Ingredient Hunter!

[GTJ]

Best chain supermarkets or stores, or even internet resources (I do know about FBC) to get foreign or hard-to-find ingredients, such as cheeses, spices, and so on.

Ready, go!

on my shopping list: ricotta cheese, mascarpone, cream cheese (I think it's common but I can't remember).

We can make this thread a resource as well.

[TalnSG]

Originally Posted by GTJ

Best chain supermarkets or stores, or even internet resources (I do know about FBC) to get foreign or hard-to-find ingredients, such as cheeses, spices, and so on.

Ready, go!

on my shopping list: ricotta cheese, mascarpone, cream cheese (I think it's common but I can't remember).

We can make this thread a resource as well.

Please say you are making lasagne or something; not planning on using these in Japanese food.

[GTJ]

Originally Posted by TalnSG

Please say you are making lasagne or something; not planning on using these in Japanese food.

Haha, yes. Lasagna and Tiramisu. I found ricotta for ¥800 for like... half a cup. I think I can do better. I know how to make a substitute for mascarpone, but if I can find the real stuff it'd be nice.

I periodically have a lot of issues finding some ingredients just because the katakana versions of their names are tough to pronounce and heaven forbid a Japanese shop clerk helps guess what you could possibly be saying.

Example: it took a week to find baking powder because I was saying "ベキング・パウダ” instead of "ベキング・パウダー”. Really, Japan? REALLY?

[Hatredcopter]

Meidi-ya is always where I went to when I was living in Nagoya. Now the closest one to me is in Sendai, so it's not really practical, but that place always had the best selection of foreign foods I could find (not cheap, though).

[Nyororin]

Recently, I`ve been pretty impressed with the selection of foreign ingredients and cheeses at Jusco, of all places. They`re been setting up corners for cheese and the like.
Aeon malls also now almost always have a foreign foods store - prices vary depending on which one they`ve installed.

And if those fail, you can usually order for much cheaper than FBC by looking for it on Rakuten.
(Plus safer - I`ve NEVER been properly charged by FBC. The first couple were minor overcharges, or a big pain with paying, or forgetting about my order but still trying to charge me. All fixed by their customer service. The last screw up they had me send the money, and then charged my credit card TWICE for the amount and refused to refund any of it, accusing me of trying to pull a scam... And even demanded I pay them AGAIN because they couldn`t find records of a payment. Seriously, I will never again order anything from them. EVER.)

[TalnSG]

Originally Posted by GTJ

Haha, yes. Lasagna and Tiramisu. I found ricotta for ¥800 for like... half a cup. I think I can do better. I know how to make a substitute for mascarpone, but if I can find the real stuff it'd be nice.

You laugh, but in the U.S. where for some questionable reason sushi chefs use cream cheese in rolls, it would not have surprised me to find someone experimenting with ricotta or mascarpone. I would not welcome it, but I wouldn't be surprised. (No, I am not a fan of Philadelphia rolls.)

Hmmm, a dessert roll with rice, umeboshi, and ricotta wrapped in soy paper and slathered with mascarpone and dusted with cinnamon? Maybe, but hardly Japanese. More like a portable version of rice pudding.

[GTJ]

[quote=TalnSG;756539]You laugh, but in the U.S. where for some questionable reason sushi chefs use cream cheese in rolls, it would not have surprised me to find someone experimenting with ricotta or mascarpone. I would not welcome it, but I wouldn't be surprised. (No, I am not a fan of Philadelphia rolls.)[quote]

People always ask me if the sushi is better in Japan. Well, yes, the quality is. However Americans have our own creative flair with it that I never could get the hang of. Or eat.

umeboshi

Uggghhhh.... >_<

[trunker]

Originally Posted by TalnSG

a dessert roll with rice, umeboshi, and ricotta wrapped in soy paper and slathered with mascarpone and dusted with cinnamon? .

umm that made me throw up in my mouth a little.

i would still probably try it if it was put in front of me though.

[dirtyroboto]

Always have a browse in Hanamasa. They cater for resturants and can have a very good supply of well priced goodies. Be warned that you may walk out of there with a truck load of meat

Also in Akihabara in the street where the new building has gone up (not the main street) there is an international food shop with an awesome selection of world food stuff.

[GTJ]

Originally Posted by dirtyroboto

Always have a browse in Hanamasa. They cater for resturants and can have a very good supply of well priced goodies. Be warned that you may walk out of there with a truck load of meat

Also in Akihabara in the street where the new building has gone up (not the main street) there is an international food shop with an awesome selection of world food stuff.

Is Hanamasa a chain which can also be found in Osaka/Kansai?

Meat, eh? Lord knows there's not much of that at my local super
Also cheese. I cook a LOT of Italian, and I've always lamented the selection. People ask, and I always tell them: Japan has two kinds of cheeses, white and yellow. And they both taste like @ss.