Fuchsia Dunlop

Thanks for this. I had the bean sprout problem happen to me when shopping for ya cai in Queens, New York a few months ago. I suspected it was because most of the Chinese people in NYC are Cantonese and might not know about Sichanese ingredients. I wound up using the Tianjin instead, but now I’ll print out this photo and see if I can find some real ya cai. Looking forward to delicious Dan Dan Noodles again.

Which shop is stocking ya cai? Do you know if anywhere in Chinatown is now stocking it? There also seems to be an increasingly wide choice of Pixian bean pastes now available.

In which supermarket did you find this?

Yes, thanks! Kathryn, I am in the same boat — if you do find a NYC source, I’d love to know.

I haven’t seen it here in the Netherlands yet , but I will be on the lookout! Similar to your experience, I’ve had staff take me to the bean sprouts a couple of times and only get strange looks when I told them this was NOT what I was looking for …

This is from the Yu Xiao Chinese supermarket on Kingsland High Street in Dalston, in East London. I’m not sure if they stock it in Chinatown, but I will try to check next time I’m there…

This identical brand and package is found in New York and Chengdu. It was also the one used at the Sichuan Institute of Higher Cuisine when they demonstarted dan dan noodles, so apparently there is only one manufacturer of Ya Cai in the world. In any case its certainly delicious in dan dan noodles and i’ve found it keeps in the fridge even after opening.

Unfortunately where I live now ingredients like this are precious & rare. I try to obtain things via mail order when I can. However since you’ve kindly provided the picture, I will mail it to family & friends in the NY area & see if they can find it & perhaps mail it to me (which I do with several other foods I can’t get here).

mel, in which store in NY did you see it?

Kathryn- Try the Great Wall supermarket in Flushing, on Northern Blvd at the intersection with Union St. -go to aisle 4. They had plenty in stock on wednesday evening. You’ll likely find them in other stores in Flushing or in the Kam Man Supermarket in Edison NJ but Great Wall is a good one-they have a excellent stock of seafood, meats ,veggies etc and most important , a free parking lot.

A fellow Dalston resident.

I shall get myself to Yu Xiao this weekend. Not noticed it there myself, although haven’t been looking if I’m honest.

Thanks for the suggestion. This turned out to be in the bin right next to the yacai I’ve been buying (niuhua yacai, in a clear plastic package) at Ming’s in Boston, but I never noticed it before! Even better, it was on sale when I looked.

It’s amazing how many different forms of preserved mustard there are in Chinese food, all tasty.

Apologies for the poor photography, but here are pictures of the niuhua yacai I found at Ming’s:

http://www.mit.edu/afs/athena/user/m/y/mycroft/yibin-pickle-front.jpg
http://www.mit.edu/afs/athena/user/m/y/mycroft/yibin-pickle-back.jpg

I also managed to find the box from a package of yacai that my Sichuanese officemate found at C-mart in Boston Chinatown a couple of years ago. I’ve never seen it in the store, but it appears to be available from orientalfoodmaster.com.

When you open this box, the vacuum pack inside looks and feels like it contains a dark, gelatinous goo—very forboding. But it turns out to be whole rolled leaves, pickled and compressed into a tight cake.

http://www.mit.edu/afs/athena/user/m/y/mycroft/yibin-pickle-2.jpg

This is the same brand I use too. Glad to know it is the best around!

I asked Chinese friends returning to Beijing to bring some back for me, but after much hunting and blank looks from shopkeepers, they were told that yacai could only be found in Sichuan. Glad we can get it here in Hackney!

Thank you… Since I’ve bought them in Beijing, I was wondering what’s this… Now I know what to look for, when my iron ration will be gone…

My problem with packets of Ya cai is that I’ll use a bit for my dan dan mian or dry fried beans and then just shovel the rest greedily into my mouth… ridiculously addictive

I am not too far from Kingsland High Street! Thanks for the info!

My Chinese girlfriend found the exact same brand at the first Asian supermarket I took her to, here in Dallas, Texas. I use it in my noodle/egg/sausage concoctions, along with pickled olive leaves and chili peppers. Delicious!

I live in San Francisco’s Richmond District, an almost exclusive Chinese enclave, yet the local Chinese ‘mega’ grocery,’ May Wah Market does not carry this. This is bewildering because this marks the very first time my searches have come up empty. Can anyone in San Francisco offer any suggestions?

I tried two found in local supermarket. The same one as Fuchsia’s picture is a real one and can also be found at http://posharpstore.com/en-us/sui-mi-yacai-35oz-p1434.asp. Another one as shown at http://posharpstore.com/en-us/spicy-king-yibin-yacai-15-bags-p1946.aspx is completely different, just like a regular pickled veg.