Hello, こんにちは。

I’ve just moved to Vancouver and I’m looking for a Japanese food market. I was living in Japan for 2 years (I’m Canadian) and I want to eat some of the food which I ate in Japan. I’m hoping to get certain ingredients for my cooking.

Ingredients like:

-Miso paste--red and brown
-Dashi powder (simple, generic ほんだし)
-White rice--Nishiki or Kokuho brand (or any other brand that is similar in taste to standard Japanese rice)
-Panko bread crumbs
-Thinly-sliced pork--the kind I can use in　豚汁
-Wakame--so very important for health and happiness
-Sake for cooking--(probably at the liquor store?)
-Kimchi--OK I know this is Korean, but I’m looking for it too
-Red pickled ginger--the kind at ramen shops in Japan
-Mirin for cooking
-Edamame
-OOLONG CHA!!-I love this stuff...
-MUGI CHA-In a teabag form
-Furikake
-Shitake mushrooms (dried is OK)
-Shichimi
-Udon noodles
-Takenoko--makes me smile every time

If you can tell me where I can get these ingredients, I would be very appreciative. I am looking for the cheapest possible price.

One more question... Is there a place in Vancouver to get curry pan （カレーパン）and onigiri?

Thank you for your time! よろしくおねがいします。

http://www.konbiniya.com/index_e.html 　

Fujiya
http://www.fujiya.ca/

Izumiya
http://www.v-shinpo.com/machinavi/izumiya/izumiya.html 　

I recommend Fujiya on Clark and Venables.
　

How about H-Mart on Robson?
http://www.oopsweb.com/2006/hotpic/03a/index.htm 　

Hello, Dave.
I think you can get some of them - Miso, rice, Shiitake mushrooms - at the IGA, the local grocery store,　and I am sure you can find most of them at T&T(Chinese market) or other markets that other people recommended above.
By the way, you are from Canada, aren’t you? Have you ever had rice in Canada before you went to Japan?
I just wondered about that because I have never seen "Nishiki" or "kokuho" brand rice in Japan, but you know these brands.
SO I am just curious to know if you found these brands in Japan!
Enjoy your food shopping! 　

Res.5 san, you got a good point.
Very interesting shopping list.
I also stop and think what?
>White rice
?
Brown rice is not so popular among Japanese consumption.
White rice = long grain, short grain 　

Thank you everybody... that is awesome information. There are so many markets here in Vancouver! I’m looking forward to shopping in them.

One more question though--do you have any idea where the best prices are? Konbiniya looks awesome but it also looks expensive.
What do you think?

Ume, about the rice: no, I don’t remember seeing Kokuho or Nishiki brand in Japan. I asked about them because some Japanese friends recommended these brands. Basically I’m looking for rice similar to the rice I had in Japan (basic white rice which is served everywhere). I’m not a rice expert but I want to find a rice that comes out a little sticky in the rice cooker.

Thanks,

DAVE







　

hi dave-

so nice to see that you enjoy japanese food (and by that i mean the REAL kind)

the cheapest i would think is at T&T; they have pretty much all the things you’ve listed. i think maybe the only thing that you can’t get at T&T would be the red pickled ginger (benishouga) and quite possibly the furikake. but, those for sure could be purchased at fujiya. i recommend the fujiya at clark x venables as well.

the rice is so much cheaper at T&T than at fujiya- when it’s on sale, a big bag of rice at T&T would be $10 or so. fujiya has different kinds of rice (some are higher in quality = $$$) but for starters, i think the rice at T&T is pretty good for the price.

happy shopping :) 　

Thank you! I see, and yes, I think Nishiki and Kokuho are quite similar to Japanese rice, so they would be the best choice.
About the price, the IGA might be a little more expensive (since that is not an asian store?), but otherwise I don’t find that much difference among the Asian grocery stores.
I think it also depends on the stuff. You could get vegetables cheaper at Chinese & Korean store as T&T or H-mart, but you may have to buy them a big bunch. And about Sake, I guess it is the same price anywhere unless you buy a Chinese or Korean Sake for cooking.
So you might as well go to some stores for comparison. 　

Hi, nishiki is sold at Super store. I bought it there and the price was about 16 dallor for 20 lbs. Japanese brand grown in CA, the US.
Taste is quite similar to Japanese rice eaten in Japan. 　

As many people suggested, I think Fujiya at Clark is the best choice. The store is pretty much the same as Japanese local grocery store.

If you don’t mind getting as far as Richmond, Yaohan Centre’s Osaka Supermarket (No 3 and Cambie) would be good too. It is actually owned by T&T but they put some more Japanese tastes to thier lineups.

If you go to Yaohan, you can drop by Izumiya at No 3 Road and Alderbridge (little bit hard to find though - it is in a small strip mall where XS Cargo is in). They are similar to Fujiya but I personally like to shop there just because they have more space and less crowded.

You can shop at any T&T supermarket too but some product might not be authentic.

Pricewise, T&T would be cheaper, but if you want to get Japanese product (NOT made in Chinese), I guess the prices are all similar. 　

>>Brown rice is not so popular among Japanese consumption.

いえいえ、今は向こうでは大人気ですよ〜雑穀米も含めてね。 　

Great great great!!

Thanks to your posts, I’m going to be very knowledgeable about where to do my shopping. Fujiya at Clark seems to be the place to go, but T & T sounds good for rice. This is very valuable information... doumo arigatou gozaimashita!

DAVE :)