The biggest myth about cooking Chinese food abroad is that you need a wall of special ingredients. For everyday 家常菜, a normal supermarket gets you 80% of the way.
Buy at any supermarket
- Light soy sauce (the standard bottle in the international aisle)
- Cornstarch, rice (any long-grain), eggs, garlic, ginger
- Neutral oil (vegetable/canola), sugar, black pepper
- Firm tofu, scallions, cabbage, carrots
Worth a trip to an Asian store
- Doubanjiang (豆瓣酱) — the soul of Sichuan cooking, no real substitute
- Dark soy (老抽) — for that glossy braise color
- Shaoxing wine (料酒) — depth you can't fake with anything else
💡 Stuck without the three? Our substitution finder shows the closest Western swap and exactly how the flavor changes.
Start small
Pick three recipes, buy what they share, and your pantry builds itself. Most HǎoWèi recipes tag every ingredient local vs Asian so you know before you shop.
