Snack Chat: Naked Asian Grocer

One of the things I really miss doing, especially in lockdown, is going to an Asian grocer. I miss being able to leisurely walk up and down each aisle to see what’s on the shelves. Sometimes you find a new snack to try. Other times you see a type of noodle or bottle of sauce and it instantly makes you think of meal ideas. Obviously, Asian grocers are still open during lockdown, but I don’t want to be doing any unnecessary browsing.

During last year’s lockdown, I did lots of research trying to find an Asian grocer that not only stocked the full gamut of products I use, but also does deliveries. One of the stores I stumbled up was Naked Asian Grocer. They’re an online only store that specialises in zero-waste Asian pantry staples.

While they don’t stock things like soy sauce or any refridgerator items, they do sell dried noodles, spices, flours and teas as well as ramen sets, which are so much healthier than your regular instant noodles.

If you are experimenting with cooking Asian foods and are slowly introducing Asian ingredients into your pantry, I highly recommend you check out Naked Asian Grocer. Their prices are reasonable and you can just buy the amount you need, rather than be forced to buy a huge quantity of something. This happened to me earlier this year where I ended up buying 500g of gochugaru (Korean pepper flakes) to make kimchi stew. I don’t use it a lot so I still have a huge bag of it left!

My first order with Naked Asian Grocer was big because I wanted to qualify for their free shipping minimum (it’s $60). I also had a lot of things to stock up on, such as dried noodles, dashi (Japanese stock made from bonito), furikake (Japanese rice seasoning made from bonito flakes, seaweed, dashi and sesame seeds) and shichimi togarashi (Japanese 7 spice blend to add spice to any food). I also got a Noodle Soup Kit for a bit of fun. I love instant noodles but it’s not very healthy so I wanted to see how this kit compares.

Everything I ordered was packaged in brown paper bags, which have a printed stickers that detail ingredients and nutrition info. Naked Asian Grocer recommends you put everything in jars and containers as soon as you can. Cooking instructions can be found on their website, which is handy and waste-free.

The Noodle Soup Kit is really worth getting as it gives you everything you need to create a good ramen foundation. It comes with noodles, dashi (you can choose a meat free version), dried shiitake mushrooms, seaweed and fried shallots. The point of the ramen kit is to let you add whatever you want to your noodles. I cooked my with some spinach and egg and it’s delicious and makes me feel healthy after eating it.

Extra info: Banana print wrapping paper used in some of the images is from WRAP magazine, designed by Ruby Taylor.