 Asian Sensations from Trader Joe’s |
Trader Joe’s has been one of my favorite specialty stores for well over a decade when my mother first scooped my brother & me up from school to do some light grocery shopping. Vinny & I always really enjoyed the snacks they offered, not to mention their free samples, but trips to Trader Joe’s were rare in comparison to trips to Lucky’s, which was “married” to Albertson’s, another large chain grocery store. My mom claimed that she loved Trader Joe’s, but complained that it was too expensive. Until I was granted a driver’s license, I was under the impression that TJ’s was expensive, but I was dead wrong. Technically, my mother’s wrong, but let’s not get technical here. We is all human.
For starters, some of the more well known products sold at TJ’s are all under $5. There’s 2 Buck Chuck, a cheap high quality wine, which is formally known as Charles Shaw, based in Sonoma, California. They raised the price to $2.49, but it’s still the best cheap wine around. It’s the perfect wine for all you starving college students who need a cheap buzz.
Recently, Trader Joe’s started introducing some new asian items, much to my Asian delight. To prevent this post from being a short story, I’ve designated two products per post as I have a feeling TJ will release other new Asian products with time. We must be patient, young grasshopper.
Sriracha
 |
The original Sriracha sauce by a Chinese-Vietnamese man named David Tran who founded Huy Fong Foods, is an incredibly popular hot sauce that has taken America by storm. While I studied abroad in England, there was some dinky version of it that was sold throughout Europe. Many of my Asian friends were outraged by this impostor’s shameful façade as the original Rooster Sauce. It was bad & it should feel bad.
Being a staple in nearly every Vietnamese, Chinese, whatever-nese home, I grew up on this red sauce & I’ve splattered it on hot dogs, pasta, soup, rice, eggs, bread, & everything that isn’t dessert. Trader Joe’s created their own Sriracha sauce which has a total of 13 ingredients: ground red chili peppers, water, sugar, ground garlic, salt, 2% or less of garlic powder, cultured dextrose, vegetable extract (potato), natural flavor, vinegar, citric acid, & xanthan gum. These ingredients are nearly identical to Huy Fong’s without the preservatives. Naturally, I had to have it. TJ’s rehashes a lot of American classics like Oreo’s, Poptarts, & GoGurt that turn out to be better & healthier than the original, so it couldn’t possibly hurt to try the alternative Sriracha, hoping they wouldn’t royally duck it up the way its European counterpart did.
So how does it compare?
Consistency: More watery, less pasty, still thick.
Price: $2.99, but Sriracha can be anywhere from $1.49 to $3.49 depending on the grocery store.
Spirit Animal: Dragon vs. Rooster. Dragons are pretty cool.
Taste: Strong kick of garlic & mildly spicy. Warning! I find Tobasco equivalent to the spiciness of ketchup so I’m not exactly the best person to consult on how mild or spicy things are. Things get spicy for me when they’re as hot as a habañero. Anything below that & tongue doesn’t register it as spicy. Might’ve burned my tastebuds off with Sriracha as a child.
10/10 Would Recommend?: Yes, absolutely! A Korean friend of mine says she likes it better than the original Sriracha & ever since I’ve bought the first bottle, I haven’t had the original in my apartment since, in other words, it’s been 4 bottles of TJ’s Sriracha & no one’s complaining. I certainly enjoy TJ’s Sriracha for its kick of garlic that seems a background aftertaste in the original Sriracha. I think the original is still the best, but I do really like TJ’s version.
Dried Kimchi
Kimchi is one of my favorite pickled foods, but I don’t think I’ve ever thought of dehydrating it to use as a crunchy condiment or snack. I purchased it wondering what I could do with this other than sprinkling it over a bowl of rice. Turns out it goes fantastic on a salad, ramen, & fried rice!
Consistency: Crispy & thin
Price: $2.99
Taste: What you’d imagine kimchi would taste like dehydrated. Bold with flavor that’s mostly salty, first bite causes your sinuses to clear a little because your throat has suddenly been sprinkled with kimchi powder.
10/10 Would Recommend?: Meh, I personally like it, but I wouldn’t recommend it to everyone. I think it’s good to try if you have $3 to spare & love kimchi & all of its derivatives, but to those that aren’t adventurous or lack experience in Asian food (but why, it’s amazing), I’d probably suggest something else.
More recipes, albums, shenanigans, & more Trader Joe’s products in the future! Check back in a month, maybeeeee.
P.S. Did anyone notice how Huy Fong’s website looks like it’s stuck in ’95?
We don’t have any Trader Joe’s 🙁 I think we’re finally getting one though! I loveee Sriracha, so I’m interested in trying that whenever we get one. I’m not a good judge on spiciness either, haha. I often don’t taste spiciness in things other people find spicy. I use jalapenos on too many things XD;;
I’m not a fan of kimchi, but I am curious how the dried ones taste. I’d try it if someone offered me one!
Trader Joe’s is indeed spreading around the states more so than before! I’m obsessed with it, so I hope one opens up around your area! If not, I can always send you some goodies from TJ’s!
Also, forgot to comment on levels of spiciness. I apparently make a lot of my food way too spicy for people & I don’t notice anything! Whooopppsssss. I’m with you on that jalapeño, girl!
Nikki saw that hot sauce on tumblr and wants to try it SO bad. She loves hot sauce. I don’t know where to find it though? Like Its not really sold in our local grocery stores, or markets.
The original Sriracha or Trader Joe’s? I’m guessing you mean the original one. I don’t know where you live, but they should sell it at your local grocery store in the Asian/Mexican/Jewish/ethnic aisle. If not, try finding a 99 Ranch or an Asian grocery store to find it. Your girl will die of happiness!
Ack, no trader joe’s here so reading this is like…wowi’manidiot lol
But eh I like the sriracha sauce bottle..it has dragon on it hahaha now I’m curious about how it tastes because you even included Chinese-Vietnamese there! Lol vietnamese food tends to have that good kind of spicy i love so…
psst hi now my blog is accessible again though with a different url 🙂
I think Korean & Thai cuisine are the spiciest amongst the Asian cuisines, although I haven’t had Indonesian cuisine before & it looks like it could be pretty spicy. I tend to pour a lot of Sriracha over Vietnamese food, but I’m glad you like our cuisine!! 🙂
UGH I keep forgetting to link you back! I’ll do that tonight actually. 🙂
ah,for me it’s indonesian and thai cuisine haha korean’s chili,hm… spicy yeah but not so much. i don’t really remember the taste of their chili though…ah,wait. kimchi’s supposed to be kinda spicy,is it not? i honestly never tried kimchi because it’s not visually appealing 😛
I forgot you’re vietnamese! ah wow YOU’RE VIETNAMESE,MAN lol because yes i love LOOOOOVE your cuisine >:) i’m addicted to vietnam’s mango salad btw~ /o/
LOL YOU.
I assume there’s one in Houston [where I live], given the size of the city, but I’ll into it later. These items do sound tempting. I do want to try them, and I’m sure I can handle the taste. I really want to try that dried kim chi. Sounds like a bag of spicy potato chips [like those hot cheeto fries?]. If so, I KNOW I’ll enjoy these. 😀
That’s actually the exact description some fans describe the dried kimchi as: spicy potato chips. They’re good in my opinion, but much better on soup or rice or salad than just eating them alone since they’re pretty salty. I think a TJ’s is opening in Houston soon. I’m not quite sure though since TJ’s is based in California & has slowly, but surely, started spreading out around the country. They survey areas to see what consumers there normally purchase before they take the leap of expanding a store there. Hopefully Houston is a target!
I have always wanted to try kimchi, but I don’t find any in my town. I hope I will have better luck when I move to college. I always wondered how it tastes like 😀
It’s sour & spicy (if you think tabasco is spicy, then kimchi will be spicy), crunchy, & pickled! haha I don’t know how else to describe it, but it’s a very unique taste, unique to Korean cuisine. In Vietnamese cuisine, we have pickled cabbage as well, but it’s not nearly as fancy as kimchi, so I prefer kimchi to its Vietnamese cousin bahaha. Good on you for being adventurous!
Being Asian myself (lol), i am definitely familiar with sriracha 😀 love it with yummy asian food and soup noodles or dumplings or anything really hahahah!! 😀 it’s awesome trader joes is stocking these items at their stores now! I dont go there often either as it is a bit expensive in my opinion too, but sometimes just browse and pick up some snack items from there! never tried dried kimchi. from your review, i think i’ll stick to the real kimchi. tastes good!
Joyce @ carouselstreet.com
It really isn’t all that expensive though! The produce I’d always recommend getting from your local grocery store, but everything is comparably cheaper (especially eggs & they have the best eggs!). My boyfriend recently started grocery shopping there for more than just snacks & he’s found that he’s saving money. 🙂 But yes, stick to the real kimchi haha, the dried version is interesting, but not for everyone!
OMG so hungry. I love sirarcha. I’m not crazy about it but I have a friend who swears by it and puts it on everything. I love mine on fried rice hahaha. It’s pretty much like hot sauce to me, but thicker? I’ve never heard of dried kimchi but I will be on the hunt for it because I’m a lover of Korean food *drooools*.
Your friend = me hah! Sriracha is hot sauce! I’ve never seen dried kimchi before outside of Trader Joe’s, so it’s something new to me. My korean friend said she’s never had it before (& she’s straight from Korea) so you might have trouble finding it. But don’t worry, you’re really not missing out on anything. If you really want though, I wouldn’t mind sending you a care package of all the most delectable things from Trader Joe’s!
That’s very nice of you to offer! I’m in the States now, but have not yet went into a Trader Joe’s yet :O I’m sure I’ll go into one one day or another 😛