Thai food ingredients and other stuff

[Tegeras 5]

One of the main concerns my wife has had about her impending move has been finding cooking supplies. Living in the San Francisco bay area there are some options for where to buy supplies IF you live close to the City. Unfortunately the City is about an hour drive away so having to commute to shop will come out expensive. I have looked online but most importers that I have found mark up their products by as much as 400%, with the exception of one. Also bringing supplies directly from Thailand will limiting for obvious reasons.

Anyway I was wondering where you all get your cooking supplies? Local or online? I have found one good website out of Washington that has decent prices www.importfood.com but I was wondering if maybe there are more out there that I can use?

As far as Thai programming I think I am set up pretty good. I have ASEAN TV ($100/yr) and OnlineTVE ($20/yr) accounts set up now that provide streaming of Thai movies/TV programming as well as live broadcast content. I will cancel one account after the wife picks the one she likes most. ASEAN TV is more refined and kind of looks like Netflix. OnlineTVE only works on Samsung smart tv's with Smart Hub and the interface is very basic but is has a lot more content in many languages, when it works that is. To protect me from having to listen to all this wonderful entertainment I also picked up some wireless headphones Of course this is what I have been able to find on my own. If you have any other recommendations I will be more than happy to hear about them!

[slowlyman 118]

Agreed about import food.com. They seem to have the best price and a good staff to deal with.

Programming, she seems happy with the free apps I have been able to find. Mostly she watches Thai movies on YouTube, and music on Tunein Radio.

[Ning 619]

One of the main concerns my wife has had about her impending move has been finding cooking supplies. Living in the San Francisco bay area there are some options for where to buy supplies IF you live close to the City. Unfortunately the City is about an hour drive away so having to commute to shop will come out expensive. I have looked online but most importers that I have found mark up their products by as much as 400%, with the exception of one. Also bringing supplies directly from Thailand will limiting for obvious reasons.

Anyway I was wondering where you all get your cooking supplies? Local or online? I have found one good website out of Washington that has decent prices www.importfood.com but I was wondering if maybe there are more out there that I can use?

As far as Thai programming I think I am set up pretty good. I have ASEAN TV ($100/yr) and OnlineTVE ($20/yr) accounts set up now that provide streaming of Thai movies/TV programming as well as live broadcast content. I will cancel one account after the wife picks the one she likes most. ASEAN TV is more refined and kind of looks like Netflix. OnlineTVE only works on Samsung smart tv's with Smart Hub and the interface is very basic but is has a lot more content in many languages, when it works that is. To protect me from having to listen to all this wonderful entertainment I also picked up some wireless headphones Of course this is what I have been able to find on my own. If you have any other recommendations I will be more than happy to hear about them!

I lived in the area myself for awhile so know its difficult in some places. What city are you closest to? Try asking at Thai restaurants in your area as well as temples.

Edited August 20, 2013 by Ning

[rin and john 71]

We are fortunate to have three decent sized asian markets within 30 minutes of our home (Memphis). I would have thought they would be more plentiful in California. The only on-line purchases we have made have been Kaffir lime trees and various seeds for the garden (holy basil, thai chilies, etc).

Rin subscribes to www.dootv.tv. About $120/yr and is 100% Thai programming (both recorded and live, I believe).

[joshandgigi 8]

From what ive been told San Fran Has some of the best places to get thai things.

[Jamnan_n_Steve 17]

We find that MyDooTV that wirelessly streams to the TV through a Roku a better solution than a computer based service. The Roku player is ~$50 for the basic version and MyDooTV runs about $9 per month for a three month subscription through PayPal - lower once you commit to a year - the one complaint Jamnan has is the uploading running about three-days behind - not an issue with the movies (of which they have a large archive), but more of an issue for the news shows.

For food ingredients - we live in the East Bay and use Roong Jing Jing store at 10164 San Pablo Avenue, El Cerrito for Thai specialties - nice people and they have prepared food on the weekend. Worth a visit to prepare the larder.

For fruits and vegetables we have some of the best markets in the country in Berkeley Bowl, but for asian vegetables we find that Ranch 99 has more turn-over as well as slightly lower prices - good for seafood, rice, noodles, spices, and sauces - the organization leaves a lot to be desired - so for a while you wander up and down the aisles wondering where might they have jack fruit? If you live in northern California you will probably have one nearby - visit http://www.99ranch.com/.

[Tegeras 5]

I have a Roku 3 and I did not see the app for MyDootv on it. I will look again when I have some time, the more options the better. I looked at their website a while back and liked what I saw. Streaming and PC viewing is a nice touch which the other 2 that I have lack since they are tied into one device.

As far as living in the Bay Area I am on the fringes of it way out in Brentwood. Not much out here in terms of Thai cuisine hehe. I think the closest Ranch 99 is out in Pleasanton which is about 30 minutes away. Not as bad as a 1hr drive to the City though.

Thanks for the input guys!

[christeen 966]

I can vouch for importfood.com I order from them all the time and they are very reputable with top quality Thai products at affordable prices and delivery is quick and efficient.

[ThaiStyleUSA 1]

One of the main concerns my wife has had about her impending move has been finding cooking supplies. Living in the San Francisco bay area there are some options for where to buy supplies IF you live close to the City. Unfortunately the City is about an hour drive away so having to commute to shop will come out expensive. I have looked online but most importers that I have found mark up their products by as much as 400%, with the exception of one. Also bringing supplies directly from Thailand will limiting for obvious reasons.

Anyway I was wondering where you all get your cooking supplies? Local or online? I have found one good website out of Washington that has decent prices www.importfood.com but I was wondering if maybe there are more out there that I can use?

As far as Thai programming I think I am set up pretty good. I have ASEAN TV ($100/yr) and OnlineTVE ($20/yr) accounts set up now that provide streaming of Thai movies/TV programming as well as live broadcast content. I will cancel one account after the wife picks the one she likes most. ASEAN TV is more refined and kind of looks like Netflix. OnlineTVE only works on Samsung smart tv's with Smart Hub and the interface is very basic but is has a lot more content in many languages, when it works that is. To protect me from having to listen to all this wonderful entertainment I also picked up some wireless headphones Of course this is what I have been able to find on my own. If you have any other recommendations I will be more than happy to hear about them!

I think your wife would be fine trying to adjust living in America. From my understanding, you live in Brentwood, Ca. Where you at, you are surrounded with many of Asia markets. There are many Asian markets in Concord and S.F. as well as Stockton. If you drive further north, you will find many Asian markets located in South Sacramento. There, you will find Vietnamese Town (located on Stockton Blvd., from Fruitridge to Florine Rd), which are over hundreds of different stores and restaurants. Every store sells just about any products that your wife will find in Thailand. Save yourself from driving so much, just stock up those items that can be. As for meat, you can buy those at any American supermarket.

If she wants to start going to Thai Temple, there are several nice ones in the bay area (Richmond & San Fran.). There is one located north of Stockton. Below is the address to this place. They have many concerts there as well for famous Thai singers. I went there many times.

Wat Thai Temple

11253 N. Thornton Rd., Stockton, CA, 95209

(209) 244-8463

As for entertainment, we used to subscribed to www.mydooTV, but no need for it anymore. I bought a FTA (Free to Air) satellite dish system long ago and still using it. If you don't want to pay for subscription, you can go this route. You can tuned into about 10 Thai-Lao channels. Another cheapest route is Facebook. She can connect to many Thai friends all over the world. You can check my signature links below on facebook and add me or have your wife ad my wife as well. My wife will gladly help your wife with any questions and concerns that she may have. I have a facebook group on Thai Community as well. I live in West Sacramento and have many friends with Thai wives in the Sacramento area as well as bay area. PM me if you need more information.