Lunar New Year is all about feasting and coming together over food.
If jostling through crowded shops trying to lay your hands on new year goodies are making you a little anxious, we’ve got you covered! We’ve been shopping online for all our treats, and we are here with a few of our favourites. This year, let your new year goods come to you and share your favourite ways to connect with businesses and grocers so that we can all pay it forward.
Imagine this nightmare scenario. You're sitting in your living room, craving Japanese food. You get up to make yourself something, but you're out of a specific Japanese ingredient. That's okay, you'll buy some...only you're under lockdown and your nearest Japanese grocer is outside of your 5k radius for the foreseeable future. Sounds familiar? Yeah, us too. Thank goodness for Mottomart, which kept us covered for our Japanese food cravings. Want to get your yakiniku and sashimi fix? They've got that too, and it all comes in a refrigerated van straight to your door.
TLDR: They have hard-to-find seafood items like whelk shell sashimi, and also have great ramen and udon selections too.
So many at-home Korean BBQ options have popped up recently, but what about tteok? The chewy rice cakes come in stick and sliced versions, and has a traditional place at the LNY table in soup or stir-fry forms. Online grocers don't seem to offer these cakes often, but Go2u has sliced, stick AND filled versions, for, however, you'd like to enjoy them. Bonus tip: Get your buldak hot sauce whilst you're there and you can really up the ante on your tteokbokki too.
TLDR: Go2u has both sweet and savoury rice cake options for you to choose from.
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Cheat’s rice paper tteokbokki
We took into Peepo one day after searching for eggplant yong tofu and the rest was history. This Melbourne-based grocer ships swiftly and has an extensive range of Malaysian items, snacks, drinks, fresh fruit & veg and a frozen section that you can easily use to stock up well after the LNY celebrations have been and gone.
TLDR: From Nyonya peanut puff to shrimp rolls, come for the cracking cracker section then also enjoy the selection of milk teas and kopi to have on standby.
We happened upon Gomart by pure chance. After seeing their vans zip through Sydney a few times, it seemed like a good place to check out. After fumbling through the setup process a couple of times (you'll need a friend who can read Chinese to help you out), it was like Aladdin's cave of wonders opened up. They have a large range of Chinese ingredients, and even have a curated hotpot section to help you get everything you need! Even the pot.
TLDR: If a Lunar hotpot is your jam, then Gomart is your one-stop shop.
LNY snacking is some next-level stuff. Besides the feasts that happen around the dining table, it's common to have a wide selection of snacks to make sure your guests don't go hungry while waiting for the main meal. So if you want to serve up epic snacks to go with your epic dinner, then Thai kee's hype snack drops are here to help you impress.
TLDR: Thai kee's hype snacks will bring you all the new year street credit in your family!
Take a digital walk-through Hong Kong Supermarket's aisle and you'll be inundated with snacks, treats and more from Japan, China, Korea, Taiwan, Indonesia and Cambodia, just to name just a few. This family-run business has been operating for 20+ years and if you're testing a recipe out for the first time or simply making a family classic, they are very helpful in getting you there.
TLDR: Just read the above, it's not that long, we promise! Currently, our eyes are gravitating towards their Hokkaido milk buns and milk cheesecake range. When they said you can freeze it and eat it like an ice cream cake, it's perfect for this summer season in the comfort of your lounge or backyard.
Like Christmas, seafood plays a large role in many LNY celebrations, for both the auspicious names and the show of wealth. But traditional preparation methods such as steaming require the seafood to be at its peak, which can be hard to get when you're buying retail. We've found Manettas to be trustworthy, even delivering prawns that were fresh enough to be eaten raw and marinated. Prawn ceviche, anyone?
TLDR: Super fresh seafood, which we love in marinated raw prawns and whole steamed fish!
The issue with produce delivery companies, for us, is that we either find ourselves stuck trying to customise pre-set boxes, or trying to type in countless name translations for Asian greens only to find that they don't stock it. Delish may not have every single variety - chrysanthemum leaves lovers, we're sorry to disappoint you - but they do have a decent enough selection that is consistently there for you to choose from. They even sometimes add seasonal items like dumplings to make your grocery shopping a little more convenient.
TLDR: Delish carries a good selection of Asian greens, to round out your new year feast.
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