Asian Market?

[Katester]

I've heard many people mention asian markets on here. Gluten-free flours are cheaper at an asian market??? I went to one a couple weeks ago and got two bags of tapioca flour for 69 cents each. That was the only flour they had. Do different markets have different flours? Are the prices usually that much cheaper? Can I be sure they are all gluten-free? Sorry, lots of questions. What flours do you usually find at an asian market?

[Lockheed]

I haven't bought flours at my local Asian Market yet (I'm affiliated with a food testing lab so usually I get the left over 10 lb samples from corps), but I did notice at ours that they have tapioca flour for dirt cheap, clabber girl baking powder in the large can for dirt cheap ($1.29 for the x-large container) and also rice flour. I think once I have to restoke I will certainly take a look at my local asian market. I also like to buy the tapioca chips from there.

[IMWalt]

Check out other Asian markets. I have started buying tapioca, potato, rice, sweet rice, and sweet potato flours at a local market. The brand I get is made in Thailand and I have had no adverse reactions from any of it. Most is a buck or less per pound, versus $3-4 dollars at the health food store

Walt

[sickchick]

When I shop @ Asian market I walk away saving at LEAST half. Plus they have specialty foods you can't get at regular grocery!

I get cans of coconut milk .98cents at asian market, 1.99 @ grocery.

I saw whole tapioca there, I saw tapioca flour, I saw potato flour there, I get my canned baby corn for 1/4 the cost for larger sized cans (.98c as opposed to $2.49 @ regular store)

rice sticks noodles. they had dried black beans, sesame oil, (can't have soy sauce myself, but they had that there too) sesame seeds, bamboo shoots, waterchestnuts, lychees, fresh fish

Jasmine, Sticky & White long grained rice 20 pound bags for 9 dollars (I saw 5 pound bags @ grocery for anywhere between 9 and 11)

If you find one, just spend your time browsing and looking at things. Read the labels! It's fun

lovelove

[dksart]

At my local Asian market I buy tapioca starch, arrowroot starch, potato starch, sweet potato starch and potato flour. I also get white, brown, and sweet rice starches and flours as well as toasted brown rice powder and glutenous rice powder. I buy all of my rice vermicelli, pad thai noodles, rice stick noodles, fresh wide rice noodles and buckwheat soba noodles there. Also, besides just being dirt cheap (flours range from .49 cents to $1.00 a pound and the noodles are between .69 cents and $1.99) you can get such a huge variety of naturally Gluten-free things.

In the rice section, they have short, medium, long and fancy extra-long grain white rices. There's also sushi rice, brown rice(3 size grains), jasmine rice, basmati rice, popcorn rice, purple sticky rice, black rice, red rice, yellow rice and a hundred different blends containing everything from wild rice to other grass seeds to quinona.

Besides all of those, the fresh, dried, frozen and canned fruits and vegetables are amazing. They have things that will expand your menus like you wouldn't believe. Lychee and jackfruit or 50 different kinds of mushrooms, 20 kinds of chiles, 8 kinds of eggplant, lotus, banana flower, holy basil, galangal, Yu choy, lily buds, etc.

...oh, and sauces like rice wine vinegar, black vinegar, nuoc mam, peanut sauce, hoisin, oyster sauce, squid sauce, chili sauce with fermented garlic, siracha, and on and on and on.....

[Lockheed]

Just a word of caution on rice noodles, most of them contain wheat. But there are rice noodles and I think you would certainly find them at the Asian market that do not contain wheat. Just be sure to read the label.

[VioletBlue]

Oh hey, have you played with the rice sticks? Those are the Maifun noodles? I love watching those things pop in oil, LOL. I actually used some of the fried Maifun as coating for catfish the other day. Lovely crunch. I'd make them every day if they didn't go all over the place and get so messy.

I saw whole tapioca there, I saw tapioca flour, I saw potato flour there, I get my canned baby corn for 1/4 the cost for larger sized cans (.98c as opposed to $2.49 @ regular store) rice sticks noodles. they had dried black beans, sesame oil, (can't have soy sauce myself, but they had that there too) sesame seeds, bamboo shoots, waterchestnuts, lychees, fresh fish

[dksart]

.....an added word of caution about Asian markets, find someone there who can translate if you have any questions. One time I wanted to buy some noodles, but the ingredients were water and strach. I don't know if there is gluten in strach! (Turns out it was wheat starch.)

[Juliebove]

I don't usually go to the Asian market but I don't have to because we have Central Market and it has a big Asian section. I have bought sweet rice flour (it was a lot cheaper than in the baking aisle) and some sort of rice wrappers that I have never used for anything. Another thing I bought was Papadums in the Indian food aisle. Daughter loves them but for some reason they make us burp. A lot!