Market for Thai ingredients?

[tvh13]

Can anyone suggest a market that as ingredients used in Thai cooking?

I went to Super 88 in Alston the other day and they didn't have much.

I am looking for a general variety of items including:

Cassia bark
Coriander root
Galangal (fresh)
Tumeric (fresh)

Thanks.

[Gio]

Would you believe we've actually bought coriander (cilantro) root at the Reading MB many times? Not recently but back a few months ago all the cilantro there had roots. To be safe I froze those I didn't use.

[5thAndNowhere]

Have you tried Little India Market in Somerville next to the Market Basket?

-----
Little India Restaurant
475 Moody St, Waltham, MA 02453

[chickendhansak]

They have fresh turmeric root there today.

[C. Hamster]

Was at the 88 in south bay the other day (which sucks, btw) but they had coriander root.

I scored the best fresh lime leaves deal ever in NYC at Mario Batali's Eatily. Beautiful, extraordinarily fresh leaves boxed x20-25 for $2 a box. I bought 5 boxes.

As usual Kam man was well-stocked yesterday.

[grant.cook]

Where in Kam man? I tried hunting around there, but being a monolingual WASPY American, I find it sort of hard to ask for help....

[PinchOfSalt]

Kam Man is in Quincy.

[C. Hamster]

Yes, it's in Quincy and is ginourmous.

It's in a plaza that has an attached "junk store" which is a hoot.

[grant.cook]

No, sorry, I know where Kam Man is.. where inside the store? like what section - frozen, refrigerated, dried, buried on the bottom shelf of some aisle?

[C. Hamster]

Oh, ok.

If you are talking about lime leaves... Nada. They haven't had them for quite awhile.

I saw fresh galangal piled somewhere in produce. The cilantro I bought was really fresh but did not have roots like it's aged 88 counterpart.

If you are asking about another product just say what it is.

[Madrid]

I was at Russo's two days ago and they had fresh tumeric and galangal. They are not with the ginger and other roots in the main part of the store, but with the asian greens in an alcove. They also had coriander with roots and lots of asian herbs and leaves, including thai basil.

[qianning]

Battambang Market in Lowell usually has fresh galangal and fresh tumeric, coriander with root availability seems to vary widely depending on what the wholesalers have available, usually battambang has it but not always. They also have a pretty good selection of SE Asian fresh herbs (i.e. various Thai basils, Viet Namese mints etc) . Overall I find Battambang a better source, both for variety and freshness, for Thai ingredients than Saigon Market in Nashua or Manchester.

For fresh Kaffir Lime leaf the only source I can find lately is the Laotion Market (Mekong?) on Smith Street in Providence on the North Providence line. They also have other Laoation ingredients and home made sausages, which are very similar to those for Northern Thai cooking.

As others have noted Cassia bark is Chinese cinnamon and most Asian Grocers have it.

If there is a good source for Thai and Lao foodstuffs in Boston proper I've yet to find it. The stores on Shirley Ave in Revere are pretty good, but I don't shop them regularly enough to know what they consistently carry. Anyway a trip there is always a treat if you have a chance to eat at Floating Rock.

[grant.cook]

On a hunt for lime leaves, hopefully frozen or fresh. Tried the markets in Revere, but no luck.. anyone have a source for these in the Boston area?

[qianning]

I've seen them recently in Lowell, and Nashua....is that too far for you? If not Lanna Asian Market in Nashua has them frozen. I can't remember which market in Lowell, but the ones I was at a week ago were: Hong Kong Market, Paolin, and the one across the street from Paolin that keeps changing its name...New Asia(?) New -something or another.....at least one of those had them, sorry but I can't remember which. Sometimes Russo's has them, but I haven't been there in a while, somebody else on the board might know.

[grant.cook]

A bit far, but perhaps next time I am up near Burlington I can add a side trip to Lowell for some to stash in the freezer.. thx..

[galangatron]

i've seen them recently at some the cambodian markets in lowell too

[galangatron]

the market across the street from palin market is khmer angkor market

[qianning]

Thanks galangatron....is that the one that has the new yellow banner in front? Unfortunately I'm really bad with the street names in lowell....

[galangatron]

i don't remember a yellow banner but they share the parking lot with yummy express and are directly across the street from the original heng heng

[qianning]

yep, that's the one....yummy express' parking lot neighbor. thanks.

[galangatron]

angkor wat market has them on occasion but i haven't seen them recently

[corduroy]

Saw some with the fresh clamshell-packed herbs last week at Whole Foods in Andover. Might be worth a call to see if the Boston-area Whole Foods have them.

[overproofed]

Russo's had them a week ago. It's not the first time I've seen them there, but I don't think they have them all the time, so I'd call before going.

[sfumato]

Russo's often has these unusual things. You can call ahead to check before making a trip, too- they're great!

A. Russo & Sons
560 Pleasant Street
Watertown MA 02472
617-923-1500

[tatsu]

I was at Russo's yesterday, their Asian veggies are always great, and cheap. They also stock the basic provisions for Pad Thai and other Thai noodle dishes, such as fish sauce, etc. I saw some very nice galangal and fresh bamboo shoots, they almost always have thai basil.

[galangatron]

the se asian markets on shirley ave in revere usually have fresh turmeric root

[erinire]

I would second that- just visited one for the first time and was amazed.

[galleygirl]

I've found all those things at Super88, except fort he fresh turmeric, which you could probably find at an Indian Market. For the coriander root, of course, all they're talking about is the stem and root attached to fresh cilantro...
Oh, and I got the cassia root at Arax Market.

[tvh13]

I will look again at Super 88. Have you been recently? They seem to have gotten smaller while renovating. I was especially looking for Cassia bark and could not find it anywhere.

[rlove]

Cassia bark is often labeled "Chinese Cinnamon."

A lot of whole cinnamon sticks actually are cassia.

[galleygirl]

Yes, the ones I bought at Arax were actually labeled cinnamon, but you can tell just by looking at then that they're big and rough and bark-y looking.....

[teaTomE]

The Chinese markets (Super 88s) aren't very good for Thai ingredients. In fact Boston is pretty poor. I've found this website useful before
http://www.thaifoodandtravel.com/mark...
The place listed in Burlington is okay, but we used to travel up to the Saigons in New Hampshire when we could.