife is Korean so I had a lot of influence from Korean and southeast Asian cuisine. My wife cooks a lot of Korean food but loves Thai, Viet and Chinese. But the whole point…. she loves other East Asian foods however she might want to fight if someone suggests that other instant noodles (like Mama) are better than Nongshim (especially Shin Ramen or Neoguri), Samyang, etc. 🤣🤣🤣 As much of southeast Asian food as I have eaten and cooked over the last 35 years, I still learned a lot about shopping for various items from this video. My wife buys Squid fish sauce (nước mắm) but I had no clue that it was Thai. I also didn’t know that Aroy-D was Thai and a “go to” and respected brand. I have seen it many times and bypassed it to get other brands. At 66 years old, I guess this old dog is learning new tricks. Edit: new tricks, not no tricks 😀 Great video.
Thank you, this was extremely helpful. Living in South Africa, we only have a fraction of the east asian options. But now I'll be able to navigate the products with more ease.
Awesome content! I’m lucky to live in a community with several Asian markets. Knowing what to look for and what to avoid is an absolute nightmare. Thanks for the info, it’s given me a bit of courage and clarity for my next visit. Edited to add (in case Pai is reading): This kind of info for the non-Asian shopper could EASILY be a whole series. A knowledgeable UA-camr could make an episode (or more) for every section in the store. Tons of info, tons of recommendations, and tons of sponsors - everyone wins.
That was extremely enlightening and answered a few questions I had. I'm glad to know that the carton of coconut milk is the good kind. They almost always add sulfites to the cans of coconut milk (Savoy brand does not), and I get violently ill from sulfites. That's also why I make my own tamarind paste. Most of the stuff that's premixed is poison to me.
This was so entertaining. The aisles are so wide and the floor is so clean. No boxes piled up everywhere and ten brands of everything. We only see that at Big-C or Tesco. They even turned on the lights for you. We buy the fish sauce 3-4 big bottles at a time. The curry paste comes in little plastic envelopes. Since they are everywhere we do not keep much inventory. We buy shrimp paste in the half kilo tubs though. There are two kinds of Thai rice, Jasmine and sticky. We eat sticky rice three times a day. Khao Suai is restaurant food. You need to do a kantoke series to show the other dishes that do not go on Jasmine rice. They are very different.
This tour and your explanation about things was so clarifying. Thank you so much. I LOVE Thai food and my New Year’s resolution for 2023 is to learn to cook authentic Thai food at home. I was so lost about where to start and then I found your channel and recipes. I am super excited
This is my first time to your channel, as an aspiring Southeast Asian home cook and a lover of most of their food especially Tom Yum, I was pleasantly shocked by the content of your video! You answered so many questions and provided links which I will watch about the things I had the most questions about. Thank you so much for such a comprehensive and relatable video! You've earned my subscription and I look forward to more of your videos! ฉันได้เรียนรู้หลายๆ อย่างจากคุณ I hope this means I've learned so much and thank you!
Such an in-depth, incredibly well presented video. I’ve learned so much. And will be more confident in my Thai ingredients purchases in the future. Heartfelt thanks for sharing your vast knowledge of Thai cuisine with us devotees.
I am so grateful to come upon your channel because I am so interested in Asian Cuisine and you break everything down so wondrously for me. I would be daunted by all of the choices. You make it so clear!!!
In Thailand, when we can't get our hands on fresh coconut milk, we always go for the ones in milk cartons :D I don't think I've seen any Thai using the canned ones!
Auntie, I go to Asian stores regularly and this is so much better than me just figuring it out or opting for someone to take pity on me and help. Thank you auntie! I’m good with Chinese and Japanese but now I’m going Thai.
Thanks Pailin, my new Thai Aunty! Once I went to a T&T supermarket in Ottawa, near the airport. I just loved going through the aisles looking at all the interesting products. I wished I had someone to show me how to choose and use the right ingredients. Thanks to UA-cam for showing me your video - my wish came true! Subscribed!
Good guide on shopping. You highlighted that little green label "Thai Hom Mail Rice". Its something that I never knew about. Incidentally, I was shopping at Costco and saw that little green label on the Kirkland Jasmine rice.
I finally went to a good Asian market. I was so lost, but I found whole lemon grass. I cut the bottom 2 inches and popped them in water. I planted them in the spring when it was warmer out and they are getting large now. I have grown them before, just pop them in the basement for the winter and water them a couple times and they pop right back the next spring. Cost me $2 for six plants and the one I ordered was just 2 plants and cost me $25 plus shipping. So many plants will grow back from their base or tops.
The Kingdom of Thailand has been low-key running an international soft-power flex and positive PR campaign by getting their flavors and cooking essentials out to the wider world. 🌏🙌❤️
We have a very small Thai grocery store in my town. It's the only place I can buy squid brand fish sauce, it's the best! It's also a good place to buy dried chilies. There is an independent supermarket that's a bit more general as well but it's owned by Vietnamese owners so they have a good range of asian groceries too but the little Thai store is the best.
My knowledge on Thai products has just been greatly expanded upon. Course 101 for shopping in an Asian Food store or in my case aisle. 😊 I live in a country town in Australia. The local supermarkets are definitely expanding their range. Thank you for your concise no nonsense approach, very much appreciated. 👍
Thank you "Auntie" Pai!! Wasn't aware of the "kits" - perfect size and package of ingredients for the one-off/occasional Thai dish that a lot of us, like me, make! Loved this walk-through video!
I need to thank you for this video. I shop at a local Asian supermarket all the time and usually just guess at what I'm buying or experiment because something is on sale. I never knew things like higher protein means better oyster sauce, or what dark soy sauce is. (Even higher price=better quality isn't always a proper indicator at American supermarkets, so I didn't think it would apply at the Asian store either).
In my Asian store there are huge inflation prices. I can’t believe the squid brand fish sauce is $6, the 3 crab brand is $13, 5 pound bag of sweet rice is $17, a medium papaya is $8, sour bamboo $8 and large red curry $8. This is an awesome video.
Food prices are generally out of cool. I actually order Asian groceries from Weee bc the local stores are even more expensive (like 2x) for worse quality. A lot of stuff is 2-3x the price compared to before the pandemic.
I'm guessing part of it is shipping ... some of the other things I buy are way up ... even on Amazon. :( (my creatine powder has tripled in price) Cheers! Adam
Do you mind if I ask, what city are you in where the prices are so high? I live in Los Angeles and I find the Asian market to be less expensive that the local supermarkets. H Mart is the best overall.
I would just add for any supermarket. The eye level items and easy to find items are usually whan the supermarrket wants you to buy. Which does not mean the good stuff. (as validated by the coconut milk cartons on the bottom shelve). They are self fulfiling "most popular" because they are easy to find...
I celebrate the entire Mae Ploy catalog of cooking ingredients. Their sweet chili sauce is the second best I've had next to some brand that I could only get in Thailand. I have no idea what the name of my favorite brand is because the bottles were labeled all in Thai language. I can spot the bottle a mile away, but no idea how to search for it to see if I could get it delivered via Amazon Prime or something similar. But I'm perfectly happy going with Mae Ploy as a substitute.
That was great, I live in Vancouver and go to TnT often. I also have an Asian grocer near me that has all the healthy boy products. I learned something new today. Thanks for doing the video.
This comes at the perfect time. I’m just beginning to dip my toe into the water because I’ve been craving Thai food. This will help me not spend six hours at the Asian market looking at all the stuff!
Holy heck - I use coconut milk a lot, usually in cartons, and a couple weeks ago I had to buy the canned stuff because the store was out of carton-packed coconut milk. It was slimy and horrible, and I couldn’t finish my meal. Glad to have this validation and you just got yourself a new follower! 😊
First time watcher, follower, and poster. I lived in Bangkok for 10 years and have a found a local Thai restaurant and an Asian market but limited Thai products. Found you by accident but hooked on your videos! Thank you.
Since I lived in Hawaii I learned to adore Asian food. I’ve always wanted to learn how to cook Asian food ( I’m Latina that loves all types of foods from all countries) I still don’t know how to shop for Asian ingredients. Always craving Asian food wherever I go. I’m in the process of learning the different soy sauces I want to make Japanese noodles and all kinds of vegetables in it. I put in my bucket list that Singapore and Thailand are 2 of my future destinations 🥰
A city I lived in about 10 years ago had a small Asian store close to me. If you wanted to make a certian dish, could stop at customer service and let them know what you were making. They would take you shopping. It was great.
Oh my! I am so envious. The nearest Asian market that is a fraction of the size of this one is four hours away! I used to live in a part of the country with huge markets and I didn't realize how lucky I was.
Indian cooking also uses Tamarind so if you want more variety in Tamarind you could probably look in an Indian grocer too. Lots of spices too if you want to make say, massaman or yellow curry
@@jackienaiditch7965 Yes, because that's intense and "better" with a richer flavor profile but might not be suitable for all cuisines. However, there is a sweet Indian variety that you can also get in the Indian store and that can be a great substitute
indian stores will sometimes stock thai tamarind blocks and thai coconut milk so its a good place to look, all the asian stores around me are korean so i dont always find the thai stuff there but i find them at my indian store
@@ishitakundu We have a similar situation here where our "Asian grocers" are more Korean and Japanese grocers with a few extra general east Asian things, next time I go to the Indian grocer I will look for a Thai tamarind
I've made quite a few of her recipes and they have all turned out great! The Pad See Ew one is especially good. Here in Houston we have quite a few good Asian-oriented grocery stores thanks to the large Vietnamese population (thanks so much y'all) so sourcing these ingredients isn't too hard. What is hard is understanding what to use for what dishes. So this video is super appreciated!!!
THANK YOU!!! And I just checked my favorite jasmine rice bag, and happily it does have that "hom mali" notation. :) Also, I did not know coconut milk in boxes even existed! o.O I will definitely look for that when I shop Asian groceries now!
I've never been one to eat Thai food, so I don't know why this was suggested to me, but I really wanna try Thai food now, thanks for being my guide Auntie in the supermarket. I really liked learning with you!
This is kind of amazing because you seem to cover all the questions I've had coming into my head for years whenever I go into an asian grocery store. I get those exact kinds of fish sauce and wondered about the rice noodles. That tamarind paste...i bought the same kind and it was so runny. I usually get the rectangular block that is real tamarind pods. So much better. This was really helpful. Thanks!
Very helpful. I was shopping in an Asian store Wednesday and got the Healthy Boy Mushroom Soy sauce and girl in the boat oyster sauce based on your recommendation from previous videos. They're both soooo good! 🙂
It’s interesting that we have most of those brands in the Asian supermarkets in Germany as well. They’re a bit more focused on Thai and Vietnamese cuisine here. It’s kind of hard to get the Japanese stuff tho.
Even AroyD Coconut Milk you can buy in normal western supermarket, actually in my supermarket there are a lot of Thai products like oyster sauce. The reason is probably because there are a lot of Thailand Vietnamese people living in germany. In my city there are mostly Vietnamese most of them are here because of the Vietnamese war. One of my best friend back in school was Vietnamese and the food especially the spring rolls were insanely good.
there is a few reasons for that. a big one will be, there are in general more vietnamese, philipine, thai and also chinese people living here. the markets are usually operated by them, for them. that leads to a higher need of those products, which in turn leads to more imports, and a better market penetration, i.e. they can only sell what they can get, and they can only get what they can sell. additionally, we all know "chinese food", "thai food" is also popular, and there is a fascinating story behind that, read up on the "Global Thai" culinary diplomacy program., vietnamese cuisine got a little mixed in. and Japenese was overlooked. it took sushi, and that took decades to go from cold rice with salmon in the all you can eat chinese food places (yeah it was mixed asian, but it was called "chinese" by almost everybody for decades too) to a much less misunderstood dish, and more to a point, where people want to make it at home. and you can see that, you can see more and more japanese incrediences in the stores, granted, it will be mostly sushi related, but, its coming. next will be Ramen. Korean was also overlooked. it probably still is...
Thanks, Pailin for being my "Temporary Auntie" who had the patience to walk and talk about items I'd often think about and not know about, but now I do, thanks again to you! 💜
Thank you for such a straightforward, welcoming video for so many of us that are interested to learn but don’t understand the day to day recommendations of (“if you have the extra money, go for it, but it’s not NEEDED” 🙏🏼🙌🏼). Subscribed!
A distinction about soy sauce is the fermented base. The vast majority of sauces use wheat, not soy; look at the label; one of the two will be the first ingredient. The most common kind of 'soy' sauce is the Japanese style called tamari; it has a completely different taste than your everyday Chinese go to. Also Indonesian soy sauce is often called ketjap, it's much thicker and sweeter than Chinese
I used to eat at a local Thai restaurant in California once a week. They had an adjoining grocery store. One day, I decided I wanted to make my own pad see iew. I was wandering up and down the aisles, putting what I thought I needed into my cart. One of the waitresses saw me and asked me what I was shopping for. I told her. She took everything out of my cart, and said, "Now, I will show you what you need." I am so grateful for her kindness and help. My version wasn't as good as theirs, but it was 90% as good. Gotta have the right ingredients!
😂, great story.
So kind and generous to help share their “secret”. But maybe she gave you only 90% of the ingredients. Just sayin. ;)
I wouldn't go overboard with the ingredients. Obviously, there would be differences, but the technique is also important. See the "Pro Chef & Home Cook Swap Ingredients" series from Epicurious ;) Personally, I swapped all the rice noodles with linguine pasta (flat spaghetti) and all the dishes are great. I like pasta and it is much cheaper and easier to get in Europe. It is non-traditional and all pro thai cooks would condemn and expell me from their communities, but it is great food! ;)
@@davidleong6606 maybe the 10% lacking was due to inexperience, there’s also technique
Was it SAMANLUANG in LA??
I was born in 🇰🇷
Adopted at 3 months. Now 43.
I’ve just NOW got the time to start exploring ALL Asian dishes…I have learned the most from you! I made Nam Jim Jaew and my family loved it (including my 83 year old Caucasian father). I’m thankful for your channel! ❤
😢 where do you live at the moment
Asian cuisine is my all time favorite. I've been addicted to it for decades.
Wow. You're amazing. A Chinese store owner in Dallas when I was in college befriended me and showed me how to cook a number of dishes. We ended up friends even though he had very little English. He'd invite me for dinner with his family and demonstrate various techniques. That was more than 50 years ago. I've been enjoying cooking and eating Asian food ever since and thought I knew a lot about ingredients. But I got more useful information from this 17 minute video than in years of chatting with cooks and store owners. So concise and straight-forward. You've got a fan. Thank you!!
Lucky❣️
ua-cam.com/video/ZncryWpcl48/v-deo.html
Omg I’m in luvvv ❤😂😋
What a beautiful friendship!
There should be a movie about that
I like this woman a lot: intelligent, articulate, straight-forward, no nonsense. The Thai Restaurant in St. George, Utah, Benj's Thai Garden, is excellent. Unfortunately, St. George is relatively small (except in the Winter) and doesn't have a Thai or any Asian store. As a whole-food, plant-based fan, I'd cook a lot more Asian if we had a store here. And speaking of Asian, I could easily live on the superb Japanese rice, Koshihikari rice; it is exquisite! There's no comparison between Japanese rice and the rice you buy at your local supermarket. I've subscribed!
As a Thai-American child estranged from his family, this video (and your channel overall) has helped me to reconnect with my culture a lot. You make Som Tum just like the way my Yaipin used to. Thank you so much for sharing the best parts of our culture that many people don't get to interact with on a day to day basis unless they're Thai themselves.
❤
You should come to Thailand one day. It's awesome here.
@@Tracydot3 I visited a long time ago when I was a kid
Khun Pailin ka, I love you!!. I'm a Thai as I have found your channel recently. I always relied on my mom cook when I was a kid and when growing up I live alone as working in Bangkok. I usually don't kook as its cheaper if eating street food in a dish. I can cook for not manny recipe ( sure that only my favourite ones) . Im hooked with your channel, inspired me to cook more. I have to manage work life balance and then I would have time to enjoy cooking. Beyond watching you cook with fun and delight, I love to read the foreigners's comments to feel their enjoy and happy that they can follow you and make a nice meals to themselves , their family, their kids and their friends. Im happy with them, and proud of you that taught them to cook Thai food and yess!! Thai foods are flexible , they can also adapt for their taste and ingredients sometimes. Just woul love to Thank you to make your channel with talented cooking skills and always have beautiful smiles, you make lots of people delight, keep go on. Love love.
🏎️DEEPSQUAD🇯🇵TV🗺️
Overwhelmed is an understatement. In DFW we have an H Mart. It's the size of a super Walmart packed with interesting but unrecognizable items. There was literally an entire isle devoted to soy sauce as was and entire isle of noodles. I finally stopped a lady about my age to ask about black vinegar. She directed me to her daughter whose an accomplished cook. They both shared they were of Thai heritage and gave me a great tip. Once you find the item your'e looking for, see which brand has the most taken from the shelf. That might be a good indicator of which (black vinegar in this case) was most popular. I've used that tip several times over my many trips, usually with good results. Thanks for the education.
H Mart is amazing!
Most purchased could also indicate cheapest. But, could indicate that it’s the beat quality.
I shopped in a Vietnamese grocery once, where I was the only 6' 2" white guy in a store full of tiny Asian grandmas...
At the checkout, the cashier noted my purchases and remarked "oh, you know how cook!" in an adorable accent.
Yes, I know how cook, and was pleased with her validation.
О, poor thing, your mamma didn’t validate u enough, u search it from random people who are 90% just making a conversation
Lmao...
I feel like that would happen to me, I work with Indonesians and I am 6' 1", so I call myself big papa at work
@@ewq123ify but does anyone else call you that
@@4LLT0G3TH3R no but I think it's funny and they do as well
So I work in the grocery industry building schematics for stocking sections. I just so happen to be working on Asian categories and have an interest in Thai and Japanese cooking. This unexpectedly gave me some very valuable insight. Not even what I watch your channel for but much appreciated. I love your videos. Very informative and you make it fun.
At 7:01 the little girl in the background pushing the tiny supermarket cart was the such a cute moment !!!!!!!!!!
Glad I wasn’t the only one who saw it lol
Dear Khun Pailin, This is a PERFECT guide to Thai food. I wrote a Thai cookbook in my native Sweden, which has remained a best-selller for years. I love Thai food, which is the best on the planet, I feel. You have taught me to like coconut milk in paper cartons, which I use exclisively now. I am addicted to Durian,which my partner makes me wrap very tightly and eat quickly! I love your programme/channel. Do keep it up.
"Thai Auntie" lol love how Pai has embraced it
Wow I like to go shopping in that store they should have one in my town of Oklahoma
Love your tee shirt kiddo
Thanks for sharing this video
ไพลินน้องยังไม่แก่ที่จะเป็น auntie เป็นพี่สาวดีกว่า
Bye bye
Best looking Thai auntie by a country mile!
@@jasonwong5919 Need to call the show Hottie Thai Kitchen.
@@suesmith3914 y as yw5w
@@suesmith3914 Sue, I live in Edmond.
Love to go to T&T whenever I am in Toronto. I am a Chinese Jamaican living in Florida for the past 45 years and watch all your shows giving them a thumbs up and they are great. I cook a lot after I retired and watch your show to expand my repertoire.
Fantastic video! I visited 99 Ranch Market today and found so many products you recommended. My husband and I laughed when you talked about the soy sauce section. Your description of how it feels to the uninitiated is spot on!
I don’t think I’ve ever even eaten Thai food but this lady is so pleasant and informative I’m still watching, haha, makes me want to try some new things!
Please do yourself a favor and get some Thai Food! Start with Pad Thai as that is the signature dish. But, the currys are also amazing. Enjoy!
ขอบคุณที่ทำคลิปนี้ออกมานะคะ มีประโยชน์กับคนต่างชาติมากๆ แถมช่วยโปรโมทสินค้าไทยด้วยค่ะ
Awww❤❤❤many people have watched me spend a long time looking at everything, engaged me in helpful conversation and gave me useful tips
Wow I actually never bought coconut milk from the carton before. Good to know that it’s better than the canned version. I’ll try that next time. Thanks Pai!
Also another good thing about the carton is that you can store any remaining coconut cream/milk directly in the carton for a while, whereas in the tin you would want to remove unused portion to another container or else it risks going rancid/getting a tinny flavour.
@@swisski as a South Indian we use quite a lot of coconut paste and milk. But we r used to taking it fresh from the coconut 🥥. Never tried the packaged one before. It's a time saving idea for once in a while usage. Thank you.
@@sammys1010 Of course scraping the coconut fresh is the best way in terms of freshness and quality, but as you know it is rather labour intensive. Also most people living outside of tropical climates don’t have easy and cheap access to fresh coconuts so the convenience of prepared coconut cream/milk is almost always chosen. The brand that I like the best is called Kara (from Indonesia) and the stuff that comes in the tetra pack is 99.9% pure coconut cream.
@@swisski yes same kara I've seen on super markets.. let me try it. Thanks
Stands to reason, if I stop and think. I've bought the carton versions of chicken stock and broth for years, and just keep a couple of the canned ones for emergencies.
Another big thing to note when buying jasmine rice is the crop year. "2022 Crop" will tell you that you have rice that has been harvested and milled in the current year.
*Finally* I have a Thai auntie 🥰 I’ve been cooking Thai for a very long time. I recently moved to EU and don’t have access to the same brands as I used to. Your explanations of why certain brands are your favorites (i.e. ingredients) has been extremely helpful to choose what to buy here. Thank you! ❤
I spoke to a manager at the T&T market near me. I suggested that purhaps twice a month there could be a guide that takes groups of their non Asian customers or any customer thru the store teaching and showing what ingredients to use for maybe a couple of dishes to cook at home. I love Asian foods and would like to get a better understanding of the ingredients. It's a win win for all. New revenue for store and Lots more eager customers 😀
this video is the answer to my prayers. Many a time I have been lost and aimless in the store terrified of asking someone regarding the variety of ingredients that I’ve been seeking after. This is going to be so helpful for me. Thank you so much 😊
Feel free to ask, we love to help.
Maybe I've just been lucky. But the people I've asked for help in Asian stores seemed to enjoy going out of their way to help me.... kind of like spreading the gospel, I guess. :)
@@troystallard6895 Most all of the ones I ask in ours don't speak English they say.
@@Linda-pd8en I'll admit some of them do more gesturing and pointing than they do talking, but at least they're trying to help.
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07:55 I love it how people just turn around the moment they see that filming is going on.
So polite!
They Canadian
@@att4760 I live near Canada....they're not ALL that polite!!! Especially the Quebeckers !! 🤔🤣🤣
@@spuds6423 hahaha
@@spuds6423
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As a pretty experienced Thai and Vietnamese cook (Total Gringo from Mississippi), I still found this extremely helpful! Thank you so much!
I have access to multiple very good Asian grocery stores. I definitely learned more about navigating them from you.
Just rewatched this video, had so much fun again. You really are a match made in heaven as a cook with your happy and fun personality. That's why your loved so much!!! Happy New Year from Japan!!
Thanks for your great advice and all the work you put into your videos. I struggled for years to make recipes from a Thai cookbook while asking many of the questions you answer in this and other videos. I am grateful for the intentionality you put into this channel. Will definitely keep seeing what is new. Thanks Pailin!
I love watching lovely Pai. She's like a breath of fresh air...a cure for depression
Been watching her since the start. Completely forgot about her for like 4 years. Just came back recently to watch her stuff again. Nice to see she's still cooking.
As always. Chef Pailin nails it! Approachable, knowledgeable, and generous with her advice for rookies. I've been cooking Thai/Chinese/Japanese/Vietnamese for many years at home. I always learning something new from Pailin's videos.
I almost cried in envy YOUR ASIAN STORE IS SO CLEAN! You guys know what I mean.
HAHAHA it's those smaller, family owned stores that are usually not so clean. Whenever I went shopping at one of these stores with my mom as a kid, I'd always ask to wait in the car cause I hated going in there lol. They make me feel claustrophobic.
The ones in the UK are often a bit untidy... or a lot. And a lot smaller than the one Pailin went to. I have to travel to another city about 10 miles away and there's a few there including a Thai specific one, but the biggest is one that has a lot of Chinese (especially Cantonese) but does still have things like Thai soy sauce. It can be a bit confusing what they put on the Thai/Korean etc shelves and what they put with the main noodle section.
🤔I like walking in and immediately smelling the in-store fishtank. I like leaving smelling like garlic and frying oil🤤I like looking at their grand opening photos on Google knowing IRL the building sign 亞洲超市 has letters missing. I like visiting the back of the store where they stopped tiling the floor. I like that there are three aisles of snacks that are always on sale I've never seen anyone buy.
@@nissan_skylinehahaha, I went to a place like that in the city only there was almost nothing in the store🤔it was an experience! Like grocery shopping in Russia
Man, this is like lightyears beyond what we have in most of Europe. To me an Asian store means something the size of a gas station.
It’s true, Canada is an ethnic foods shopping dream. Thank you multiculturalism!
This isn't common across Canada unless you're in an area with a larger South Asian population.
There are stores like this in Europe too. But not just everywhere.
Same with the southern part of the USA. I go to the Asian store mainly to get fruits and veggies bc it's so much cheaper than I'm big market stores. Everything else is kinda meh since the stores are itty bitty and usually with very few options. I used to go to the Russian store for all the fish we'd eat, but they shut down :/ god I hope the little Asian stores here stay open! I much prefer the smaller stores to the big box stores as they're generally cheaper, with better ingredients, even despite the fewer options available!
Oh my goodness you must have been reading my mind from your last video. I was thinking wouldn’t it be great to have a video come out of touring and learning about products from an Asian grocery store. I have been to a few Asian grocery markets in the past and you are so right about all the different products. Thank you for this video. You have a beautiful store there in Canada too.
This is the great video of how to choose the right product to buy. I specifically learned about " the less ingredients the best, paper-pack for coconut milk, the quality trademarks of thai". Thank you so much Pai.
This might be one of the best videos ever made on how to navigate / shop for AsIan grocery store products. So well made, clear, informative and encouraging that I hit the LIKE and SUBSCRIBE buttons 👍
My gosh you are amazing in how you explain the differences in ingredients and your recommendations too ! You really got my attention ....and I have learned a lot. Thanks !!!
Really happy to see that I have access to genuine Thai brands and genuine Thai receipts. I used to work with a Thai chef and he showed us the way his mother cooks. It's definitely one of my favourite cuisines
This was very helpful! I'm Chinese but I really enjoy Thai food however going to my local Asian market I'm just overwhelmed with all the different brands! It's just like the Chinese brands it's just overload! Unless I know which brand to use I am stuck trying to determine which brand to buy. I have a hard enough time with the Chinese ingredients but when I am trying to throw together a Thai dish I honestly don't want to spend more time deciding which brands to buy than cooking. Thank you the video is very helpful!
Great Asian supermarket walkthrough! I hope your family is enjoying your long awaited trip to Thailand! You deserve a long and relaxing vacation!
I was raised in Richmond and I was so impressed with the new T&T location! So clean with fresh ingredients daily and their takeout and pastry section is amazing!
i used to work at a Thai restaurant and I've missed these flavors so much!! I'm so glad I found your page, you're awesome!!
OMG... I didn't know that I had a Thai auntie until today : ) I am SO happy!!
Pailin's Kitchen, is one of the top cooking channels on UA-cam and in the universe! Still so happy to take her advice and cook her recipes. Thai food is wonderful! Visit your local Thai restaurant or take out in your area. Take Pailin's advice and make some at home. She knows her stuff.
This is so awesome ! I’m Filipino but I always get overwhelmed at the Asian mart and this is sooo so so helpful. Thank you !
i just wanted to tell you how much you've helped me come closer to my culture!! as someone who's mixed, i don't have many opportunitites to just learn about thailand and co. and your recipes help me feel closer to that part of myself.. thank you so much !!
Yes, you are right, the article on your page is informative and caught my attention..
WOW thank you Pailin! I thought i knew my Asian grocery shopping until i watched this video! Appreciate all the info!
You’re my favorite chef to learn from! Always the best tips!
This was so helpful. I love Thai food but getting takeout all the time is not practical so I have been experimenting. The last time my dad came to visit we went out to a Thai cooking class. We figured out the reason we love it some much is that the spices and flavors used are very similar to Mexican food but with lemongrass instead of cumin and more seafood 😄. I was blown away to see how they made chile paste and how similar it is to how we make chile paste. We also LOVE tamarind. There’s a spicy tangy coating we pair with fruit or candy called chamoy. If you ever have trouble finding tamarind in the Asian store go to the Mexican store. There are always tons of options
I love this woman her presentations are always on point!
I wish we could save her videos to find them again
Oh I'm an Indian and had never seen anybody explaining so detailed and wow about the sauces and other Asian ingredients... teally really usefull... this is the first time I'm watching ur video and it's really amazing. Thank you.
Try her recipes they are amazing.
@@nureshmihassim1759 yes I'm trying her recipes one by one. Really nice. Thank you Nureshmi Hassim.
This is so helpful. I live in a very rural area in the UK and there are no large Asian groceries like this particular one near where I live. There *are* some very small convenience store sized places, but I've always been sort of nervous to go in because I've never had a clear idea of what I'm looking for.
Now, even though the store in the video is different, I feel like I have a good idea of what I'm looking for, even in a small store. I think I'll go have a look at the weekend 😁 Thanks!
This video popping up for me tonight is very timely. My son and I used your green curry paste recipe just this evening. We were making it to dehydrate for camping. It turned out beautifully. Now, knowing what products to look for will make our next forays into Thai cooking that much better. Thank you for such helpful videos and for the delicious, easy to follow recipes!
The soy sauce section can be overwhelming with all the varieties it comes in, but generally what most recipe need is light soy sauce. Read the ingredients list. Good light soy sauce should only contain soy, wheat, salt, and maybe some preservatives and colouring. Absolutely avoid ones that are made from Hydrolyzed Vegetable Protein (HVP) or "soy extract" because they taste the worst, but also the cheapest. Some lower-medium quality soy sauces are a blend of both naturally fermented sauce and HVP.
All soy sauce producing cultures has it's own unique variant and classification, some with no direct equivalent in other cultures.
In the Chinese method, top grade "light" soy sauce are called Head Draw (Tau Chau), because they are the "first press" from the fermentation vat. More salt and water are added to the spent mash and brewed further to get lower grade sauces. "Dark" soy sauce are made from the last draw and mixed with caramel, and they are accordingly called Old Draw (Lou Chau). One variety of dark soy sauce is called Cooking Caramel (Sai Yau), where the mash is exposed to the sun yielding a thicker sauce and has larger amount of sugar and caramel added in later.
Light soy sauce are less dark, more fragrant and saltier. Good for adding flavour and fragrance to your cooking without changing it's colour too much, making it a good all rounder. Dark soy sauce are less fragrant but still has flavour, usually used in braising stock, stews, and dishes where brown colouring is desired such as fried noodles. Cooking Caramel are usually used as a dipping sauce and can sometimes also be used in the same way as dark soy sauce. With its higher sugar content it adds a attractive luster but its higher caramel content also makes it a bit bitter, it's sticky texture makes it harder to handle, and it burns easily.
It is also quite normal to use both light and dark soy sauce in the same dish, fried noodles being a good example. Light soy sauce is added during high heat stir frying, drizzled near the rim of the wok to intentionally avoid the noodles and hitting the hot metal instead so that the sauce is seared. This produces a very pleasant aroma, but does very little in colouring the noodles. For this purpose dark soy sauce is used, usually diluted with some water and at lower heat so that it is easier to mix in, then the heat is cranked back up after all the noodles are evenly coloured.
The Japanese method has an entirely different classification method. Unlike the Chinese method, each variety of Japanese soy sauce has its own distinct recipes and processes. "Standard" Japanese soy sauce is dark/thick soy sauce (koiguchi). It is totally unrelated to Chinese dark soy sauce, and is best described as stronger version of Chinese light soy sauce. Light/thin soy sauce (usuguchi) are brewed with rice added in, making it less dark but fragrant, suitable for broths and delicate dishes. There are also other exotic types such as tamari (liquid byproduct from miso manufacturing), double fermented soy sauce, unrefined soy sauce, and white soy sauce (almost colourless).
And then there are blends/flavoured soy sauces. The most common one is sweet soy sauce, which is Chinese dark soy sauce with added syrup. Chinese mushroom soy sauce has added straw mushroom extract, while Chinese seafood soy sauce contains extra spices. Japanese dashi soy sauce contains dashi stock made from dried fish, dried shellfish or seaweed. You might also find some odd ones such as spicy soy sauce made in Malaysia and Indonesia.
actually good soy sauce only has water, soybeans, wheat and salt. no food color or preservatives. one good example is the kikkomon brand.
Very informative, thank you 🤗
Thank you so much.
I've noticed that in every single cooking video I've ever watched where dark soy sauce is added, the cook always says "for color". Doesn't that short change it for the flavor it adds, however subtle?
@@TedInATL Good observation. It is a question of cultural preference really. Where I come from (Malaysia), our Chinese community are made up of numerous subethnics, and all have different opinion on the use of dark soy sauce.
In my own experience, the Cantonese prefer their food "clean looking", so they tend to use less dark soy sauce and use it sparingly only for colouring. But in my hometown our Chinese population is mostly rural Hakka people. We don't put that much care on appearance in our more rustic food culture, so dark soy sauce are often used more liberally. We prefer heavier flavour, and because dark soy sauce is far less saltier, we can use much more of it to season our dishes before we start to oversalt it. Dark soy sauce works better for us.
In fact in my family when we say soy sauce, what we really mean is dark soy sauce, and light soy sauce usually ended up forgotten in the back of the kitchen cupboard for months.
One example of non stew/braise heavy dark soy sauce use is Kuala Lumpur style Hokkien Mee, a Malaysian Chinese fried noodle dish. Unlike that usual light golden brown colour most Cantonese cooks prefer, this one is so overloaded with dark soy sauce that the noodles are glistening. Some cooks even use Cooking Caramel for this dish.
Ironically this dish manage to not only survive but end up a regional specialty in a city famous for its Cantonese cultural influence.
I luckily worked as a police officer for over 37 years in a mid size (I guess) city in Texas with about 10,000 of its 60,000 residents being Vietnamese with a scattering of Lao and Thai. For that reason there are several Asian stores in the city with a heavy southeast Asia influence. I worked almost exclusively for several years in the heavily Asian populated areas so I ate Vietnamese food about four days a week. Fortunately again, about 20 years ago a Thai restaurant opened out of our city but only about 15 miles away. It became my mother’s favorite food.
About 75 miles away is Houston with huge Asian stores. I retired about a year ago but still live within about 15 miles of several Asian stores
My wife is Korean so I had a lot of influence from Korean and southeast Asian cuisine.
My wife cooks a lot of Korean food but loves Thai, Viet and Chinese.
But the whole point…. she loves other East Asian foods however she might want to fight if someone suggests that other instant noodles (like Mama) are better than Nongshim (especially Shin Ramen or Neoguri), Samyang, etc. 🤣🤣🤣
As much of southeast Asian food as I have eaten and cooked over the last 35 years, I still learned a lot about shopping for various items from this video. My wife buys Squid fish sauce (nước mắm) but I had no clue that it was Thai. I also didn’t know that Aroy-D was Thai and a “go to” and respected brand. I have seen it many times and bypassed it to get other brands. At 66 years old, I guess this old dog is learning new tricks.
Edit: new tricks, not no tricks 😀
Great video.
Thank you, this was extremely helpful. Living in South Africa, we only have a fraction of the east asian options. But now I'll be able to navigate the products with more ease.
My friend introduced me to Mama noodles and I have NEVER gone back to any other instant noodle brand! It is so delicious.
I have been shopping at a variety of Asian supermarkets for years. I learned so much more from this video. Thank you so much!
Awesome content! I’m lucky to live in a community with several Asian markets. Knowing what to look for and what to avoid is an absolute nightmare. Thanks for the info, it’s given me a bit of courage and clarity for my next visit.
Edited to add (in case Pai is reading): This kind of info for the non-Asian shopper could EASILY be a whole series. A knowledgeable UA-camr could make an episode (or more) for every section in the store. Tons of info, tons of recommendations, and tons of sponsors - everyone wins.
That was extremely enlightening and answered a few questions I had. I'm glad to know that the carton of coconut milk is the good kind. They almost always add sulfites to the cans of coconut milk (Savoy brand does not), and I get violently ill from sulfites. That's also why I make my own tamarind paste. Most of the stuff that's premixed is poison to me.
This was so entertaining. The aisles are so wide and the floor is so clean. No boxes piled up everywhere and ten brands of everything. We only see that at Big-C or Tesco. They even turned on the lights for you.
We buy the fish sauce 3-4 big bottles at a time. The curry paste comes in little plastic envelopes. Since they are everywhere we do not keep much inventory. We buy shrimp paste in the half kilo tubs though.
There are two kinds of Thai rice, Jasmine and sticky. We eat sticky rice three times a day. Khao Suai is restaurant food. You need to do a kantoke series to show the other dishes that do not go on Jasmine rice. They are very different.
This tour and your explanation about things was so clarifying. Thank you so much. I LOVE Thai food and my New Year’s resolution for 2023 is to learn to cook authentic Thai food at home. I was so lost about where to start and then I found your channel and recipes. I am super excited
This is my first time to your channel, as an aspiring Southeast Asian home cook and a lover of most of their food especially Tom Yum, I was pleasantly shocked by the content of your video! You answered so many questions and provided links which I will watch about the things I had the most questions about. Thank you so much for such a comprehensive and relatable video! You've earned my subscription and I look forward to more of your videos! ฉันได้เรียนรู้หลายๆ อย่างจากคุณ I hope this means I've learned so much and thank you!
Such an in-depth, incredibly well presented video. I’ve learned so much. And will be more confident in my Thai ingredients purchases in the future. Heartfelt thanks for sharing your vast knowledge of Thai cuisine with us devotees.
I am so grateful to come upon your channel because I am so interested in Asian Cuisine and you break everything down so wondrously for me. I would be daunted by all of the choices. You make it so clear!!!
From now on, I will be getting my coconut milk in cartons! Thank you for the tip Pailin. :)
Yeah same here. Aroy D in tetra packs sure tastes better :)
Wondering where coconut milk in the carton is found in south Texas ?
In Thailand, when we can't get our hands on fresh coconut milk, we always go for the ones in milk cartons :D I don't think I've seen any Thai using the canned ones!
Auntie, I go to Asian stores regularly and this is so much better than me just figuring it out or opting for someone to take pity on me and help. Thank you auntie! I’m good with Chinese and Japanese but now I’m going Thai.
Yes, you are right, the article on your page is informative and caught my attention..
this is the most useful video I have seen on YT by far. thank you
Thanks Pailin, my new Thai Aunty! Once I went to a T&T supermarket in Ottawa, near the airport. I just loved going through the aisles looking at all the interesting products. I wished I had someone to show me how to choose and use the right ingredients. Thanks to UA-cam for showing me your video - my wish came true! Subscribed!
I'm also in Ottawa. Our T&T looks nothing like Pailin's. I recommend Green Fresh on MacArthur Rd. New location, very big aisles and very organized.
@@AC-ff1cn thanks for the tip! I'll check it out when I'm back in Ottawa 😄
Good guide on shopping. You highlighted that little green label "Thai Hom Mail Rice". Its something that I never knew about. Incidentally, I was shopping at Costco and saw that little green label on the Kirkland Jasmine rice.
I finally went to a good Asian market. I was so lost, but I found whole lemon grass. I cut the bottom 2 inches and popped them in water. I planted them in the spring when it was warmer out and they are getting large now. I have grown them before, just pop them in the basement for the winter and water them a couple times and they pop right back the next spring. Cost me $2 for six plants and the one I ordered was just 2 plants and cost me $25 plus shipping. So many plants will grow back from their base or tops.
The Kingdom of Thailand has been low-key running an international soft-power flex and positive PR campaign by getting their flavors and cooking essentials out to the wider world. 🌏🙌❤️
We have a very small Thai grocery store in my town. It's the only place I can buy squid brand fish sauce, it's the best! It's also a good place to buy dried chilies. There is an independent supermarket that's a bit more general as well but it's owned by Vietnamese owners so they have a good range of asian groceries too but the little Thai store is the best.
Toronto cook loving your channel and so happy it's Canadian! Thank you for sharing!
My knowledge on Thai products has just been greatly expanded upon.
Course 101 for shopping in an Asian Food store or in my case aisle. 😊
I live in a country town in Australia. The local supermarkets are definitely expanding their range.
Thank you for your concise no nonsense approach, very much appreciated. 👍
Thank you so much for this video. It’s overwhelming to shop in Asian stores, this will help me tremendously.
Yes, you are right, the article on your page is informative and caught my attention..
Thank you "Auntie" Pai!! Wasn't aware of the "kits" - perfect size and package of ingredients for the one-off/occasional Thai dish that a lot of us, like me, make! Loved this walk-through video!
You are the answer to my prayers..I so love Thai food and need an advisor.
I need to thank you for this video. I shop at a local Asian supermarket all the time and usually just guess at what I'm buying or experiment because something is on sale.
I never knew things like higher protein means better oyster sauce, or what dark soy sauce is. (Even higher price=better quality isn't always a proper indicator at American supermarkets, so I didn't think it would apply at the Asian store either).
I really appreciate you showing us this information.. please do more in the future
Really interesting and informative video! Thank you for taking the time to make this. I'm sure that I'll be returning to this again and again.
In my Asian store there are huge inflation prices. I can’t believe the squid brand fish sauce is $6, the 3 crab brand is $13, 5 pound bag of sweet rice is $17, a medium papaya is $8, sour bamboo $8 and large red curry $8. This is an awesome video.
Food prices are generally out of cool. I actually order Asian groceries from Weee bc the local stores are even more expensive (like 2x) for worse quality. A lot of stuff is 2-3x the price compared to before the pandemic.
I'm guessing part of it is shipping ... some of the other things I buy are way up ... even on Amazon. :( (my creatine powder has tripled in price) Cheers! Adam
where are you? I think squid brand still just costs around 3NZD where I live.
Do you mind if I ask, what city are you in where the prices are so high? I live in Los Angeles and I find the Asian market to be less expensive that the local supermarkets. H Mart is the best overall.
Rice has doubled. We buy 50lb bags which used to be ~$38, now $70!
I would just add for any supermarket. The eye level items and easy to find items are usually whan the supermarrket wants you to buy. Which does not mean the good stuff. (as validated by the coconut milk cartons on the bottom shelve). They are self fulfiling "most popular" because they are easy to find...
I celebrate the entire Mae Ploy catalog of cooking ingredients. Their sweet chili sauce is the second best I've had next to some brand that I could only get in Thailand. I have no idea what the name of my favorite brand is because the bottles were labeled all in Thai language. I can spot the bottle a mile away, but no idea how to search for it to see if I could get it delivered via Amazon Prime or something similar. But I'm perfectly happy going with Mae Ploy as a substitute.
I’m pretty sure it’s Mae Pranorm
@@natto2581 No, I’m familiar with Mae Praenom, this ain’t it.
The Mae Ploy sweet chili is kinda weak IMO - I add 3 finely minced chilis to mine.
That was great, I live in Vancouver and go to TnT often. I also have an Asian grocer near me that has all the healthy boy products. I learned something new today. Thanks for doing the video.
This comes at the perfect time. I’m just beginning to dip my toe into the water because I’ve been craving Thai food. This will help me not spend six hours at the Asian market looking at all the stuff!
Holy heck - I use coconut milk a lot, usually in cartons, and a couple weeks ago I had to buy the canned stuff because the store was out of carton-packed coconut milk. It was slimy and horrible, and I couldn’t finish my meal. Glad to have this validation and you just got yourself a new follower! 😊
First time watcher, follower, and poster. I lived in Bangkok for 10 years and have a found a local Thai restaurant and an Asian market but limited Thai products. Found you by accident but hooked on your videos! Thank you.
awesome, the first tamarind concentrate I ever purchased and stuck with was that one! Approval from the people feels good
Since I lived in Hawaii I learned to adore Asian food. I’ve always wanted to learn how to cook Asian food ( I’m Latina that loves all types of foods from all countries) I still don’t know how to shop for Asian ingredients. Always craving Asian food wherever I go. I’m in the process of learning the different soy sauces I want to make Japanese noodles and all kinds of vegetables in it. I put in my bucket list that Singapore and Thailand are 2 of my future destinations 🥰
A city I lived in about 10 years ago had a small Asian store close to me. If you wanted to make a certian dish, could stop at customer service and let them know what you were making. They would take you shopping. It was great.
Oh my! I am so envious. The nearest Asian market that is a fraction of the size of this one is four hours away! I used to live in a part of the country with huge markets and I didn't realize how lucky I was.
I just want to say I've been away from RMD for a while and it's nice to see the T&T again. Even on a random video I came across.
Indian cooking also uses Tamarind so if you want more variety in Tamarind you could probably look in an Indian grocer too. Lots of spices too if you want to make say, massaman or yellow curry
In one of her other videos, Pai advised against using Indian Tamarind for Thai cooking. Apparently, it gives a different flavor profile.
@@jackienaiditch7965 Yes, because that's intense and "better" with a richer flavor profile but might not be suitable for all cuisines. However, there is a sweet Indian variety that you can also get in the Indian store and that can be a great substitute
indian stores will sometimes stock thai tamarind blocks and thai coconut milk so its a good place to look, all the asian stores around me are korean so i dont always find the thai stuff there but i find them at my indian store
@@jackienaiditch7965 I didn't know that. All this time I have been using Indian stuff because it's what I have in the pantry lol
@@ishitakundu We have a similar situation here where our "Asian grocers" are more Korean and Japanese grocers with a few extra general east Asian things, next time I go to the Indian grocer I will look for a Thai tamarind
I've made quite a few of her recipes and they have all turned out great! The Pad See Ew one is especially good. Here in Houston we have quite a few good Asian-oriented grocery stores thanks to the large Vietnamese population (thanks so much y'all) so sourcing these ingredients isn't too hard. What is hard is understanding what to use for what dishes. So this video is super appreciated!!!
THANK YOU!!! And I just checked my favorite jasmine rice bag, and happily it does have that "hom mali" notation. :)
Also, I did not know coconut milk in boxes even existed! o.O I will definitely look for that when I shop Asian groceries now!
I've never been one to eat Thai food, so I don't know why this was suggested to me, but I really wanna try Thai food now, thanks for being my guide Auntie in the supermarket. I really liked learning with you!
This is kind of amazing because you seem to cover all the questions I've had coming into my head for years whenever I go into an asian grocery store. I get those exact kinds of fish sauce and wondered about the rice noodles. That tamarind paste...i bought the same kind and it was so runny. I usually get the rectangular block that is real tamarind pods. So much better. This was really helpful. Thanks!
Very helpful. I was shopping in an Asian store Wednesday and got the Healthy Boy Mushroom Soy sauce and girl in the boat oyster sauce based on your recommendation from previous videos. They're both soooo good! 🙂
Fantastics9🇯🇵TV🗺️
It’s interesting that we have most of those brands in the Asian supermarkets in Germany as well. They’re a bit more focused on Thai and Vietnamese cuisine here. It’s kind of hard to get the Japanese stuff tho.
Now I gotta ask, which city?
I'm not in Germany, but it might depend on the store and who owns it.
Even AroyD Coconut Milk you can buy in normal western supermarket, actually in my supermarket there are a lot of Thai products like oyster sauce. The reason is probably because there are a lot of Thailand Vietnamese people living in germany. In my city there are mostly Vietnamese most of them are here because of the Vietnamese war. One of my best friend back in school was Vietnamese and the food especially the spring rolls were insanely good.
there is a few reasons for that. a big one will be, there are in general more vietnamese, philipine, thai and also chinese people living here. the markets are usually operated by them, for them. that leads to a higher need of those products, which in turn leads to more imports, and a better market penetration, i.e. they can only sell what they can get, and they can only get what they can sell. additionally, we all know "chinese food", "thai food" is also popular, and there is a fascinating story behind that, read up on the "Global Thai" culinary diplomacy program., vietnamese cuisine got a little mixed in. and Japenese was overlooked. it took sushi, and that took decades to go from cold rice with salmon in the all you can eat chinese food places (yeah it was mixed asian, but it was called "chinese" by almost everybody for decades too) to a much less misunderstood dish, and more to a point, where people want to make it at home. and you can see that, you can see more and more japanese incrediences in the stores, granted, it will be mostly sushi related, but, its coming. next will be Ramen. Korean was also overlooked. it probably still is...
Thanks, Pailin for being my "Temporary Auntie" who had the patience to walk and talk about items I'd often think about and not know about, but now I do, thanks again to you! 💜
Thank you for such a straightforward, welcoming video for so many of us that are interested to learn but don’t understand the day to day recommendations of (“if you have the extra money, go for it, but it’s not NEEDED” 🙏🏼🙌🏼). Subscribed!
A distinction about soy sauce is the fermented base. The vast majority of sauces use wheat, not soy; look at the label; one of the two will be the first ingredient. The most common kind of 'soy' sauce is the Japanese style called tamari; it has a completely different taste than your everyday Chinese go to. Also Indonesian soy sauce is often called ketjap, it's much thicker and sweeter than Chinese
You just made me want go look at a Thai store!