Celebrate Asian Canadian excellence with these seriously tasty items from Asian Canadian-owned businesses. From ready-to-eat restaurant-quality ramen to umami-rich chili oil, adding these tasty items to your fridge and pantry is a simple way to support the Asian community today and every day. Consider this list just a starting point for the diverse range of Asian-owned foods you can add to your kitchen.
Cook with Zing Sacha-Ish Savoury Chili Condiment
This savoury chili condiment provides extra oomph to just about everything it’s drizzled on. From eggs to dumplings to sandwiches, it adds a welcome hit of spice and umami. Developed in collaboration between food expert Pay Chen and Cook with Zing, Sacha-ish is inspired by some of Pay’s favourite hot pot dipping sauces like shāchá jiàng. We love drizzling it over congee or steamed Chinese greens for a simple yet elevated side.
Crafty Ramen Spicy Chicken Tantanmen
This frozen, ready-to-eat ramen is a total game changer. Popular ramen shop Crafty Ramen adapted their beloved ramen to be eaten at home in this clever frozen format: all you have to do is heat and eat! The ramen can be picked up from their stores in Toronto, Guelph and Kitchener, and also ships to a variety of cities in Ontario and British Columbia.
Chachalate Caramel and Cocoa Nib Crunch
This ethical chocolate company makes all of their chocolate with only two ingredients: cocoa beans and organic cane sugar. That’s it! Their cacoa is sourced directly from farmers, and they make an effort to pay farmers a liveable rate (often 3-5 times more than typical Fair Trade prices) so that their farmers can focus on quality over quantity. They sell a variety of chocolate bars including fun flavours like strawberry hojicha and Okanagan cherry, with prices ranging from $11-$16 per bar. A small price to pay for a majorly impactful chocolate bar!
Sachili Gourmet Vegan Popcorn
Best known for their ready-to-eat chili crunch toppings, Sachili also just recently launched their new line of gourmet popcorn. Generously sprinkled with their signature South Asian Sachili seasoning, their popcorn is vegan, gluten-free, GMO-free, and absolutely delicious. Currently, the popcorn is available in two flavours: Savoury Chili, a spicy, umami take on popcorn, and Savoury Superfood, which features a blend of five nutrient-dense superfoods (chia seeds, goji berries, ginger, pomegranate and moringa).
Spice Girl Eats Chai Concentrate
This chai concentrate from Toronto-based, woman-owned business Spice Girl Eats makes it so easy to whip up a delicious, authentic, spiced cup of chai in seconds. It features fresh ginger, cane sugar, clove, cinnamon, and peppercorn for a slight spicy kick. Simply mix it with water or your milk of choice, and you instantly have a soothing cuppa that’s delicious hot or cold.
Super Magic Taste Chili Crisp
Looking for ways to elevate your dish? Let us introduce you to chili crisp. Whether you’d like to spice up your breakfast, lunch or dinner, this Super Magic Taste Chili Crisp is the way to go. It’s also vegan and gluten-free.
Related: How to Make Chili Crisp
Kopi Thyme Bun Bo Hue Spicy Noodle Soup Base
Craving authentic Vietnamese soup at home? Kopi Thyme’s wide range of flavourful sauces provide the perfect base to do just that. Their Bun Bo Hue soup base blends sweet, sour and spicy notes to give you the classic spicy soup with way less of the work. They also offer Ipoh Laksa curry noodle soup base, Prawn Curry paste, and many more soup bases, marinades, and sauces that are jam-packed with flavour. Plus their products are all all-natural, and many are gluten-free, vegan, nut-free and dairy-free.
Blume Blue Lavender Blend
This dreamy-hued bevvy is as effective as it is beautiful! Formulated with coconut milk, lavender and blue spirulina, this superfood latte works to to soothe restlessness and help you unwind before bed for a deep, restful sleep. With floral notes and subtly sweet hints of coconut, it’s a surefire path to sweet dreams.
Saigon Drip OG Blend
This Vietnamese coffee brand was founded with the mission of making Vietnamese, slow drip coffee mainstream. Their OG Blend is a fine grind that’s perfect for everyday, with a sweet, nutty flavour that has 25% more caffeine than arabica beans. Whether you’re drinking it with condensed milk or baking it into a Vietnamese Coffee Cake, it’s a simple way to elevate your everyday coffee routine.
Vankoji Foods Shio Koji
This Burnaby, BC-based brand produces and sells shio koji: an ancient Japanese ingredient similar to miso that works as a healthier alternative to salt. It adds umami to everything it touches, and can be used in anything from dressings to dips to marinades to sauces and soups. Vankoji offers a variety of shio kojis, including their classic shio koji, shoyu koji, BBQ koji, tamari koji, and a koji jam. It’s sure to become your new favourite secret ingredient!