Here’s the place to shop when you need purple yam, Jackfruit or just sticky rice
New Asia in Groton has a loyal clientele who are seeking authentic ingredients
Hyung Im stops stocking shelves to help a man looking for sticky rice. The owner of New Asia is repeatedly interrupted as he arranges jars of roasted eel, tins of broiled mackerel, containers of kimchi, and Japanese cookies and candies on the shelves of his specialty food market at 505D Long Hill Road.
He chuckles each time he suspends his task, always eager to help a customer find what they’re searching for.
He asks the man inquiring about the sticky rice what he plans to do with it, so he can help him make the right selection from the multiple options in the small grocery store. The customer says he’s not sure, he’s shopping with a list from his wife, and while he knows she’ll make something tasty, he doesn’t know exactly what it will be.
The shop owner and customer convene over the stacks of rice bags and finally make a decision.
At New Asia, the scene is often repeated, as customers ask questions about which miso, sesame oil, or green tea they might need.
The shop stocks essentials and specialties for cooking the cuisines of customers who hail from places like the Philippines, Korea, Japan, China, Vietnam, Thailand and Indonesia. And for those who enjoy making Asian food.
A jovial man, Hyung Im is Korean and came to the U.S. in 1985. He’s operated his market in Groton for a dozen years, the past eight in his current location.
Clutching a bag of fresh-made lo mein noodles that she pulled from a refrigerated case, Kim Carpenter of Groton explained she would be making General Tso’s chicken.
“I always find one thing, like a spice or a specific sesame oil, that I can’t find anywhere else,” she said. “And whenever I make Asian food, I like to get as authentic as I can.”
She was standing beside a display of flavor extracts and marveled that New Asia had unique choices such as ube (purple yam), langka (Jackfruit), pandan (screwpine) and mango.
“You can always find that oddball thing that you wouldn’t find in another grocery store,” she said. “And the pricing here, it’s really good, and they take Apple Pay.”
Lou Smith, who moved to the U.S. from the Philippines 17 years ago, was buying smoked fish flakes to use in her dish of eggplant, okra and squash.
She explained that milkfish, which is sold at New Asia, is the national fish of the Philippines and is similar to tilapia, but more flavorful.
She was also planning to pick up some snacks that New Asia gets from a wholesaler who imports them from the Philippines.
Im said he works with suppliers in Maryland and New Jersey who acquire the products for stores like his operation from overseas. While he gets a wide variety of customers, he estimates about 65 percent are Filipino.
In addition to the dry goods and specialties like Nori for sushi, coconut strings in heavy syrup, bonito shavings, and seasoned anchovies with sesame seed from Thailand, New Asia sells fresh vegetables that you don’t typically see alongside the asparagus and broccoli at other markets.
He’s got banana blossoms, giant white radishes, Korean Shingo pears, purple yams, bitter melon, chrysanthemum, Utoy and taro leaves.
In the freezer there’s the fish, pompano, and shoppers will find fried anchovies and cuttlefish slices in the refrigerated cases.
Im is all over the store, helping customers and instructing an employee who is unpacking boxes that have just arrived.
When he’s asked about soy sauce, he points out the different options, explaining each has its own flavor and some are saltier than others.
“At a major, big, American grocery store, Asian food is a small section,” he says. “We have more here.”