The Asian Home Cook in Ireland - Can it be done?

Part of my favorite childhood memories revolve around food. Family gatherings and holidays centered on the special foods that my mom and grandmother made and that each of my aunts and uncles brought to share. These memories feature distinctive Vietnamese dishes from my childhood like Banh Bot Loc, Bun Bo Hue, Pho Bo, and so many more.

When we decided to move to Ireland, i was worried that I was moving from Seattle, a place where I could pop down the street to a nearby Vietnamese deli or pho shop for a Vietnamese food fix, to Dublin, where I might not be able to find even the most basic Asian ingredients.

The first time I was in Ireland, it was 2000 and I distinctly remember noticing that there were not very many Asians walking around. When we decided to make the move, I told my children that we were making a move to a country that was not as ethnically diverse as the place they were born and raised, the multicultural Seattle.

In fact, I was worried enough about finding fish sauce and sriracha sauce that I actually googled Asian Grocery stores and Vietnamese restaurants to see if 13 years had brought in diversity in their cuisine. I was glad to see that there were some shops and I had hope! I did not pack anything with me although I did meet some people who smuggled sriracha in their shipping containers!

After arriving, during each trip we made through the city center, I was always on the look-out for Asian restaurants and grocery stores. I was pleasantly surprised to see that there were many Asians in Dublin and that it had become a much more ethnically diverse place since 2000! 

Most of the Asian grocery stores are North of the Liffy. After living here for a year, I've learned that Parnell Street and Capel Street have become a sort of International area feature grocery stores and restaurants of cuisines around the world. It is definitely the place to get your fix if you are craving something!

It is certainly possible to make Vietnamese dishes with the available grocery items. It is a bit more difficult to source items for more complicated dishes, but it's not impossible. It reminds me of when my mom and grandmother made a lot of dishes from scratch or slightly modified dishes with the ingredients they could find locally.

Tips for Cooking Vietnamese Dishes in Ireland

1. Find a good local butcher
   While little butcher shops have gone out of style in most areas in the U.S. and most of us buy our meat from the big box stores, the local butcher shop is still popular in Ireland. They are even in the local shopping centers (kind of weird to see a meat shop next to a shoe shop), but it's actually great! However, the favored cuts of meat in the shops here are pork chops, lamp chops, and loins. To get a good cut of pork belly or thin pork shoulder cuts for Vietnamese dishes, you need to get them from your local butcher (although I have seen ox tails and pork belly at the Dundrum Tesco). You may need to call ahead and have your butcher save you a cut. My friend did this when she made a pork shoulder. If you live close to the Dublin city center or go into town frequently, there are a couple of Asian grocery stores (such as Han Sung on Great Grand Street or the Oriental Emporium on Upper Abbey Street at the Jervis Luas stop) that have meat counters and you can get some cuts there.
   
2. Buy Basics at Tesco and Supervalu
   I am noticing that different shops of the same chain carry slightly different items, but I have found that the Tesco and Supervalu near me have a good amount of Asian pantry basics. Although the pre-cooked noodles at Tesco are a bit weird and covered in a oil, you can buy fresh bean sprouts, mint, and cilantro (called Irish Coriander) there. The basis for any good Vietnamese dish! You can also get fresh ginger and lemongrass at both of the Tescos near me. My local Supervalu also carries minced tubes of ginger and lemongrass. You can also buy Kikoman soy sauce at either chain and Tesco has an interesting selection of different curry pastes if you are also into Thai cooking.
   
3. Buying Rice - without a car
   If you need to buy rice and are used to buying a 25# or 50# bag, that is really tough to do without a car in Dublin. Lugging a giant bag of rice onto the Luas or bus is a bit odd, but if you have those kinds of muscles, I won't judge. However, we did not purchase a car for the first year we lived in Dublin and I was not about to lug a big bag of rice plus four young children onto the Luas. Our stroller can only take so much abuse. So, I tried the rice at Tesco, Lidl, and Aldi and I'd have to say that I find the Lidl rice to be the best. It's a small green bag labelled "Thai Jasmin Rice" and is quite good and very affordable. About half a bag feeds my family of 6 with leftovers. Each bag is about 1.99Euro. So, it's a good deal, is small and not super heavy, and fits easily into a weekly or b-weekly purchase. The Tesco bag is larger, but the rice is not as nice. Of course, it's not as lovely as a super fragrant bag of really good jasmine rice. But it's still pretty good.
   
4. Best place for rice noodles, fish sauce, rice selection for Vietnamese cooking
   By far the best place to buy the ingredients for Vietnamese cooking is Asia Market on Drury Street in the city centre. This shop has the largest selection of cooking sauces, fish sauce, rice, mi goi, etc, Their location in Ballymount has a much smaller selection. This is also the only place in Dublin that sells Banh Tet and Banh Chung (which you will need for the New Year). It's also the only place that sells gio lua and gio bi. You can also get your bo vien here if you are making pho!
   
   
   

Ikea - As crazy in Dublin as it is in Seattle

Setting up a new home in a new country involves buying lots of new things. Fortunately, our rental house came fully furnished and included things like silverware, pots and pans, glasses and dishes. To be able to stay, we only needed the very basics: bed linens, bath towels, and our basic toiletries. Normally, in the US, this wouldn't have been a big deal. We would have jumped into our suburban and head over to Target, Walmart, or Ikea for everything we needed.

Without a car, things were a little more complicated here. We had to be able to carry everything back and forth. Sometimes, Mr Puffles makes a perfectly dense suggestion that I take the kids to go pick up something (like hangers and comforters and pillows) by myself during the day. When I react negatively, he doesn't understand why the kids can't help carry anything.

Hello? I have four kids ages 1, 5, 7, and 8. Asking an 8 year old child to carry an awkward giant package and walk a mile home? No. It just means that I have to carry everything plus push the stroller.

Anyway, luckily for us, there is an Ikea in Dublin and since we were well acquainted with the the merchandise and quality of Ikea, we planned to purchase our pillow and bedding at Ikea. Even the designs were basically the same as the stuff in the Seattle Ikea. Another bonus was that Ikea offers home delivery. The cost is based on how much you purchase. 

So, we made plans to go to Ikea after we signed our lease. We needed a place that delivered and offered lots of inexpensive options. We knew we wouldn't probably ship these items back when we return to the US. So, we didn't want to spend too much money (although I really want Orla Kiely stuff!) but still wanted decent quality. I can't say the same for a lot of Ikea furniture, but the duvets and pillows were certainly cheaper than at the department stores and decently soft. 

The Dublin Ikea is located about a 20-30 minute bus ride north of the city center and near the airport. Dublin bus 3, 13, and 140 all go to or close to the Ikea. I would definitely try to take the 140 if you can because it picks up and drops off right on the side of the Ikea. We planned to arrive there as early as possible and arrived shortly after they opened. If you have young children and want to avoid a mental break down, try to go as early as possible because there is NEVER a time when you can just pop in and pop out of Ikea. Any Ikea. Ever. Especially on a weekend.

We chose to go to Ikea on Father's Day because I saw a coupon on the Ikea website for a free bacon sandwich for all fathers. The catch was that we had to get there before 11am. Another important reason why we chose to get there as soon as possible! Of course, Dublin Bus doesn't run on the weekends especially on Sunday quite as frequently. Mr Puffles misread the bus schedule. So, we were a whole hour early to the bus stop. So, we decided to take a walk around Trinity College for about 40 minutes and then went back to the stop and caught the bus with plenty of time. 

We arrived at Ikea at about 10:30am and went straight to the restaurant which is on the third floor. We had breakfast/lunch and Mr Puffles enjoyed his Father's Day bacon sandwich along with probably the cheapest Full Irish Breakfast (€2.99) you can buy in Dublin and coffee. The children ate their little kid's meals and when everyone was happy and full, we made a pit stop to the toilets on the same floor. With four kids, that's how we roll! Toilets first! Fun second! 

We quickly got our cart and entered the maze that is Ikea. If you have been to an Ikea before, there should be no real surprises. The merchandise is pretty much the same and the displays and layout were also pretty much the same as the Seattle Ikea except it was on three different floors instead of just one. We shopped and shopped and when we finally got to the bed linens, I discovered that I had to forgotten to save the document I had created on my phone with all the exact measurements of our mattresses. Doh! I would have to rely on my memory and if you know me, you would know this was a dicey thing.

But luckily, I remembered enough and was able to get the correct sizes (it's not all full, queen, and king here - I had to go by exact cm measurements because not all king, doubles, and singles are the same size here). Thank god. Seriously. Having to exchange stuff would have been a nightmare.

We checked out and paid for our loot and then walked over to the home delivery desk in the customer service area. Thank goodness there was no line and we didn't have to wait because it was 2:30pm and the kids had had enough of Ikea. It cost me €75 for home delivery for the next day. Success!

Ahh. Ready for our tired heads!