Our Taiwanese neighbors invited us over for dinner to celebrate the Lunar New Year. We had a wonderful feast that ended with these peanut and black sesame filled dumplings swimming in a black sugar soup. The dinner was wonderful but dessert was out of this world delicious. It turns out that our neighbor purchased them frozen at a Taiwanese grocery in Ikebukuro. We had to have more of those dumplings!
We found Nikko Asia Shokuhin a short walk from Ikebukuro Station (see detailed walking directions with landmarks and photos -- we got lost and hope that with this information, you won't).
Nikko Asia Shokuhin is a modest grocery occupying the middle 3 floors of the Ryuzaki Building. It is a little Taiwanese market in Ikebukuro. Practically everything you might need to whip up your Taiwanese favorites can be found here. On the second floor (the shop's first floor) are dried food stuffs, noodles, bottled sauces, flours, and canned goods. The third floor (the shop's second floor), you will find frozen, easy to prepare food such as steamed buns, leek pancakes, and those peanut and sesame dumplings we were looking for. They also carry some fresh vegetables essential for Taiwanese flavors, such as fresh coriander (pakuchi in Japanese). The fourth floor (the store's third) is where you can get fresh fish and meat.
It’s on my shopping list now!