Desperately Seeking in Paris

Will you help a homesick gaijin cum starving Parisian student get back with the food, drinks and music he loves?

Any assistance on where to find the items below, subject to reward in the form of a free homemade dinner (sexual favours to be considered on a case-by-case basis only).

Bonus points for stores conveniently located close to 6th arrondissement (yea, yea: anything will do, but just in case).

  • Rice cooker: will soon die of starvation if I don’t get one. Was told to check out Chinese grocery stores… Haven’t seen any at Tang Frères… Specifics, anybody?
  • Fresh shiitake mushrooms: Japanese grocery store rue St Anne only carries the dried kind… Also sure the Chinese have that: how the hell do you say “shiitake” in Chinese?
  • Fresh kinugoshi tofu: Same as above (only have very bland vacuum-sealed stuff). Tell me somebody in France is making fresh tofu out of all these GM soybeans.
  • Yellow curry paste: address of a cheap Thai grocery store anybody? (Please don’t reply “somewhere in the 13th arrondissement”: have you seen the 13th arrondissement on a map lately? it’s big).
  • Cranberry juice: WhoWhat does a girl need to do, in order to get a proper Cosmo around here?
  • Glock 10 mm. or S&W .44 in working order: to be used as teaching material in my upcoming class: Neighbouring Relations 101 – “How Much Noise is Too Much Noise at 3 in the Morning?”.
  • Used audio amp & speakers: cheapness is of the essence here, seeing how I recently unloaded 30k yens of audio material on miscellaneous friends and not about to do the same here in six months.
Filed under: Food, Paris

18 comments

  1. Pour l’auto-cuiseur , les shitakes, la pâte de curry jaune et le tofu : Tang et Frères (au 42)et son voisin Paris Store rue d’Ivry dans le 13e. Il faut visiter ces grands supermarchés et le sboutiques qui sont autour.
    Pour le jus de canneberges : peut-être dans certains magasins d’aliments naturels, chez Tang ou encore chez Thanksgiving, 14 rue Charles V, 4th arrondissement.
    Pour le tofu soyeux (kinugoshi tofu), tu dois continuer ta ronde autour de la rue Ste-Anne dans les boutiques japonaises ou visiter des magasins d’aliments naturels qui peuvent te réserver des surprises.

    Bonne chance

    Yves

  2. OK, I live a 10min walk from our local Chinatown (av. d’Ivry), and I’m sure I’ve seen rice cookers, curry paste of any imaginable colour, tofu in various shapes and forms etc. pp. Usually, I shop at Supermarket Paris Store. For the cookers, the crookery stores dotted around in that neighbourhood might be better. E-mail for a shooping spree, what do you think?

  3. In Cantonese, shiitake mushrooms is pronounced dong-gu (flat accent on the first, rising accent on the last part). Jasmine thinks it’s similar in Mandarin. If desperate, you can try to tell them it sounds like EAST-MUSHROOM, or 东 菇 (in Chinese simplified).

    Be grateful that you have moved to a city that HAS a Chinatown, unlike Bogota.

  4. Did you try “Kyoko” ? It’s a kind of shokuryou hinshou near Opera, which sells japanese food and all that stuff.
    I don’t remember where, but I bought a rice cooker in France.

  5. Forget about the Chinese zone, I know what you mean (my wife is Japanese). You can find all Japanese products in the Opera area. I don’t remember the name of the shop (I live in the Alps), but here’s a map :
    http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=fr&t=k&ll=48.870064,2.332717&spn=0.004862,0.005912&t=k
    From the Opera plaza, head South on the Avenue de l’Opéra, walk a couple blocks, then turn left (heading East) onto either rue d’Antin or rue St-Augustin. You’ll find a shop with everything you need direct from Japan. If it’s not exactly this street, ask around and you’ll find it — sorry I can’t give you a precise address right now.

    Hope this helps feed your stomach and your nostalgia.

    Sorry no blog, but feel free to email me.

  6. Here it is : Epicerie Kioko, rue des Petits Champs Paris. You’ll find everything you need, there. (Well, maybe not the rice cocker, but anything else 🙂 ).

  7. Thanks everybody for your advice and addresses!

    I will be on the street and hunting for all these very soon.

    You are therefore all invited to my place for coconut curry and agedashi tofu, should any of you happen by the French capital while I’m staying here.

    For those already here, I shall be inviting you for dinner, as soon as I’m back on eating things other than soup, rice and protein shakes.

  8. You’re just a young boy, pervert !! seeking for occasional sew issue with japanese huh ?!!!

    Is it necessary to mention any sex compensation ? Do you think the world is that innocent like you ? people will cook for you and have sex with you ?

    My God !!! you better stop watching Manga !!!

  9. Andromak said: My God !!! you better stop watching Manga !!!

    My God !!! you better stop smoking crack.

    And stop molesting innocent typographic signs, while you are at it.

    Oh yea, and with all the money saved, try and pop by the Bazar de l’Hotel de Ville: I hear you can get a brand new sense of humour over there for cheap.

  10. I just got through reading all the responses and I had a great silent laugh.

    Anyway-I’m going through the exact same gastronomical withdrawal. I’ve been running around Paris trying to find all the right “stuff” to make all my Korean and Japanese food. Can you believe Ace market (rue St. Anne) and the one Japanese “épicerie” not far by didn’t even have dashi? For crying out loud-hello!-it’s like what wine and cheese is to the French. Anyway–I’ve been opting for more oriental tastes these days. Imagine–it took several years of living in this city to get serious with my roots–foodwise of course.

    About that rice cooker–ther’s a great place that sells ONLY asian cookware by my house in the 10th–it’s ab-so-fucking-lutely fantastic! They have everything you’ll ever need including your long awaited rice cooker if you haven’t already invested. Hit me up and I’ll give you the exact address–don’t know it by heart.

    Also if you ever fancy a good cosmo–there’s a place by where I used to live–shortlived–by the champs called Ailleurs. If you’re into red velvety seats and being posh–this is the place for you. Otherwise just make your own damn Cosmo!

    And if you’re ever interested in sharing recipes that would be keen.

    Good Luck!!!

  11. Okay here’s the scoop from a French-Korean, Asian food in general loving girl. No sexual favors needed. Rice cooker – buy one at the cheap rice cooker place on Avenue d’Ivry – get off the 7 at the Porte and walk on the left hand side – it has stone lions in front. It’s about 22 euros. Fresh shitake mushrooms – are actually more places then where you are looking, but Tang Freres usually stalks them – the morning market in front of Palais Tokyo has them on Saturdays (go in not by the flowers but by the fish stand at the very end, past the Palais). Thai market – the best market for Thai stuff is actually in the 18e, take the Metro to Pigalle, walk up the hill staying on the same road from the corner with the Moulin Rouge and Quick/or maybe McDo’s, at the top of the hill it’s there. In a pinch I suggest Tang Freres (the big one on Porte d’Ivry). Korean market (my expertise) – there’s one on the rue St. Charles in the 7th and nearby is also a Korean restaurant. But the best kimchee is from a small traiteur in the 13e – station Place d’Italie, walk down the rue Bobbillot on the right it’s not the corner with Nicolas on it, it’s the NEXT one. Also good Korean in the 9e, close to Notre dame Lorette called Gaejin. Don’t go to EURO, which is nearby. Bonne chance!

  12. hi, stumbled across this blog while googling asian shops and restaurants in paris. been here only 6 weeks so far, but i’m more than ready to stock up on all my asian staples– various curry pastes, dashi concentrate, rice noodles, seaweed, coconut milk, kimchee, fish sauce, sriracha, soy sauce, miso, preserved vegetables, tofu, rice, etc etc…. everyone’s suggestions have been a great help! thanks.

    p.s. how about indian stores??

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  14. Hi Everybody…

    I finally condensed all your comments and my additional findings into a sequel to this post… it’s here.

    Thanks for all your suggestions and sorry for the delayed response.

  15. Hello all…im just new to cooking japanese and my boyfriend and I want to buy a cookbook and start to learn..udon..edamame…etc..we are hooked by having been eating at kunitoraya on rue st. Anne. I read this and all the comments, and just wondered if anyone of you have any recommendations of which one of these japanese grocery stores will be the best one to buy a cookbook or if you know of a place that sells cookbooks..could be in french..my boyfriend is french. Thanks!

  16. hey Ami,
    i would suggest La Librairie Gourmand (https://melbourne.magic.fr/librairie-gourmande/main.asp)
    they have Everything, and are extremely helpful– the owner is also american, if you want to ask her in english. i personally HIGHLY recommend the book Food of Japan by Shirley Booth– it is an excellent overview of japanese cuisine, especially for a beginner, talking at length about cooking techniques, menu planning, ingredients, equipment and culture in general. and it has many, many recipes, which are both very classic and frequently pretty simple and healthy as well. i really love this book!! good luck, maybe i’ll see you at kunitoraya– i just discovered it too

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