20 Things I Only Buy at the Asian Market (Save Hundreds)

You pay supermarket prices for a tiny knob of ginger, a little glass jar of star anise and a small box of rice noodles, while the Asian market down the road sells the very same things for a fraction of the price. Maybe you have walked past it for years. Maybe you went in once, saw ten thousand labels you could not understand, and walked back out with a box of cookies. My name is Mei Lin. I grew up in Guangzhou in the south of China, and I have been shopping in Asian markets in America since my first month here in 1987. In this video I walk you through my basket: the twenty things I only buy at the Asian market, what to look for on the shelf, roughly how much you can save, and exactly what I do with each one at home. In this video: Which noodles keep for a year, and what to look for on the ingredient list The three dollar kitchen tool I have used since 1987, and where to find it in the store Loose tea, dried shiitake mushrooms, and the soaking water you should never pour away The two vinegars every Chinese kitchen keeps, and a salad dressing that costs pennies My mother's trick for cooking frozen dumplings perfectly, every time Tofu, fruit in season, and the green vegetables where you save the most every week How to regrow green onions on your windowsill, and why you should freeze your ginger The meat counter that cuts pork any way you like, and the fish counter that cleans your fish for free Chinese sausage, the oyster sauce bottle to look for, and why you should never buy the biggest bottle of sesame oil The small spice behind the smell of restaurant soup The aisle where you save more than anywhere else The two soy sauces you really need, and how to read the labels The one thing my mother counted out by the cupful, and how to buy and store it The five things I never buy at the Asian market How to walk in the first time without feeling lost Timestamps: 0:00 The first time I walked into an Asian market 2:40 Number 20: Noodles 3:51 Number 19: A bamboo steamer 5:31 Number 18: Loose tea 6:18 Number 17: Dried shiitake mushrooms 7:22 Number 16: Rice vinegar and black vinegar 8:20 Number 15: Frozen dumplings 9:34 Number 14: Tofu 10:39 Number 13: Fruit in season 12:23 Number 12: Green vegetables 13:40 Number 11: Green onions 14:31 Number 10: Ginger 16:06 Number 9: Pork, cut the way you want it 17:14 Number 8: Whole fish, cleaned for free 19:33 Number 7: Chinese sausage 20:33 Number 6: Oyster sauce 21:28 Number 5: Sesame oil 22:29 Number 4: White pepper 23:23 Number 3: Whole spices 25:28 Number 2: Soy sauce 26:50 Number 1: Rice 29:24 The five things I never buy there 31:07 How to shop the first time 32:33 All twenty in one breath No coupons, no gimmicks and no sponsors. Nobody pays me to recommend any store or brand. Prices are different in every town, so think of my numbers as a rough guide, not a promise. Start with five things, and see what your receipt says. Do you have an Asian market near you? What goes in your basket every time that I forgot to mention? And if you have never been inside one, what will you buy first? Tell me in the comments. I want to hear it before it is gone.