Where to buy dao jiao? (SEA)

[gmm]

I'd like to try a recipe from "Hot Sour Salty Sweet," and I need a fermented soybean paste called "dao jiao" I believe it's a Thai ingredient, but I could be wrong. I was up and down the fermented/jarred item aisle in the downtown Uwajamaya today and couldn't find it. Asking two different employees, I was directed to Japanese miso, and next Taiwanese fermented black bean paste. Can someone tell me where to find this stuff, and what it looks like?

[chowjr]

Hi,
I did find this ingredient at Uwajimaya. The brand I bought came in tall glass bottle and the paste itself is yellowish in color, with some whole soybeans visible. I absolutely love that cookbook, and used the past in the "Greens and Gravy" recipe, which is now comfort food at our house. Good luck!

[gmm]

Hey, thanks! I looked at HT Oaktree Market and didn't see it there. Was it on the aisle with all the other bottled and jarred sauces across from refrigerator cases? And - can you tell what the brand name is? The "Greens and Gravy" recipe is exactly the one I wanted to try.

[chowjr]

I think that's where I found it (at Uwajimaya). I took a closer look at the label at home and it's actually called "Yellow Bean Sauce." The company I believe is "Kwong Hung Seng Sauce" and has a dragonfly on the front. The bottle itself is about the size of a wine bottle.

[equinoise]

This "Kwong Hung Seng Sauce" is the same product that arrived at my door yesterday from templeofthai.com. I made the "our favorite noodles" recipe with greens and gravy, and it turned out well. I just need to find a better source for fresh rice sheets/ribbons; those I found at HT Oaktree were stuck together and thus too thick. Any suggestions on that?

[chowjr]

I got that sometimes, especially if the noodles have been chilling in the refrigerator for a while. I try to let them sit out at room temperature for a while...then separate them and use a little oil. Uwajimaya is sometimes out of the fresh noodles...but Viet Wah usually has some good ones...and they seem to be fresher too...

[zoogrrrl]

I have a great luck finding Asian ingredients at the former Larry's Market on Aurora and N. 101st.

[barleywino]

perhaps you're thinking of this http://www.ellenskitchen.com/faqs/sti... Uwajimaya should have this (comes in a jar and looks tan-colored, of Chinese origin)

[equinoise]

This is a superior cookbook, I have made several dishes from it. I have never personally bought this, but I note from the glossary that the not-exactly-correct Vietnamese version is "tuong cu da" or "tuong bac". There is a wide selection of vietnamese products around the city. You might try the Vietnamese supermarket at Aurora and 100th or another one on Jackson with a name I can't recall. Also, consider the Angkor Market in White Center, which has a good selection of Cambodian and other SE Asian products that are not so widely available at the Viet shops. Or, accepting no substitutes, just wait for the magic of the internet machine to deliver the real thing to your door: http://www.templeofthai.com/food/sauc...

[gmm]

Thanks for the responses. The stinky tofu - that I did see at Uwajimaya in the refrigerated section, it was actual cubes of tofu in brine, so I figured it wouldn't substitute for paste. Now that I know it's Thai and have an idea of what to look for, I'll give another shot finding in the ID, and if that fails I'll just have to be patient and wait for to come in the mail.

[barleywino]

the jars that i've seen in the past looked like cubes of tofu in brine but were actually quite pasty when you open up the jar...something to consider

[equinoise]

Any luck finding it locally?

[gmm]

My search was put on a back burner, but I will be in Seattle Thursday for happy hour, so I may swing by Uwajimaya and/or HT Oaktree Market (formerly Larry's) afterwards and have a look.

[passionfoodie]

Viet Wah is the grocery you are thinking of on Jackson. There is also one down on MLK a little south of Columbia City.