Asian Market Brings New Flavors to Santa Fe

IN THE OLD DAYS, if a Santa Fean wanted to make mapo tofu, pad Thai, or spring rolls, they’d come up short searching for the necessary ingredients around town. That void was filled when the Santa Fe Asian Market opened at the St. Michael’s Village West Shopping Center in spring 2022. Myanmar native David Thianhlun launched the City Different’s only Asian grocery store in order to provide hard-to-find items to the city’s foodie and immigrant communities, who were used to schlepping to Albuquerque’s markets for chicken feet, quail, or kimchi by the gallon. Now, locals can shop in Santa Fe for those, along with Thai green and red chiles, roasted seaweed, green tea; bean, plum, fish, and oyster sauces; and an array of Asian snacks, noodles, and other items. Keep an eye out for even more variety: Thianhlun encourages visitors to provide suggestions for future items to stock.

Read more: In the last century, Chinese restaurants brought diversity to New Mexico’s culinary landscape. Now, a new generation of Asian immigrants is telling fresh—and delicious—origin stories.