Recently I estimated that over the past 8 years, I've taught close somewhere between 400 to 500 cooking classes. (And I don't even want to think about how many dumplings we've made in all those classes!) And whenever I teach, the most common questions I get from students are about where to buy ingredients around the city and the best brands to get. Navigating those grocery store aisles for unfamiliar ingredients, sometimes with dozens of varieties for something like rice vinegar, can be a very daunting task.

So in the past few years I've begun emailing students a resource list with good stores for Chinese ingredients (with links to addresses), some of my preferred brands for the ingredients, and recommended Chinese restaurants around New York. 

While most of the list is New York-specific, I hope that those of you who live outside the city can make use of the recommended brands section to find these ingredients closer to where you live. 

I will be continually updating this, but feel free to make suggestions for your own favorites! 

Stores:

• Manhattan - Hong Kong Supermarket (one stop shopping, big supermarket, big produce section)
• Manhattan - New Kam Man (also a big store, basement full of Chinese cooking equipment and serving dishes)
• Brooklyn - New York Mart
• Brooklyn - Fei Long Supermarket
• Queens - Jmart inside the New World Mall (this place is enormous, probably the best selection in the city)
• Queens - Hong Kong Supermarket of Flushing