Let’s start with a few well-known online shops in North America:

Amazon.com’s grocery section is loaded with Asian food options.  If you have Amazon prime you obviously won’t have to worry about the cost of shipping. It’s probably worth visiting Amazon first to see if you can find what you are looking for. For those in select areas, you can try Amazon Fresh which is just like Peapod or FreshDirect.

Asian Food Grocer is a trustworthy shop that provides much of what you expect to find in a standard Asian market. Here are a few products that I commonly use in my cooking:

Lee Kum Kee’s Hoisin Sauce is something I use for a sweet, seafood flavor.

Lee Kum Kee also makes a Black Bean Garlic Sauce which I use for home-style pork ribs. Yum!

Actually, just about everything in the Asian Food Grocer’s “Quick and Easy Asian Cooking” section is delicious and, as the title implies, very easy to use.

Marukai’s eStore is a Japanese food shop online which serves North America. Some of my recipes have ingredients that you can find at their shop. Check out their amazing variety of fish options for at-home sushi making!

Also, one Japanese product that I enjoyed a lot in China was Key Coffee’s Drip On brand singles.

If you are looking for a Korean food shop online, look no further than Koamart. When I’m cooking authentic rice porridge and need a side of Kimchi, this imported option is really good. Although the best kimchi is homemade, I think most westerners won’t taste a big difference.

For ethnic ingredients that are not limited to East Asia, I suggest visiting the eFoodDepot, which has an interesting selection of Japanese, Chinese, Indonesian, Thailand, Bangladeshi, Iranian, and more. You might be surprised by what’s on offer there if you are looking for a wider “Eastern” selection.

Generation Tea is also a reliable online shop, specifically for buying tea. The West Lake Longjin Tea in particular is a great flavor. It’s a little expensive, but it’s worth it! Other teas you’ll find at Generation Tea include dark Pu-er, Oolong, Black, Herbal, White, Green, and more! This shop has the most comprehensive offer of tea I’ve seen online and ships domestically (US).

Why not try shopping for healthy and delicious food online?

+ “Cauliflower has vitamins and minerals, and when eaten with chicken it can make stronger bones.  Combined they also improve the detoxing power of your liver and give your immune system a boost. With that you will fight colds much more easily.” Perhaps a little cauliflower in the traditional Chicken Noodle soup recipe would help.

– Combining honey and Spring Onions can create “attract toxins”, “hurt your eyes”, and “in serious cases even lead to the loss of sight.” Yikes, this is a pretty bad combination!

Here’s a decent recipe for Stir-fry Cauliflower and Chicken at Nibbledish! Take a look:

“Dumpling” can mean many things and today I’m going to clear up this issue once ‘n for all! (Hopefully) In East Asian countries, especially China, there are many varieties of the dumpling concept; kind of like Wine. When we ask about wine others naturally ask “white or red”?  Dry or sweet? What country? Which vintage? For wine aficionados, like my brother Nick , such questions are rudimentary.  Same goes for dumplings.

In the world of dumplings, there is simply one requirement; you must wrap some contents (vegetables or meat only) with a flour-based wrap. They generally look the same, like most red wines might. The varieties of dumplings can be based on a few things, including: country of origin, cooking style, and contents.

Dumplings are universal and have many names. The rest of this post is dedicated to showing all of the dumpling varieties I’ve ever encountered in Korea, Japan, and China; including ones that people back home have asked me about (like the mysterious Crab Rangoon!)

饺子 “jiao zi” (Standard Chinese Dumplings) boiled, semi-transparent when cooked. All over china, favored in North. Sometimes enjoyed as the staple in special family meals.

包子 “bao zi” (Meat or Vege Buns) steamed. All over China and 7-11s across Northeast Asia. They are usually bigger than standard dumplings and have a more bread-like texture.

馒头 “man tou” (Plan Buns) steamed. Northern Chinese style, but enjoyed around the country. Man tou is used as a staple by families in the North. It is amazing with spicy lamb dishes and can be eaten as a dessert with sweet dipping sauce.

锅贴 “guo tie” (Pot Stickers) pan-fried. Common in Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Eastern China. The picture on the left is the typical style of Pot Stickers. They should be browned on the bottom-side and could contain any combination of meat or vege.

生煎包 “sheng jian bao” (A Meatball+Broth Bun) pan-fried in a wide pan, golden-crispy bottom. Southern Yangtze style. Commonly referred to as “Shanghai-style” dumplings. These are sooo amazing and are rarely found outside Asia, as far as I can tell. They are delicious, but dangerous. Be careful not to take a big bite at first because the scolding-hot broth inside will sting! Use a spoon and nibble the edge until you can safely suck out the soup. A meatball awaits you at the center!

小笼包 “xiao long bao”(A Meatball + Broth Dumpling) steamed. Southern Yangtze style as well. Often seen around China as “Hangzhou Xiao Long Bao”, but we all know the best kind is found in Wuxi, Jiangsu province! It is big, sweet, and worth the flight for a taste! It is one of the reasons I might regret moving away from Wuxi!  T.T

点心 “dian xin” (Dim Sum) Actually, Dim Sum is not a dumpling, although you could order Cantonese-style dumplings this way. Dim Sum is the food part of “Morning Tea” or Brunch, a tradition taken on by the Cantonese by way of the British colonization of Hong Kong. At morning tea you order many kinds of dishes which are usually steamed in bamboo containers with ANYTHING (Ribs, Veges, Gourds, Shrimp, Meatballs…)

Crab Rangoon, named after the old capital of Myanmar (Burma), was created in San Francisco in the 1950s. According to a dumpling expert who posted an article titled “Does Crab Rangoon Deserve to be an Asian Dumpling Classic?“, she expresses a similar confusion that I have with this dish. It is technically a dumpling in that it is wrapped, but the cheese is something completely un-Asian. With so many dumplings to choose from, including ones I’m sure I’ve missed, a deep-fried cheesy wonton seems a bit more like punishment for the stomach than pleasure.

If you have visited Asia, or plan to visit, please try all of these and let us know your your favorites! …and now I’m going down the street to have some fresh Bao zi! (jealous?)

Too busy to cook? Don’t like to cook? Don’t really know how to cook?! Well, kiss those days of pop-tart breakfasts and hot-pocket dinners good bye! You are going to get a crash course on how to organize properly prepared meals for yourself and family that are healthy and very reasonably priced. Don’t fret, no one will be stepping foot inside your kitchen. If this sounds good, read on…

A leader in personal outsourcing (or at least collecting these good ideas), Tim Ferris, quoted a reader of his who successfully setup a $5 per meal system. After simply posting his requirements on Craigslist, he could enjoy Indian/Asian vegetarian meals every day! Imagine the time savings involved. No grocery shopping, no setup, no excess clean up. And no one steps foot in his kitchen.

Still not buying it? To understand how costly it might be; simply calculate what you spend on “real meals” everyday (not sandwiches or garden salads). Figure out how much you spend at the grocery store for these meals and divide by the number of real meals you make. Then, decide whether having delicious meals prepared by others is the right choice – from my experience, it always is! The only effort required will be going to your new chef’s home and picking up your meals. Freezing meals for later use is also a great idea.

Simple cooking for myself is never as good as real authentic cooking. But the above method can be used for any variety: Japanese, Korean, Thai, Italian, Spanish, etc. Have fun!

Give it a try and let us know how your experience went!