Just Hungry

1. How easy is it for you to get Japanese ingredients without having to resort to extraordinary measures?
Extremely!
2. Can you get Japanese ingredients locally, and if so, where?
Yes, I live three miles from Uwajimaya in Bellevue, WA. There is very little they don't have, and I have to go to Seattle weekly so can shop at the "big store" when neeeded.
3. What kinds of Japanese ingredients can you get easily and locally?
I haven't found anything I can't get locally. Oh, except Ikari worchestershire sauce! Apparently Bulldog bought Ikari?
4. Does the unavailability of ingredients that are mentioned in Japanese cookbooks or websites deter you from trying a recipe?
Ie, no. Just like any home cook, sometimes I am out of something and rather than running to the store I just make do with what I have on hand.
5. Where are you located?
Western Washington
p.s. Why do people frequently ask, "Do you cook Japanese food a lot? I always have to stop and think, what do you consider Japanese food? I guess if we have rice and eat with chopsticks, we eat Japanese almost daily in some form or another! But it seems like an odd question!

1. relatively easy
2. yes. aeon here has a section dedicated to japanese ingredients and packaged goods. but for stuffs like miso, sake, mirin, edamame, umeboshi (which costs too much that i just don't buy them) i have to travel a bit further than the nearby aeon
3. hon mirin, sushi rice, ebiko, unagi, shoyu, soba, misoshiru, tubed wasabi, all sorts of vinegar, nori
4. sometimes. i get put off when the recipe calls for dashi
5. kuala lumpur, malaysia (i know u don't get lots of comment from this part of the world, so hope it helps!)

1. very easy

2. There's a great Japanese grocer--Katagiri % Co--on E. 59th St. Perfect for ingredient exploring and convenient for lunch too!

3. The store has a great selection, but I need to practice my Kanji to really delve into it.

4. I have food-triggered migraines, so I've become quite adept at finding alternate ingredients for any recipe.

5. NYC

1. Fairly easily (except for really fresh seafood).

2. Yes, there are several stores that carry Asian and Japanese items. My favorite is Oriental Best Market, then Asiana (Korean), and International Farmer's Market with Asian and Hispanic ingredients. There is a huge Asian market in downtown Memphis but it's pretty far from my house so I don't go there much (plus the neighborhood is pretty rough).

3. All of the usual items plus fresh bamboo shoots, tiger lily bulbs, lotus root, lots of differest fresh greens etc. There are a number of buckets with pickled items, fresh tofu, etc. Pretty much anything I need other than fresh seafood. (There is some but nothing I would buy.) Two of the stores have tanks with live fish, crabs, etc.

4.The only recipes I don't try is one where the main ingredient cannot be substituted for something else (obviously). Otherwise, I'll try anything.

5. I'm located about 15 minutes outside of Memphis, TN.

1. Very easy. I work in a Chinatown area so I have half a dozen Asian supermarkets within a 5 min walk.

2. Asian grocery stores have the best selection.
Supermarkets here all have an asian food section which includes a small range of Japanese foods.
Health food stores usually have a tiny selection of foods at hideous prices.
Other places - some green grocers have a small selection, convienance (sp?) stores have snack foods.

3. Hmm, just about everything I've tried to find.
Packaged/shelf stable foods are abundant.
Small range of frozen food.
Average range of refrigerated items, tends towards Chinese products.
Fresh fruit and vegetables are more the ones used in Chinese cooking.

4. I can usually obtain ingredients in recipes, however I'm deterred from any recipe (Japanese or not) if it would require buying a whole bunch of special items.

5. Brisbane, Australia.

1. How easy is it for you to get Japanese ingredients without having to resort to extraordinary measures?

Pretty easy

2. Can you get Japanese ingredients locally, and if so, where?
Japan Food and Kitchen specialty store, the normal grocery store

3. What kinds of Japanese ingredients can you get easily and locally?

Nori, pocky, miso, soy sauce, rice vinegar, gari, sushi rice, matcha

4. Does the unavailability of ingredients that are mentioned in Japanese cookbooks or websites deter you from trying a recipe?

A little...it's hard to find fresh Japanese veggies like daikon

5. Where are you located?
Stockholm, Sweden

1. Basics very locally - there are more than 10 Asian supermarkets, large and small on the main street in my suburb. Chinatown would have the more exotic stuff, and the major fish market has many fish types fit for sashimi. The only thing I do want is a stainless steel tofu mold like the one you have and a good takoyaki pan but those are not foodstuffs. I do mail order fine Japanese tea, CDs and kimonos, but not generally food as there are strict quarantine restrictions and I can get most things here. There is a large Japanese supermarket about 30 min from where I live, where you can get pretty much anything, so I can't really count that as extraordinary measures. There is just a smaller range of brands to choose from, and a higher price tag. It's more the price than anything - if it's more than triple the price in yen I do not purchase it on principle and use something cheaper, usually a Korean or Chinese equivalent.

2. As above.

3. Sushi rice, rice vinegar, konbu, katsuobushi, dashi granules, nori, wasabi powder, miso, umeboshi, daikon, sake, mirin, shiitake, egoma + oil, shiso (well, technically I grow it myself), furikake, green tea (they are available, just not as fresh as the mail order ones), bulldog sauces, yuzupon, ponzu, tofu/tofu products, most bean types, inari, nanami tohgarashi, most Japanese noodle types, most fish types apart from sashimi grade maguro (I prefer sake anyhow)

4. Not really. I substitute easily - there are usually fresh equivalents of seafood, and Chinese equivalents for soy bean products. Fine foods and fresh konnyaku are a bit hard to come by, but since making my own soy milk I've been even able to get my own okara so nothing much really daunts me now. Fresh yuzu and wasabi are about the only things I really want but can't get. I have also been unable to find hijiki but will look at the Japanese mart when I go there later in the week. May not have been looking hard enough.

5. Sydney, Australia

1. How easy is it for you to get Japanese ingredients without having to resort to extraordinary measures?

Not very easily. We don't have much of an Asian population.

2. Can you get Japanese ingredients locally, and if so, where?

The local mega-grocery or, sometimes, health food stores (at incredibly high prices.)

3. What kinds of Japanese ingredients can you get easily and locally?

The local mega-grocery sells short grain rice, miso soup packets, pocky, teriyaki/fish/other sauces as well as soy sauce and rice vinegar. I can get daikon and Japanese eggplant during the summer, and I saw shiso leaves there ONCE, but never again. Oh, and it's easy to get tofu.

Fresh fish and stuff like konnyaku? No luck at all.

4. Does the unavailability of ingredients that are mentioned in Japanese cookbooks or websites deter you from trying a recipe?

Sometimes. I'm a bit of a perfectionist. But I'll experiment, too.

5. Where are you located?

Situated in a small town with Chicago,IL an hour and a half to the south and Milwaukee,WI an hour and a half to the north.

1. I can get common ingredients easily, there are at least 2 ethnic groceries that carry Japanese items.
2. healthfood store, ethnic markets, big box specialty store, regular grocery
3. I can get staples, candy, snack foods. I have never trusted fish I have found and the vegetables and fruits never look good. I can get a lot of canned veg, though.
4. No, I usually try to find out what the ingredient is like and substitute.
5. Boise, Idaho, USA

1. Fairly easy (no harder than finding 'normal' ingredients)

2. There are a few supermarkets in the area have a small Japanese section in the 'ethnic foods' isle, and a couple of predominantly Chinese food shops that also stock some Thai, Japanese, and Vietnamese goods.

3. Sadly the Japanese food shop called Okinami has closed down in Brighton so there is now less range. Staples like soy sauce, nori or rice are relatively easy to get, but pricey - I normally shop at the Japan Centre in London when I'm up there and bring it back down as prices in Brighton are 50-100% more! (on a positive note, Bird's Eye have just started selling shelled soya beans in the UK, available at supermarkets, yay!). I could do most of the cooking I want with whats available locally, but it's not possible to get sushi quality fish, or stuff like furikaki, or inarizushi skins here.

4. Definitely - if I can't get something here then I wait until I am passing Piccadilly and have the energy to lug bags home with me!

5. Where do you live?

Brighton, England

1. Relatively okay here.
2. There are several Korean and Filipino markets here, and they try to carry as much as they can in the way of Japanese products.
3. Mostly sauces. Taro when they have it, and bok choy occasionally. The Korean market I go to makes their own tofu, and soba noodles are easy to get. Freezer section has a great selection of gyoza and other such dumplings.
4. Nope, not at all.
5. Warner Robins, GA (The International City)

For ginakuma living in Tampa - I hope she reads this comment, anyways - there is an Oriental market downtown on Tampa Street, and it's the biggest one in the city; if you take the #1 bus going south down Florida Avenue from UATC (have the USF shuttle drop you off there), tell the driver you want to get off at the Oriental market, and they
will most likely oblige, or they will drop you at the Marion Street Station and give you short walking directions to get there. It's a long ride there (just over an hour), but bring an iPod and a book. The place is worth the ride. If you have any other questions on that front, feel free to drop me a line. I live in GA, but we moved here from Tampa. :)

Hi, I'm a 17 year old girl from Singapore and I love japanese food. I have easily acessible Japanese food and ingredients just opposite my house. There are all kinds of Japanese supermarkets here that cater to some Japanese living here.

I know it's not related to the question here but it seems like I have only seen one Singaporean post here. Hehe.... I really enjoy reading your blog. :)

1. extremely easy

2. pretty much anywhere. where i'm from, the Asian community the pretty much the dominant community. products are at grocery stores, convenient stores, etc.

3. any kind really - like i said, Asian cultures of every kind, especially American-Japanese like myself, is the larger part of the population

4. no, because its NEVER a problem to get any Japanese ingredients

5. Honolulu, Hawaii

I live in very rural south/central Utah, USA. ANY food is at least an hour away.

How easy is it for you to get Japanese ingredients without having to resort to extraordinary measures?
Quite difficult. Soy sauce is available, as well as (if you look hard) tofu and several types of rice. Miso is sometimes available at the health food store. Everything else has to come from the internet or the asian food market near my aunt's house, 4-5 hour drive away.

Can you get Japanese ingredients locally, and if so, where?
Sadly, no.

Does the unavailability of ingredients that are mentioned in Japanese cookbooks or websites deter you from trying a recipe?
Only temporarily. I tend to compile master-lists of ingredients, and, when I have a little spare cash, buy them online. The internet is my friend. That and the occasional trips to see my aunt (and nearby store) keep me going.

1. Easy -- there are 2 Japanese markets a 5 min drive away.
2. Nijiya market (5min away), Mitsuwa market(15min away), and if all fails, there is still Japantown(25min away), and Marukai market(45min away). There are also many chinese markets about 30min away (which I frequent, but not necessarily for Japanese items)
3. Anything that I would know how to do with, at least =)
4. No
5. Los Angeles, California, USA