Huang Phat
If you want a one-stop treasure trove of Vietnamese, Thai and other South East Asian ingredients, this friendly supermarket packed with goodies won't disappoint.
There's a comprehensive collection of hot and other sauces. Rice noodles and sheets come fresh as well as dry, alongside a wide choice of dried egg noodles. Among the wrappers for spring rolls, lumpia and summer salad rolls are dried Bahn Trang wrappers, some studded with sesame seeds and other with chopped dried shrimp.
Really useful are little airplane-soda-sized cans of coconut milk to cut back on those half-finished cans than can lurk in the fridge - if you're not making Indonesian rice pudding, that is. If you want to do that, there are regular sized cans, along with the glutinous black rice and the gulab jamun (cones of compressed cane sugar) you'll need for this rich and wickedly Hallowe'en-looking dessert. For European cooking there are green peppercorns in brine, chocolate sprinkles made from decent chocolate and Dutch cookies. There are Vietnamese sandwiches in the supermarket, but walk through the back and you'll find a modest but full menu restaurant.
The fresh produce is limited but you'll find most basic essentials at a good price, particularly with the bags of herbs. In the meat counter pork belly is sold at $2.79 a pound which means it won't be organic or even free-range, just cheap.
Hung Phat Grocery, 11315 Fern St, Wheaton, 301 929 0725.

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