Where to Buy Chinese & Asian Ingredients in CDMX
I take a brief pause from my usual review column to fill in do-it-yourselfers on my favorite sources for buying Asian products. Mexico City has become increasingly international, especially since the pandemic. And there seems to have been an influx of Asian, particularly Chinese, immigrants. The rather non-descript Colonia Viaducto Piedad (at metro Viaducto on the blue line) is one Chinese residential area where some good restaurants are located and others are scattered throughout the city, several clustered towards the western end of Polanco, that cater almost exclusively to them. The good news for home cooks is that a number of increasingly well-stocked stores have opened, including a couple of good sized Chinese supermarkets mentioned below.
Chinese
Super Oriental
This well-stocked market, recently expanded, has been around for decades. It is a good source for not only pan-Asian, but Middle Eastern, Indian and other “exotic” ingredients. There is a particularly good variety of spices, rices and flours as well as some cooking equipment – I bought my wok here many years ago.
Division del Norte 2515 corner of Londres, (Londres, you will recall, is the ‘Casa Frida Kahlo’ street – this place is at the other end of it, about 15 blocks away) Coyoacán
Tel. 5688-2981
Open Monday – Saturday 9:30-7:30 p.m., Sunday 10:30-3:30 p.m. View map
East Super in Polanco
East Super
This three-story market that opened at the end of 2023 specializes in Chinese products and is well stocked, particularly in the sauce and condiment section: it is for example, the only place I have found XO sauce for sale. Frozen foods include a variety of dumplings not available elsewhere. And the cookware section, upstairs, includes decent home-style woks, rice cookers, kitchen tools and even such products as Chinese toothpaste and toilet paper for the homesick Sinophile.
Av. Moliere 339, Polanco (see map)
Open Monday – Friday 11:30 a.m. – 9:30 p.m., Saturday, Sunday 10:30 – 8:30
Xintian Supermarket
Centro Commercial Chino
This expansive market offers a decent selection of dry goods, such as noodles, sauces, condiments and cookware. There is a large selection of fresh Asian vegetables. Some very good and reasonably priced dumplings are located in the frozen foods section. The excellent Wenzhou Restaurant is located up the street at Humboldt 44.
Located at the corner of Calles Artículo 123 & Humboldt, Colonia Centro (see map)
Various “choy” at Mercado San Juan
Mercado San Juan
Several surprisingly well-stocked Asian vegetable stands sell such rarities as bitter melon, long beans, okra, Chinese leeks, baby bok choy (and several other “choys”) and in season, fabulous pea shoots. Other booths in the market offer a variety of Asian products as well as fresh tofu. And of course, the San Juan is a great source for fish, seafood, ducks, organ meats etc. It should be noted that Colonia Roma’s Mercado Medellín also houses a couple of stands offering Chinese and other Asian products.
Calle Ernesto Pugibet, Centro view map
The market is, in theory, open daily from about 9 until around 5 p.m. but some vendors start packing up earlier – there is free parking for customers next door.
The old cigarette co. housing Dragón de Oro
Dragón de Oro
This small shop, at the corner of the Mercado San Juan, is located in a historic building that was once a cigarette factory, like the kind Carmen might have worked in. It is run by an elderly Chinese/Argentine gentleman who is accompanied by an ornery old dog. It has a small but useful selection of Chinese condiments, flours , starches, noodles, dried mushrooms, spices – Sichuan pepper, for example – and some good frozen dumplings.
Corner of Ernesto Pugibet & Plaza de San Juan (see map)
Open Tuesday – Sunday 9-5, closed Monday
Mo Niu China Supermarket Supermarket (as of June 2024, “clausurado”)
This messy, “aromatic” old Chinatown-style market, hidden behind closed doors, is probably clandestine: one needs to knock and, if not Asian, convince the proprietors that one is really there to shop. There are good vegetables and an odd selection of animals: I’ve seen recently slaughtered ducks, live fish, frogs, and once, some beautiful live langoustines. Little Spanish is spoken here (much less English) and bring cash, because cards aren’t accepted, ‘natch. It is located down the street from the wonderful house of dim sum, Le Fu (see post).
José Maria Correa 330, Colonia Viaducto Piedad, Metro Viaducto (see map)
Mini Super Chao Hua Chang Shi Ji
The door to this one, like the above, is usually closed to the street, so knock to enter. A decent selection of jarred and dried products is on offer. It is around the corner from our favorite restaurant, Ka Won Seng (see post).
Albino García 307, Colonia Viaducto Piedad (see map)
Wansheng (Maxxi) Oriental Wholesale
This market, located within the Central de Abastos, sells packaged dry goods and condiments and caters principally to restaurants so prices are reasonable.
Av. Principal edificio 1, Área Federal, Central de Abastos, Ixtapalapa (see map)
Open Monday – Saturday 8:30 - 4
Super Asia
This small market in the Anahuac neighborhood north of Polanco, offers a good selection.
Laguna de Mayran 250. (see map)
Asian Bay Boutique
A small store attached to the Condesa restaurant offers a selection of cooking supplies. Tamaulipas 95, Condesa
Other Asian Markets
Japanese:
Mikasa
This excellent Roma institution stocks Japanese necessities and other Asian ingredients as well, such as Chinese sauces, as well as some fresh produce, meats, frozen products, sakes and beers, and a selection of tofus. They sell bento boxes and sushi (which, unfortunately, is increasingly oriented towards non-Japanese customers and so often shmeared with cream cheese or mayo) and a have few tables outside so you can enjoy a pleasant, inexpensive lunch while shopping. The ramen restaurant upstairs is excellent.
San Luís Potosí 173, Colonia Roma Tel. 5574-4859 Open Monday – Saturday 10-7, Sunday until 6. View map
Korean
There are several Korean markets near each other on calle Hamburgo, between Florencia and Sevilla in the Zona Rosa selling fresh tofu, kimchis, and other Korean and general Asian necessities. At Good People, at 214, they make huge chunks of meaty fresh tofu, often still warm, and Korean City, at 238, view map, are my favorites; neither have signs nor numbers, so look for the plain white doors and figure out where they are according to the other numbered buildings. There is another market a few blocks west at Londres 40.
Indian:
Rashmi’s Indian Market
This is the best – and only – Indian food market in the city. There is an excellent selection of rices, flours, legumes, spices and condiments. The owners promise that in the future will be included some fresh ingredients, as well.
Av. Ejército Nacional Mexicano 177 -B, Verónica Anzúres (see map)
Tel. 55 1017 9751
Open 10:30 – 7, Monday – Friday, until 6:30, Saturday, Closed Sunday
Other:
El Molinero Progreso
This deceptively small shop sells, by weight, every spice and grain, ground or whole, under the sun. You can get whatever you need to make Indian, Moroccan, Persian, Thai or Chinese dishes. As well as Mexican. If you are looking for carraway, juniper berries, dried Persian limes or star anise, this is the place.
Aranda 26, centro
Open Monday - Saturday 8 a.m.- 8 p.m. View map
Kameyama Shachuu
This is the only shop in the city offering an array of jewel-like Japanese knives. The showroom is worth a stop even if you don’t do your own sashimi. Knives for all purposes are on display from simple and relatively affordable chef knives to beautiful hand-hewn and understandably expensive examples whose purposes remain a mystery.
