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Asian Markets in San Francisco

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Thai Markets, San Francisco

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This is just a partial list of the many Asian markets in San Francisco, California. As we visit the other districts, we'll add more notes. As always, you should not expect to visit only one Asian market – you will most likely need to visit several in order to find all the right brands, the fresh herbs/produce you need, along with fresh fish.

It was nearly impossibleto find Kasma's favorite fish sauces Golden Boy and Scales brands (July 2008).

* & ** – given for stores with a good (*) or better (**) selection of Thai ingredients.

San Francisco City – Chinatown

We last walked Chinatown in 2007 but did not take detailed notes. In general the markets there are not very impressive when it comes to Thai ingredients and Kasma's preferred brands. There are, however, a couple outstanding fresh fish markets on Stockton Street, just below Broadway. We'll try to add those names at some point. Parking in Chinatown is always a problem.

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San Francisco – Clement Street

There are some good markets on Clement Street but a poor parking situation. The markets seemed somewhat more Chinese in orientation. There are a couple good places for fresh seafood. These notes updated in July 2008.

** New May Wah Market 707-719 Clement St. San Francisco, CA 94118 (415) 668-2583	A large market. Our favorite part was the extremely fresh looking fish and an excellent selection of frozen foods (fish, shrimp, etc.). This would probably be our first stop on this part of Clement Street.
* Lien Hing Supermarket Number 3 400 Clement St. San Francisco, CA 94118 (415) 386-6333	A good market with fresh fish, a good frozen foods section, and a decent selection of Thai products.
T & L Market 339 Clement St. San Francisco, CA 94118 (415) 668-2166	When we went in July 2008 they had some Crispy Rice Crackers in very good shape – a sometimes hard-to-find ingredient. They had an otherwise decent selection.

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San Francisco – The Tenderloin

The quality of the markets in the Tenderloins is inconsistent both in terms of ingredient availability and freshness of the produce – on a good day, they are quite good. If I lived in San Francisco I'd make a mid-morning trip there when the parking is good.

Battambang Market 339 Eddy St. San Francisco, CA 94102 415-474-6436	A good market at times but you're never quite sure what you'll find. Sometimes they have kaffir lime leaves, sometimes not. Produce quality varies as well. A lot of ingredients in a small space. (Noted in July 2008)
KTL Market 724 Ellis St. San Francisco, CA 94109 (415) 776-7151	This was one of the few markets we came across with fresh rice noodles. Fairly good on other things, including frozen seafood. (Noted in 2006.)

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San Francisco – Other

** Manila Oriental Market 4175 Mission St (between Ney St & Trumbull St) San Francisco, CA 94112 (415) 337-7272	We have visited three times (last time, July 2008) and the seafood has always been *very* fresh – it's really worth a visit just for the seafood. They've also gotten very good with other Thai ingredients. If you want a hard to find cut of pork, they might well have it here.
* Sunset Supermarket 2801 Vicente St. (at 39th) San Francisco, CA 94116 415-504-8188	Good market. They do lack favorite Fish Sauces but have most everything else. Very good looking seafood, both fresh and frozen. Great looking pig innards. (4 March 2004)
Sunset Supermarket 2425 Irving St. San Francisco, CA 94122 415-682-3756	Recommended by a student in June 2008 as a big market with fresh ingredients. We visited in July 2008 and found an adequate selection of Thai ingredients. (July 2008)
Hwa Lei Market 2970A 16th Street (at Mission) San Francisco, CA 94103 415-863-1618	I didn't see this local SF market on your list – I recommend adding them. This small store is a grocery market catering to the Latin and Asian ethnic groups – they are located smack in the middle of the Mission District on 16th Street half a block east (towards S. Van Ness). They carry quite a variety of Thai and Vietnamese food products (the store is run by Vietnamese folks, and they are very helpful). They even have fresh ingredients you can't easily find elsewhere in town – galangal, thai basil, culantro (or viet cilantro), thai eggplants, etc; a full produce selection, and a large selection of fresh meats and seafood. Plus about every condiment you can think of. I've gone there to find culantro, which I use in some of my Puerto Rican recipes – I haven't found it anywhere else in SF, even in the Latin markets (where you would think one would find it) – plus hard to find Thai ingredients; they have a full selection. (17 August 2006, via email)
Duc Loi Supermarket 2200 Mission Street San Francisco, CA 94110 415-551-1772	They carry the Mae Ploy brand of curry pastes (red, green, yellow, massaman), Chaokoh coconut milk, a variety of fish and soy sauces, a large variety of noodles (Chinese, Vietnamese, Thai), the Dragonfly brand of jasmine rice in 10 and 25-lb bags, sticky rice (white and black) and Thai rice (red). The store also has a meat counter and a produce section (Thai basil, garlic, cilantro, mint, etc). I also found palm sugar. (from one of Kasma's students, 04-May)

* & ** – given for stores with a good (*) or better (**) selection of Thai ingredients.

Also Available: Markets in the S. F. Bay Area | Online & Mail-order Markets | Markets in the U.S. | Seeds & Plants | Kasma's preferred brands!

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