Caveat emptor.

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Make sure that your store is busy and moving its merchandise.  Many ethnic grocery stores I’ve been in were uncrowded and not rotating their stock, selling expired canned goods and inedible produce that shouldn’t have been on the shelves. [If you happen to be in southeast Houston, the Hong Kong grocery on Scarsdale is as good as I’ve seen. Their produce is almost always great, and I haven't picked up any expired cans. Of course, YMMV.]


Also be aware that food made abroad is notoriously badly labeled. I ate some sesame candy once that had just a few ingredients listed, but I could clearly see at least as many additional undeclared ingredients.  If you have food allergies or are sensitive to certain things, understand that you’re rolling the dice. Like any grocery store, read labels and carefully look at, smell, and (if you can) touch all produce, meat, and fish before buying.

Before we get started ...

[WORK IN PROGRESS]

... you'll need a couple of things no matter what you'll be cooking. I'll be expanding on practically everything here eventually, but for now, let's break it down into things you can eat, and things you can't eat.

Things you can eat.

Regardless of what you want to cook, if it's Asian, you'll need to keep the following items on hand (in addition to things that you're already likely to have, like salt, black pepper, sugar, flour, and so on). Some you'll be going through more quickly, while some ought to last you a while:

• as many whole spices as you can get your hands on.  At the minimum, get: Chinese (or Vietnamese) five-spice powder, fresh white and black peppercorns in grinders, cardamom, cayenne, good cinnamon, cumin seeds, fennel seed, galangal powder, garlic powder, sesame seeds (light and dark), star anise, and turmeric.  If you can't get whole spices, get pre-ground, but you'll get less flavor.
• fish sauce
• rice wine
• rice. Depending on your tastes, you'll want at least a good Basmati rice and a regular long-grained white rice. And if you want sushi, get a good sushi rice.
• nari (if you want sushi).  Nari is the thin, dark green sheets of seaweed that you wrap sushi in. It comes in packs of 10 or more sheets, and it lasts a long time.
• corn starch. Corn starch added to cold water will thicken runny hot sauces in a jiffy.

There are also some ingredients that are so common that you might as well replenish your stock every time you're at the store. Then you can whip up something in a pinch:

• curry pastes.  Maesri makes little tuna-tin-sized curry pastes that are hard to improve on, especially in a pinch.  They make a couple dozen different kinds, so pick at least a half-dozen that you like.  Green, red, yellow, panang, and massaman are always popular. And they also make a pad thai noodle sauce and a couple of other things, if you're lucky enough to have a store with a good fresh selection.  [I think "mae sri" means something like "radiant mother."  If you're Thai (ok, if you're Thai, you wouldn't be reading this...), correct me.]
• coconut milk.  Be sure that you're getting the 12-oz or so cans of coconut MILK, not the little cans of cream of coconut from the mixed drinks section, or your stir fry will taste like a pina colada.
• stir-fry veggies and meat or tofu.  It's hard to go wrong keeping on hand a good supply of broccoli, bell peppers, hot peppers, celery, carrots, bok choy, onions, red and plain potatoes, chicken breast, and ground and whole pork and beef, or fried tofu, as your tastes demand. You can whip up a stir-fry, curry, or soup in a heartbeat with these, and they're good for you.
• fresh aromatics.  Get at least: cilantro (the green part of the coriander plant, also called Chinese parsley), basil (Thai basil or something like it if you can find it; it's much sweeter, and has a note that's more like a hybrid of Italian basil, mint, and fennel), garlic, .

Things you can't eat.

Here, too, although certain specialty foods will require specialty dishes, tools, appliances, utensils, and so on, there are some things you can't do without but that you might not have on hand already:

• sharp knives, including (at least), a paring knife and a butcher knife
• several cutting boards.  Be safe washing and caring for your cutting boards.
• lots of little bowls.  The French practice of mise en place, or "everything in its tiny little leftover dish" (ok, that might not be a literal translation) is especially important when you're cooking in a hot wok: there's simply no time to chop stuff up when the wok's sizzling away.  So you'll usually want to prepare the ingredients just (or well, if they'll keep) ahead of cooking, and you can use the bowls (or little plastic leftover containers) for this.
• a wok and a spider or wok spatula.  Search around the net to help you select the right one for your kitchen and also to learn the right way to care for it.
• a blender and/or a food processor
• a decent sized mortar and pestle, or if you insist, a good spice grinder
• an automatic electric rice cooker, sized for your needs
• metal or bamboo steamers. _.
• a bamboo sushi mat (if you want to prepare sushi, that is)
• a half-dozen or so squeeze bottles for oils and some sauces
• tongs.  If you don't already have a couple of sets, you'll be glad you spend the $10 on them.

But what if I don't have a cool Asian grocery store?

All is not lost.  Most canned, dried, and otherwise non-perishable ingredients can be obtained online.  One site that comes to mind is importfood.com.  They also carry fresh produce, and for some important items, the extra cost and inconvenience of shipping fresh fruit and veggies might be worth the trouble. Otherwise (and for meat and fish), I intend on noting what I think might make good substitutes.