Tai Ping Trading Company

I generally head to Tai Ping Trading Company after an evening at neighbouring yoga studio The Loft. Tai Ping is open late, and its shining lights tend to entice me as I’m walking back to my car.
The main reason I go to Tai Ping is to choose from the array of tofu they have for sale. There is a huge range of fresh tofu in water, pre-​packaged chunks (either marinated or plain) and other different presentations of this delicious soy staple. I also head to the noodle fridge to pick up fresh noodles, which you can grab in various different styles for just a couple of bucks. It’s astounding how cheap the fresh stuff is here and I’m really happy when I see the total ring up on the register.
Tai Ping is also great for stocking your pantry and fridge with Asian staples — I like to grab sauces (soy, oyster, mushroom), oils (chili, sesame) and other items such as mirin and sushi seasoning. It often takes me quite a while to get through these, particularly given that Tai Ping sells everything in such big bottles for so cheap!

Tai Ping is so great. They have everything you will ever need for Asian cooking. And Asian funerals too… if you’ve been indeed of fake money (like, American green note money, they have it here! And fake Chinese money to burn at funerals). Other than the food things, all the extra bits the sell here I really love going through, there are some interesting things to be discovered and if you’re into art making/​crafts you could potentially find some new materials to work with here. They sell vegetables and meat (with butchery attached) here as well… the vegetables are usually okay, but just use your better judgement. I’ve never bought meat from here so I’m not sure about quality, but I see people buying it so it’s probably okay too.

Have you ever looked up an Asian recipe on the Internet but not had a clue what 80 percent of the ingredients were? Do not be discouraged my friend, take that shopping list down to the Taiping Trading Company, they will sort you out no problem. This place is a galaxy of strange Eastern flavors, I would recommend just starting anywhere, pick a shelf and pick a sauce bottle, this is going to take a bit of trial and error, but if you persevere you will be able to out cook your friends soon enough. Seriously some of those bottles are literally just instant recipes, just poor it all over your frying pan and presto.
PS don’t worry if you do not know which soya sauce to choose, they have like 20 different types but they all taste the same.

Once you have this local Asian supermarket on your radar you will never run out of sweet chili or fish sauce again! First world problems man.
They have everything here, from basics like bread and fruit to exotic produce like the duck carcasses hanging in the window. As I’m in the midst of my Asian cooking phase at the moment, I’m often rushing down here mid recipe and often with the stove left on.
It can be difficult to find things here because most things are packaged with the Asian consumer in mind and as I cannot read or speak the language I am a little lost most of the time but the employees are more than happy to help you out and send you in the right direction.