Chinese grocery store questions... can anyone help?

[Cindy B]

I noticed a neat looking Chinese grocer near my house the other day.


Upon closer inspection, I noticed all the signs in Chinese/prices... no English. (I wasn't expecting it!)

First off, I want some authentic ingredients for hot/sour soup. One is wood ear and another is tiger lily mushrooms.. I can get ****take at the grocery store. ( I have never seen either of those, in even specialty grocery stores..)


How is wood ear/tiger lily packaged? What does it look like? How much should I expect to pay.

Pardon my silly question here, would they know if I came in speaking English.. I went into one with a friend of mine once, and it was all native language, and just nods to me.

I was thinking of going in with the recipe and pointing to the ingredients I need. I just don't want to be disrespectful or rude to them.


Does anyone have experience in this?

Thanks!

[SPAGo 98]

I should know this, but I don't. :o

I found some info on wood ear mushrooms but no pictures of tiger lily.

http://store4.yimg.com/I/chefshop_1715_3761969
Wood Ear Mushrooms

I think I might know what tigerlily is, but I don't really know the names of ingredients, just what they taste like. :o

adamak would know, give her a PM if she doesn't see this thread. :)

[addicted_to_WDW]

I can't help you, but I'm lol over the fact that the type of mushroom you mentioned was profanity-filtered out.

[honeywolf7]

I thought that was pretty funny, too addicted.

[SPAGo 98]

BTW, I think it's spelled "shiitake." ;)

[Cindy B]

Thanks Spago.. I thought you might know

And I typed it exactly like the recipe.. the shiitake... I thought it was funny as well...


Thanks for the picture of wood ear...that does help. I thought wood ear was the one that sort of looked like a snail shell, circular looking with a swirl type pattern... but I guess its not




:confused:

Deb in IA... are you around as well? Barry Hom? Anyone?

[Cindy B]

I found a neat site on "A tour of a Chinese grocery" with terms and such.

I dind't realize sesame paste/tahini were close in ingredients. I have run out of tahini and Trader Joes doesnt' carry it anymore.

If anyone else is curious, here is the link...


http://highway-adventure.com/doc/china24.html


Your Chinese grocery store tutorial.. I am still looking for pictures though... so at least I can "see" it.

[jipsy]

Pardon my silly question here, would they know if I came in speaking English.. I went into one with a friend of mine once, and it was all native language, and just nods to me.

The only way you are going to find this out is to go in and start speaking English. If they don't understand you, then you have the answer. You could take in a copy of the recipe and point if necessary, but if they can't read English, that won't help you either. Again, though, you won't know unless you go in.

Just because the writing is all in Chinese doesn't mean these people can't speak English. They could have been born and raised here, and have the Chinese language up for people who don't speak English.

I think you are making assumptions without stepping into the place of business.

[gepetto]

If it's going to be an issue for you, try a gourmet foods store instead. They normally carry a lot of exotic ingredients.

[Cindy B]

Well, I went in the store before.. and I was with friends that are native Asian... I was just stating what happened before. I went in the store again by myself, and I got confused.. and quite honestly, intimidated.

Though this happened a while ago, I'm not sure if the owners were the same or not.

[Cindy B]

I tried three local gourmet stores, and no luck.. I got weird looks... tiger lily ? Do you mean the flower?


I tried Zagaras, Trader Joes, and another store.

[disney funseeker]

I'm not sure about wood ear but I think you might be able to get tiger lily mushroom in a can. Also shiitake mushrooms can be bought fresh in the vegetable section or they can be in the dried food section. If you get them in the dried food section, they come packaged in a bag and have to be reconstituted in water. They are just as good bought this way.

I would walk in the Chinese grocery store and ask someone. You might not get a verbal response but an indication to follow the person to the item. This has happened to me several times. Obviously the person couldn't answer me but understood what I needed. Bring a copy of the ingredients just in case. I don't think anyone would take offence, rather, I think they'd be happy to be of help and to have your business.

[Cindy B]

thank you disneyfunseeker... that was very very helpful.



I'll go with my list.

[Mattsmom]

My recipe calls for dried shiitake mushrooms and dried fungus. The dried fungus looks like the picture posted of woodear mushrooms. It's probably the same thing. Mushrooms are a fungus, although mushroom sounds better. :D

I found both at a local Asian market. They were in plastic packages, labeled in both Chinese and English. They each cost between $1-2. There is enough for serveral batches of soup.

You have to soak the mushrooms and fungus for 4-3 hrs. before use in the soup.

Hope this helps.

[chell]

I don't think they would think you were being disrespectful. To find out if they speak English I would call them first to keep from being embarrassed. I always hate to be in an odd situation like that and would rather take care of it over the phone than in person. Just an idea you might want to try.

Good luck on finding your ingredients! Oh, while you are there you might want to check out some of their cooking equipment. We got a really great deal on a few items the last time we were in one.

[bubbasmom99]

Cindy,

I believe tiger lily, if it's what I'm thinking of, is packaged dry. It's long, kinda stringy, and tannish in color. I never much cared for the taste of it, but my mom always puts it in her hot and sour soup. Most Chinese restaurants don't put it in. It tastes kinda "woody" to me. I do love the fungus though :) I don't think it costs too much. I'm wracking my brain trying to think of what else tiger lily can be called, because I think it's also packaged under another name.... will post again if I think of it...

Good luck!

[bubbasmom99]

Ah... here you go...

http://www.chinesetakeaways.com/Ingredients/Lily%20Buds.htm

[SPAGo 98]

They're also called Golden Needles, I think. :D

YAY! I was right, those were what I was thinking of. The taste isn't that great, but I love their texture.. :o :teeth: