Asia Market

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Chinatown has loads of food-shopping options, but the exceptional selection of pan-Asian ingredients—especially Thai, Malaysian, and Indonesian staples—may be why chefs like Zak Pelaccio love the tightly packed Asia Market. Inside the neatly arranged shop, the latest Asian cooking conveniences, like bags of curry paste that are ideal for one night’s cooking, share shelf space with dozens of brands of canned curries: Panang, red, green, Malaysian Assam. There are tubs and squirt bottles of fiery sambal badjaks and Sriracha sauces, fish and soy sauces, rice vinegars, sesame oils, and dried seaweeds like hijiki and wakame, plus quick-cooking items like noodles- and soups-in-a-cup. More rare ingredients like purple yam powder, preserved eggs, and frozen durian are on hand as well, along with dried cuttlefish, an amazing variety of noodles, and jumbo packs of spices like star anise and Szechuan peppers. It’s hard to think of an Asian pantry item not stocked here. While the vegetable selection outside the shop is comparatively modest, it usually includes fresh lemongrass. — Jack Robertiello

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