As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. This post contains affiliate links, which means I may earn a small commission — at no extra cost to you — if you buy through them. I only recommend things I believe are genuinely worth your time.
I have a local Asian grocery store. It’s fine — a little cramped, the produce section is hit or miss, and the selection is the same thirty sauces and the same frozen dumplings every time I go. I’m not complaining. It exists, and that’s more than a lot of places can say.
But here’s the thing: I still order most of my Asian groceries from Weee! instead. Not because my store is bad — because Weee is just genuinely better at the two things that matter most to me: having the stuff I actually want, and not charging me extra for the privilege of finding it.
If you cook Asian food at home — Korean, Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese, Filipino, anything — and you’ve ever stood in an aisle wondering why the one ingredient you need doesn’t seem to exist within a 30-mile radius, this post is for you.
What even is Weee?
Weee! is an online Asian grocery store that delivers to your door. Think of it as an Asian supermarket the size of an H Mart warehouse — Korean, Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese, Filipino, Indian, Thai — but you shop from your couch and it shows up in a box a day or two later. They carry fresh produce, meat and seafood, frozen items, pantry staples, snacks, drinks, beauty products, and even household goods. It’s available in most major US metro areas and expanding.
The selection is the real reason I use it
My local store carries maybe 200 items. Weee carries thousands — and they’re organized by cuisine, which means I can browse Korean ingredients one minute and Japanese pantry staples the next without driving to two different stores.
Here’s the kind of stuff I can get on Weee that my local store either doesn’t carry or only has sporadically:
- Specific brands of gochugaru (Korean chili flakes) — not just the one dusty bag on the shelf but multiple brands, coarse and fine grind, different sizes
- Fresh tteok (rice cakes) for tteokbokki — not the dried shelf-stable ones, the refrigerated soft ones that actually taste right
- Japanese curry roux blocks in every brand (Golden Curry, Vermont, Java) — my store carries one, maybe
- Frozen xiaolongbao, har gow, siu mai — the good brands, not just the generic ones
- Laoganma chili crisp, Lee Kum Kee oyster sauce, Kewpie mayo — all the staples, all the sizes
- Fresh Asian produce like gai lan, yu choy, Thai basil, perilla leaves — reliably in stock, not wilting in a corner
- Snacks from every country: Pocky, shrimp chips, mochi ice cream, coconut rolls, White Rabbit candy — the whole vibe
🦪 Pantry staple: grab the one I reach for →
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
🍡 Shortcut: shelf-stable rice cakes soften right up in sauce — no Korean market trip needed. This is the one I buy →
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
🌶️ Stocking your Korean pantry? Good gochugaru is the one ingredient worth ordering online — this coarse Korean red pepper powder is the one I keep on hand →
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
It’s the difference between “what do they happen to have today” and “what do I actually want to cook this week.” That shift changed how I grocery shop.
How prices actually compare
This is the part everyone wants to know, so I’ll be specific. Weee is either the same price or cheaper than my local Asian grocery on most items. Here’s the breakdown I’ve noticed:
- Pantry staples (soy sauce, sesame oil, rice vinegar, gochujang) — roughly the same price, sometimes a dollar less on Weee for larger sizes
- Frozen items (dumplings, bao, rice cakes) — Weee is often $1–3 cheaper per bag, especially on the brands I like
- Fresh produce — comparable. Sometimes my store is cheaper on basics like bok choy, but Weee has better availability of the less common stuff
- Snacks and drinks — Weee wins here. Case prices on things like instant noodles or drinks are significantly cheaper than buying individual packs locally
- Meat and seafood — this one varies. Weee has good deals on bulk packs (like thinly sliced beef for bulgogi or shabu-shabu), but for a single portion I’ll still hit the store
🍜 Pantry win: keep real Korean ramyun on hand for upgraded instant noodles. Grab the ones I reach for →
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
🍚 Need rice vinegar? Its mild, clean tang is perfect for pickles, dressings, and dipping sauces. Here’s the bottle I use →
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
🥢 Finishing touch: a good toasted sesame oil is what makes these dishes taste like the real thing. Grab the one I reach for →
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
🌶️ Pantry staple: a good gochujang lasts months in the fridge and elevates everything. Grab the one I reach for →
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
The real savings aren’t even line-item — it’s that I stopped making impulse buys at the store. When I shop on Weee I get exactly what I need, nothing extra, and the order total is usually less than what I’d spend wandering the aisles.
Delivery is stupidly easy
You order on the app or website, pick a delivery window, and your groceries show up in insulated boxes with ice packs. Frozen items arrive frozen. Produce arrives fresh. That’s it — no drama.
A few things worth knowing:
- Free delivery kicks in at $35 (sometimes lower during promos) — easy to hit if you’re stocking up on pantry staples
- Delivery windows are usually next-day or two-day depending on your area
- Everything comes packed properly — I’ve never had a broken jar or crushed box
- The app sends tracking updates so you know when to grab the box off your porch
It’s the kind of thing where you order on a Tuesday night while you’re watching something, and by Thursday you’re making japchae with ingredients you didn’t have to drive anywhere for.
What I actually order (my regular rotation)
Since I cook a mix of Korean, Chinese, and Japanese food at home, my Weee cart usually looks something like this:
- Korean corner: gochugaru, gochujang, doenjang, tteok, frozen mandu, dried seaweed (gim), Korean instant noodles by the case
- Japanese corner: short-grain rice, Japanese curry roux, Kewpie mayo, panko, mirin, dashi packets
- Chinese corner: Laoganma chili crisp, black vinegar, frozen xiaolongbao, wonton wrappers, shaoxing wine
- Always in the cart: tofu (firm and silken), sesame oil, rice vinegar, soy sauce when I’m running low, fresh scallions, and whatever snack catches my eye
🍤 Panko breadcrumbs here’s the panko I use →
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
🍙 Roasted seaweed (gim) is essential for kimbap, rice, and snacking — look for the toasted, seasoned sheets. Here’s the gim I use →
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
🍶 Staple: mirin lasts a long time and shows up in tons of these recipes. Grab the one I reach for →
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
🫙 No doenjang yet? It keeps for months in the fridge and there’s no real substitute. This is the doenjang I reach for →
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
That’s a real order. I’m not being paid to list those items — that’s literally my cart every two to three weeks.
The downsides (because nothing is perfect)
I’m not going to pretend Weee is flawless. Here’s what’s real:
- Delivery windows can fill up fast — especially around holidays or big weekends. If you need something by Friday, order by Tuesday
- Some items go out of stock — popular stuff sells out, and restocks can take a week or two. I’ve learned to buy extras of the things I use constantly
- Not available everywhere yet — Weee covers most major metro areas but if you’re rural, check first
- The minimum for free delivery — $35 isn’t hard to hit but if you just need one bottle of soy sauce, you’re better off at the store
- Packaging waste — insulated boxes, ice packs, plastic bags. It’s a lot. They’re working on it (the ice packs are recyclable) but it’s still more waste than a reusable grocery bag
None of those are dealbreakers for me. The selection and pricing still make it worth it overall.
Want to try it?
If you want to give it a shot, this link will get you a discount on your first order:
→ Try Weee here — get a discount on your first order
Full transparency: that’s a referral link. If you sign up through it, I earn a small credit toward my next order. I’d recommend Weee with or without the link — but if you’re going to try it anyway, I appreciate you using mine.
Start with a pantry restock — soy sauce, sesame oil, gochujang, rice, a bag of frozen dumplings. You’ll hit the free delivery threshold easily, and you’ll see immediately whether the selection is better than what you have locally. For me, it wasn’t even close.
If you’re here because you’re learning Korean and need ingredients for Korean cooking — same. Come see everything else I’m figuring out right now.