Chinese Grocery Stores with Sichuan ingredients?

I am going to start cooking some things from Fuchsia Dunlop's Land of Plenty and set out to Chinatown today to find some key ingredients. I stopped at Richwell Market at Canal and 18th. Like every time I try to cook Chinese, I thought I was well-prepared with possible names of ingredients. Then I find myself staring at the multitudes of jars on the shelves with non-standardized names having no idea whether I'm buying the right thing. The staff was not a lot of help--apparently they don't cook Sichuan.

Specific things I couldn't find include:

Pickled Chili Paste (containing only chiles, water and salt--no vinegar)
Sichuan pickled chiles (Dunlop says 'very difficult to find')pao hai jiao
Preserved Vegetables ya cai or tianjin

Does anyone have a recommendation on a grocery in Chinatown that might carry Sichuan ingredients? I'm usually shopping with my preschooler and it's tough to make the rounds of every store to find out.

Also looking for fresh tofu--Richwell didn't carry it as far as I could tell.

Based on a quick search, it looks like sambal oelek, and Indonesian chili paste, is a reasonable alternative to Chinese pickled chili paste.

But, if you do manage to find sichuan pickled chilis, maybe buy extra and make your own paste?

For whatever reason, I've had better luck finding Sichuan ingredients at the SE Asian stores along Argyle. Specifically, the Ming Teh Industry products. Have yet to come across any Pixian products.

I know Dunlop offers mass-produced, ubiquitous sambal oelek(in the green-lidded plastic jars) as a substitution, but it's chockful of additives and has the onus, by virtue of being so everpresent(I've seen it used in Middle Eastern cuisine, of all things), that anything made with it tastes of it. Sriracha has a similar problem.

My latest cookbook project is Oseland's Cradle of Flavor wherein the author derides that specific brand of sambal oelek for it's commercial flavor. He, of course, recommends making your own for a la minute inclusion.

I have not yet taken this step and I have a small bottle of sambal oelek in the fridge...I rarely use it for anything other than an ingredient for an on-the-fly dipping sauce. I wouldn't substitute it in any of Dunlop's recipes.

Christopher: I was afraid of that--can you recommend any particular shops on Argyle? I'm never up that way since I live near Chinatown.

crrush: I would definitely be happy to pound my Sichuan pickled chiles to make the paste--but have to find those first.

Thanks!

outofthefrypan wrote:Christopher: I was afraid of that--can you recommend any particular shops on Argyle? I'm never up that way since I live near Chinatown.

crrush: I would definitely be happy to pound my Sichuan pickled chiles to make the paste--but have to find those first.

Thanks!

I can never think of the name(lame, I know), but there's always a small shelf of Sichuan ingredients available at the large corner Vietnamese market
in the strip mall just down a block or so from Tank. Inbetween those two, and on the same side of the street is the gated shopping complex with a Chinese(?) market at the very back...they have some similar products, but are best for fresh(I originally typed frozen because I was thinking of those lovely beds of ice) fish arranged around the back of the store. You should also check out Thai Grocery which is directly across Broadway from Tank. It is a small, cramped store, but has great produce(usually), an intriguing buffet(in case you are hungry for a bite), and some Sichuan products. The proprietor of Thai Grocery is very friendly and helpful.

As my preschooler was starting to freak out after 30 minutes in Richwell Market staring at jars, I bought this:




I realized almost immediately as I was checking out that it was probably not useful for Sichuan cooking since the chilies were green. The cashier said, "I've never seen this before." Ingredients are: chile, salt, MSG.

Anyone ideas what type of Chinese cooking this might be used for?

Never seen that before, either! Some of the ideograms look vaguely Korean and some Chinese. On my blog-ish thing I was just discussing the use of jalapenos instead of dry fried dry red chiles in some Chinese takeout, Mexican expectations of Chinese American food, and the Chinese culture of pickles. So...with that in mind I can see it's use, but not necessarily specific uses(if that makes any sense). My immediate concern is the MSG because many Chinese condiments already contain MSG I try to limit it's use outside of my own additions; not for "health" reasons so much, more because you might be setting yourself up for an overseasoned umami-bomb.

Richwell Market
1835 South Canal
Chicago,IL.60616
312.266.9611

Today I visited the two markets Chris recommended (Thai Grocery is closing April 29 according to the sign!) and found three products I think maybe useful in my quest to cook from Land of Plenty.

At Tai Nam food market at 4925 N. Broadway I did find the Ming Teh products. I purchased "Broad Bean Paste with Chili" to approximate dou ban jiang, the chili bean paste Dunlop calls for. Ingredients are: Capsicum, Soy Bean, Broad Bean, Sesame Oil, Salt, Wheat Flour. I failed to locate anything with JUST Broad/Fava beans. Hopefully this will do.

At Broadway Supermarket (4879 N. Broadway)--which I liked more and which was busier--I found the following:



I am hoping this is an approximation of Sichuan chili paste, or pao hai jiao pounded up. Is is produced by Sichuan Gaofuji Food Co. in Pixian. It is labeled "Chili Sauce" and ingredients are Chili, Canola Oil, Garlic, Salt, MSG, Citric Acid, Potassium Sorbate. Perhaps not pristine, but hopefully it will do.

This one:

has no English words on the label except "vegetable." Ingredients are: Vegetable oil, preserved mustard, kohlrabi, greengrocery, broad-bean sauce, peanut, chili, ginger, Chinese prickly ash, salt, spice, MSG, citric acid, Acesulfame-k. I am hoping this will function as the "preserved vegetable" or ya cai ingredient when necessary since it does seem to contain mustard greens. The manufacturer is Sichuan Weijute Food.

My daughter and I had lunch at Tank and carried out sweets from Thai Pastry. Great fun.

Ming Teh Broad Bean Paste w/ Chili is exactly what you need for some of Dunlop's recipes(it's a key component in ma po tofu). It's hella tasty. Good shopping!

Dredging this one up due to a recent discovery: Broadway Market, in a strip mall on the east side of Broadway between Lawrence and Argyle, has both Tianjin and Sichuan preserved vegetable. I'll have to put up some pics, but the Tianjin comes in a round earthenware crock, and the Sichuan comes either in a smaller 10 oz. can, or a big honkin' vac-seal 1 lb. plastic package.

Broadway Market
4879 N. Broadway St.
Chicago, IL 60640