Oriental vegetables/pickles/etc.

I hope these are  stupid questions..

I know we'll be in Surrey.  Not sure exactly where yet.  My MIL is already asking what she should ship us.

Are Japanese food products easy to find?

Daikon?  Chinese cabbage?  Mitsuba? Yuzu? Fresh or dried shiitake?  (Of course, we can't have fresh stuff shipped, but just asking! I can bring along some seeds...)

Yuzupon?  Umeboshi?  Shibazaki?  Dashi?  Shichimi?  Katsuo bushi and dried katsuo? Soba, somen and udon?  (I can ship all this stuff.)

I'm guessing that tofu, mirin and soy sauce are no problem.

(If you don't know what some of that stuff is, I can explain, but then you probably won't know if it's available, either...)

Anything I'm forgetting?  Even if it's not Japanese... I understand I should bring a big bag of cornmeal.  And chipotles if I can get on base soon.  How's the price on whole peppercorns?  (Cheap here.)  I've heard that Mexican spices are hard to get, but chili powder is available, isn't it?

Thought I should ask... I came to Japan with a suitcase full of Italian sauces/polenta mix/spaghetti noodles, etc. only to find that most of it is readily available and cheap in Japan.  (My previous long-term stay was in Thailand, where they WERE unavailable/super-expensive.)

Not to go too off-topic, but is Science Diet cat food (for old cats) readily available?  I'll bring one bag, in case the cat has to stay in quarantine (shouldn't have to).  She'll eat anything, but my vet recommends that brand.

Tell me where I'm wrong, and please let me know what to bring... and what will be a waste of money to ship halfway around the world!

Um.. most of it is available... especially near London.  There are a few links on here for ethnic foods and I just saw a new Japanese one in one of my cooking mags.. I will find it for you.  There are two very good Mexican sources in Lupe Pintos and Cool Chili as well.  I make my own corn tortiallas and masa harina is available from Sainsbury's and online from Cool Chilli....which spices do you want?  I have yet to find ones that are not here. 

You can buy all sorts of corn meal at ethnic grocers and to be honest you are better off asking someone who lives in the UK to send it to you than paying postage from outside the UK. 

Though in Surrey you should have no problems.

http://talk.uk-yankee.com/index.php?topic=18284.new#new

New Malden is a town located in Surrey, It has probably the largest expatriate community of South Koreans in Britain. I know there are a few supermarkets in which you may be able to find a few of your needs. Otherwise there is a huge cash and carry store in North Greenwich that carrys everything Asian.

http://www.seewoo.com/

Hi Madeira,

Daikon, Chinese Cabbage, and a wide variety of fresh vegatables are available here in Chinese shops.  If you are lucky enough to relocate in a place with easy access to Oriental City in London that's the best place to get ALL your Japanese foods.

http://london.openguides.org/index.cgi?Oriental_City_NW9

I would think as well, if your husband is working for Toshiba, and there are many other Japanese in that area, there would be a few shops that you can purchase Japanese food.  I know in Manchester, because of the university, the Chinese wholesalers and shops sell some Japanese food.  Also a new store has opened here as part of one of the Japanese resturants that sells only Japanese products.

I also use www.mountfuji.co.uk  to order Japanese food on line.

I have been pretty lucky and found almost everything that I want here in the UK.  (Still trying to locate Mentaiko though.   )

No mentaiko?

What about tobiko?

Mentaiko is easy to find here, but for some reason tobiko isn't.  I had no problem buying tobiko in Canada.   Of course, there are a lot of different fish eggs at the shops here, mostly salmon and herring.

(When I first came to Japan, though, I wondered why  bait was sold in the grocery stores...)

(When I first came to Japan, though, I wondered why  bait was sold in the grocery stores...)

My dad used to say the same thing.  Especially the Salmon roe.  Every time he saw it, he would comment on the fish bait thing.   

I haven't found tobiko either, but I haven't really been looking for it.