Located on the west side of Shin-Okubo Station, near the supermarket, there is a Chinese grocery store in the basement. Among the many cluttered shops, this store stands out with its clean interior, making it easy to enter. You have to be careful as you navigate the narrow stairs. Although I can't read the labels, it seems that they have a wide variety of products other than fresh items. They offer seasonings, dried goods, beans, sweets, tea, alcohol, and processed foods. They even have Korean beef stock "Dashi-da" and Southeast Asian green curry. I always buy the spicy peanuts here. They usually have two types, sometimes even a budget pack with simple packaging. It's inexpensive, costing less than 200 yen per small bag. I enjoy snacking on them at home, and once you get used to the spiciness, they taste delicious. However, the service at the register is cold. The staff are often silent and seem unfriendly. I wonder if they are thinking, "What is this foreigner doing in our lively Chinese community?"

On a Sunday morning in December 2018, I found a store while walking along Okubo Street and decided to go in. This shop sells Chinese seasonings, food, alcohol, and miscellaneous goods. It is located between JR Yamanote Line Shin-Okubo Station and Chuo-Sobu Line Okubo Station. The area is filled with restaurants from various Asian countries such as Korea and China, making you wonder, "Where exactly am I?" The staff at this shop are also Chinese. I went down to the basement floor and bought some Chinese instant noodles called "Chongqing Xiao Mian" - one beef flavor, one spicy flavor, and one beef flavor rice noodles. When I tried them for lunch at work, they were all spicy! I could easily imagine the spicy flavor of the "spicy noodles," but the others were also violently spicy. I started sweating under my eyes while eating. Hmm, it was spicy!

The staff is unfriendly and doesn't speak Japanese, but they have a wide variety of items available.

This is a Chinese supermarket. I love this Chinese supermarket because the store is clean and the displays are neat. I have been here many times already and I even became a member of their points card program. Some items I have bought here include grass jelly, ai yolk, frozen dumplings, frozen xiaolongbao, sachima, sour plum soup, doubanjiang, fermented black beans, sweet bean sauce, sesame sauce, hot pot base, frozen scallion pancake, frozen steamed buns, frozen red bean buns, Shaoxing wine, instant noodles, jujube, tea, mooncakes, etc. I usually come here to buy canned goods, seasonings, snacks, and frozen foods for Chinese cooking. The frozen dumplings can be hit or miss, so it's fun to try different ones. Since it's getting closer to summer, I recommend trying the sour plum soup. Although sometimes Kang Shifu's sour plum soup may have a strange taste, it is my favorite among bottled sour plum soups. Instant noodles can vary in taste, but the convenience of being able to buy Chinese products easily here is great, so it's okay if they're not the best tasting. On the third floor, they also sell books and DVDs, although the floor used to be bigger in the past and has now been reduced in size due to some of it being turned into offices.

The other day, I went to Shin-Okubo and stopped by the Overseas Chinese Service Center. There was something I really wanted to buy here. It was a frozen food called "MY Pan-fried Xiao Long Bao". It seems to be one of the frozen foods under their own brand. This time, in addition to the "MY Pan-fried Xiao Long Bao", I also bought "Xiao Rou Bao" (mini pork buns), small rice crackers, and corn crackers. I tried the Xiao Rou Bao first. They are small, bite-sized buns. It's best to steam them, but I tried microwaving them. The meat filling inside is wrapped in tofu skin, so the meat juice is retained inside and comes out juicy when you take a bite. It's delicious! The dough is fluffy, and when eaten with black vinegar, it has a mantou-like flavor. And a few days later, I also tried baking the Pan-fried Xiao Long Bao. I seared them while still frozen, then added water and steamed them. Basically, it's like making pan-fried dumplings. There were some cracks in the frozen buns, so some soup leaked out, but there was still plenty of soup inside. The taste is rich, and it's great on its own or with black vinegar. It's just like the taste you'd get in Shanghai. It's similar to the pan-fried buns at Xiao Yang's Sheng Jian Guan. It's nice that you can enjoy this at home. I'll definitely buy them again. By the way, the Xiao Rou Bao comes in a pack of 20 for about 600 yen, and the Pan-fried Xiao Long Bao comes in a pack of 12 for about 600 yen. The prices are reasonable, which is great.

After eating Thai food at "Baahn Tam," I stopped by "Hakka Service Society" near Shin-Okubo Station on my way home. The store was fully prepared for the upcoming Spring Festival. So, I bought some snacks for the festival. The peanut-filled pies were shaped like dumplings, a symbol of good luck. The crispy pastry with plenty of peanuts was delicious. Oh, there are so many temptations in Okubo. (laughs) (From "Tamare!")

Yesterday, after having lunch at "Suzhou Yatai" in Musashikoyama, I parted ways with the others and headed to Shin-Okubo. Shin-Okubo has many interesting shops, like a restaurant that serves duck neck meat dishes. (laughs) However, my purpose yesterday was to buy Chinese ingredients, so I went to "Kakyofukumusha". Although "Yangguang City" is nearby, "Kakyofukumusha" is larger and offers a wider variety of products, so I decided to go there first. I wanted to buy fried scallion oil (fried shallots), but they also had handmade oil sticks for sale, so I bought them for breakfast this morning. These oil sticks were not too oily and had a chewy texture, which was delicious. I also tried the "tofu skin (yuba)" that was labeled as "newly released". I also bought wonton wrappers (large ones for big wontons) and Taiwanese sausages, ending up with a lot of groceries in no time. These wonton wrappers come in a pack of 40 for around 240 yen, are 10cm square in size, and are thick enough to hold plenty of filling without tearing easily! (My bag is full, my stomach is full♪) As for the supermarket, even though it's not a restaurant, I wonder why it's listed here? (laughs) I usually don't write reviews for take-home products from supermarkets (it's endless), but I'll make an exception for "Kakyofukumusha" because it specializes in Chinese ingredients and has some unique features. I've been using "Kakyofukumusha" on and off for a few years now. I used to shop at Zhinyin Shokuhin in Ikebukuro (now it's at Yuuyi Shoten) or Shinjuku East Exit's Zhinyin Shokuhin, but recently I've been mainly using Kakyofukumusha. The basement floor is where you can find sweets, seasonings, dried goods, noodles, etc., while the 2nd floor is for frozen and refrigerated foods and alcohol. They have a wide variety of products, so you can choose your preferred brands and items. I often buy wood ear mushrooms from the Chinese Northeast region (thick and crunchy), sweet potato starch vermicelli (cheaper than at Korean supermarkets), dried noodles (such as Hong Kong-style egg noodles), sesame paste, fermented tofu, hot pot base, etc. I also buy snacks like mung beans and crushed corn. The prices are reasonable. I also like the spices sold on the basement floor, like Shisanka. They sometimes offer discounted products near the register as the expiration date approaches, so if you're curious about a new product, you can try it out at a lower price.

Every time I walk down Okubo Street, I am intrigued by the free newspapers placed outside. I thought about taking one to study, but then realized it was in traditional Chinese characters, not simplified. The store has books and CDs on the third floor, frozen foods on the second floor, and dried goods in the basement. When I entered the bookstore, the staff surprised me by saying "Welcome" in Chinese. I have various interests, so I decided to try some sweet porridge, Pu'er tea, and pickled vegetables. I tried the pickled vegetables first, and they were delicious and easy to eat. They would be great chopped up in fried rice. I love this brand of Pu'er tea, but it has become harder to find lately, so I was thrilled to see it here. The prices are reasonable, and it seems to be a staple product, so I will definitely come back here to buy it. They seem to have a membership card with discounts, as the staff asked the person in front of me if they had one, but they didn't ask me. Maybe they thought I wouldn't understand as a clearly Japanese person, or maybe because I didn't buy much. The cashier spoke Chinese the whole time, but I think they probably understand Japanese too. I will keep checking back and will review any interesting finds in the future.

In the vicinity of Okubo, there are many restaurants serving foreign cuisine and shops selling foreign ingredients. "Kaikyo Fukuwusha" is a shop that specializes in Chinese products. Located halfway between Shin-Okubo Station and Okubo Station, the shop has food items on the first and second floors, and books, CDs, and other items on the third floor. Each floor is about the size of a convenience store, slightly smaller than a Korean supermarket. The first floor facing the street is a convenience store. They sell a variety of Chinese food products including frozen foods, retort pouches, seasonings, alcohol, dried goods, and snacks. They also have some items with Korean labels. They offer different types of preserved eggs, with a pack of 10 priced at 362 yen, or about 36 yen each. Green beans can be used in cooking or sprouted to make bean sprouts. They even have "iron eggs," famous in Taiwan. Look out for special deals like "3 for a certain price" or "buy one, get one free." The customers are mostly Chinese residents in the area, but you may also see Japanese customers. The staff can distinguish subtle differences and provide assistance in Japanese.

I had a sudden urge to get my hands on some Sichuan peppercorns, the kind you would find in a restaurant. I don't dislike spicy food and I enjoy Sichuan-style dishes. I have experienced various versions of Sichuan dishes at different restaurants, each with their own unique interpretation by the chefs. I find it fascinating how the same dish can vary so much depending on the chef's background and approach. I wanted to experience that numbing sensation you get from Sichuan peppercorns, so I decided to search for a Chinese ingredient store in Tokyo. I found a store that sold various Chinese ingredients, including what I was looking for - green Sichuan peppercorns. I also bought Sichuan peppercorn oil from two different brands. Although I didn't get the intense numbing sensation I was hoping for when I tried them at home, I found the Sichuan peppercorn oil to be quite versatile. I also learned that you can buy fresh green Sichuan peppercorns in Japan, so I plan to try that next. I also tried making "water-cooked beef" at home for the first time, using the green Sichuan peppercorns and Sichuan peppercorn oil I bought. The dish turned out to be delicious, and I was happy to add a new spicy dish to my cooking repertoire.