Galangal and Thai Basil in Boston

Where are the places to find galangal and thai basil with a high probability in Boston ?

any asian market should have galangal and thai basil. try truong thinh market and phu cuong market on dot ave in dorchester or angkor thom market and battambang market on shirley ave in revere for best results

The last few years I’ve seen galangal regularly at the Somerville Market Basket but not Thai basil. Also at larger whole foods such as River St. It freezes well. I haven’t been to Russo’s lately, but I remember both it and Thai basil there and they usually also have lime leaf. I’d call unless you are going to Russo’s anyway. Mentor Flats at some farmer’s markets usually has Thai basil, but it’s too early in the season for local basil. I don’t know about HMart. In summer, probably easier to grown your own Thai basil.

I can’t get to Revere or Dorchester very easily so I haven’t checked the places suggested in years. When I was going through a Malaysian/Burma phase some years ago, and did check out Revere, I didn’t find Thai basil or other fresh southeast Asian ingredients except lemongrass, which is everywhere now. If you find a reliable source, please post.

The market basket in waltham has had both though hit and miss availability, so I’d call if you’re going to a market basket. Russo’s has always had Thai basil when I’ve needed it, galangal hit and miss. The Thai basil is always “hidden” in a small room way to the inside left that is also filled with other Asian produce.

that room at the left back of Russo’s is also where the lime leaves are.

Market Basket in Burlington usually has both and I’ve sometimes seen lime leaves there. They know that HMart (another reliable source) is right next door.

that is odd. angkor thom market and battambang market consistently have galangal and thai basil year round. they are most definitely a reliable source

as I said, last time I checked was years ago. Probably even more than 10 years ago.

fwiw, they generally have betel leaf and fresh turmeric at this store too. good spot to get Asian produce ingredients in general.

I’ve been hoping to find pandan leaf for a long time. I’ll have to look it up to see if betel leaf is the same thing or something close to it. Thanks!

Waltham India Market on Moody St. often has them. I’ll check the next time I’m there, which should be within a week or so.

I assume that you did this already, but for posterity here they’re different. Pandan is also known as screwpine whereas betel is a plant that comes as the same family as pepper. I assume they tend to have betel in Burlington because of the large area population of people from India.

I’m not sure if this Market Basket has fresh pandan leaves, but it’s possible. I’ll likely go on Saturday, so I’ll check.

battambang market usually has betel leaves and pandan leaves

wow! got to get back there after so many years since my first visit. Thanks so much for all this information. I’ve found lime leaves freeze well so stocking up will be fun.

Thanks everybody for the suggestions - it was completely unplanned yesterday but I ended up for other reasons at Russo and they had thai basil (very fresh) and galangal (not the best quality but acceptable).

1 Like

good to know! thanks.

Granted I only had time for a quick look but Hmart in Burlington today didn’t have either today. Nor kaffir leaves. I was surprised so maybe they were hiding. Glad russo’s had them.

Ps they are doing road work in front of hmart in Burlington right now (June 2017) and getting out was a nightmare.

oh, man. that strip can be a nightmare to get out of sometimes at peak without roadwork, if you’re going straight out to Lowell St. Hot tip: if you go out the far end of the Market Basket lot past M.B., Burlington Wine & Spirits and Chateau Italian Family Dining (I could pause here to ruminate on the French name of this seemingly Italian joint, but let’s move on), you can basically get out a lot faster to the south, east and even sometimes north. I leave that lot this way back to Medford, Woburn or the Indian places in Burlington every time.

1 Like

I forgot to say that I did look for fresh pandan at the Burlington Market Basket last weekend, but didn’t see any.