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.