After moving to Germany, the thing you miss most is probably Chinese home-style noodles and dumplings. Berlin has plenty of Asian supermarkets where you can find most ingredients — you just need to know where to look and which local alternatives work.
Your Base: Asian Supermarkets
Items like Lao Gan Ma chili crisp, Pixian doubanjiang (fermented broad bean paste), light and dark soy sauce, sesame oil, Chinese chives, glass noodles, rice vinegar, and various flours are hard to find in regular German supermarkets. Asian supermarkets have them all in one go.
Berlin recommendations:
- Dong Xuan Center (Lichtenberg): Vietnamese-run, the largest selection, best value when buying in bulk
- Go Asia: Multiple locations including Friedrichshain, closer to the city center, wide variety
- Scattered Vietnamese kiosks (Viet-Kiosk) in various districts for quick top-ups
Tip: Do a monthly bulk run to a large Asian supermarket to stock up on sauces and dry goods.
Ingredient Substitution Guide
| Chinese Ingredient | German Supermarket Substitute | Where to Buy |
|---|---|---|
| All-purpose flour (medium gluten) | Type 550 (Weizenmehl 550) | Any supermarket |
| Scallions | Frühlingszwiebeln (spring onions) | Rewe / Edeka / Asian supermarket |
| Ground pork | Schweinehackfleisch | Refrigerated section of any supermarket |
| Napa cabbage | Chinakohl (Chinese cabbage) | Most supermarkets |
| Chinese chives | Schnittknoblauch (garlic chives) or Schnittlauch (chives) | Asian supermarket, or spring farmers’ markets |
| Dark / light soy sauce | Branded soy sauce from Asian supermarkets, or Kikkoman (second choice) | Asian supermarket / Rewe international aisle |
| Glass noodles (fensi) | Glasnudeln | Asian supermarket |
| Sesame oil | Sesamöl | Asian supermarket (pure sesame oil, not blended) |
Highest Success Rate Recipes
- Scallion pancakes (Cong you bing): Type 550 flour + Frühlingszwiebeln + salt. Use hot water dough for a texture close to the original.
- Pork and cabbage dumplings: Schweinehackfleisch + Chinakohl + light/dark soy sauce + sesame oil. The main difference is the chewiness of the wrapper — knead the dough for an extra 10 minutes to improve it.
- Chive and egg pockets (Jiucai ji dan hezi): Asian supermarket chives + eggs + glass noodles. Tastes almost exactly like the real thing.
- Steamed buns (Mantou): Type 550 flour + Hefe (yeast, available in the baking aisle of any supermarket) + sugar. Slightly more wheaty than Chinese mantou, but very close.
Time-Saving Tip
For dumpling filling, buy pre-ground pork (Schweinehackfleisch) from the supermarket. German supermarkets grind their meat fresh daily, and the quality is just as good as grinding it yourself. This cuts your prep time for a batch of dumplings in half.
