Inner Sunset Holiday Baking Supply Shop Finder: Mochiko Run

In the Inner Sunset, holiday baking often starts in the fog. The marine layer rolls down from Twin Peaks, the N Judah rattles past, and the produce stands along Irving Street fill with persimmons, mandarins and crates of Asian pears that seem to arrive right as the light turns grey. This corner of San Francisco is where many home bakers come when the recipe is not the classic gingerbread, but butter mochi for a family party, matcha shortbread for coworkers, or a black sesame chiffon cake that has to rise perfectly for New Year. The neighborhood's grocers, bakeries and tea shops make it one of the easiest places in the city to gather that kind of pantry on foot.

The Inner Sunset sits at a crossroads of food traditions. Chinese, Japanese, Korean and Southeast Asian families have shaped the shops along Irving and Judah for decades, and alongside them you will find college students from the nearby medical campus and long-time residents who walk to the park every morning. The result is a run of small grocers where glutinous rice flour sits beside all-purpose flour, where coconut milk comes in several sizes, and where the tea aisle gives you more than one grade of green tea powder to choose from. For a holiday baker with a fusion list, that range is the whole point.

Rice flour is the first decision and the easiest to get wrong. Glutinous rice flour, often sold under the Japanese name mochiko or labeled sweet rice flour, gives you chewy, stretchy results and is the base for butter mochi, mochi muffins and many Lunar New Year treats. Regular rice flour is not sticky at all and is better for crisp coatings or gluten free shortbread. The bags can look almost identical, so read the label rather than the color of the packaging. If you are unsure, ask at the counter. Staff in these shops field this question constantly in December and will point you to the one families use for nian gao or butter mochi.

Pick up tapioca starch while you are there. A spoonful in a shortbread dough gives a lighter snap, and it rescues fruit fillings that refuse to set. Coconut milk and evaporated milk are the other two cans that most mochi recipes ask for, so check your recipe and grab both in one go.

Red bean paste in cans or pouches, candied ginger, dried persimmon and yuzu marmalade round out the flavor shelf. Even if they are not on your list, they make good stocking stuffers for the friend who bakes, and the tea shops nearby sell small packets of hojicha that pair nicely with almost every one of these treats.

Do not skip the produce stands. Fuyu persimmons are firm enough to slice into a tart, while Hachiya persimmons must be fully soft before they are sweet enough for persimmon bread or pudding, so ask which is which before you fill the bag. Mandarins give you zest for shortbread and segments for decorating a cake top. Pick up fruit last, so it rides on top of the flour bags rather than underneath them on the walk home.

Winter citrus is the other quiet star of these stands. Bright, thin skinned mandarins and the occasional bag of kumquats are perfect for candying, and a jar of candied peel made on a Sunday afternoon will dress up cookies, cakes and gift boxes for the rest of the season. Ginger root, sold in knobs at most produce counters, is worth adding to the bag as well. Grated fresh into a shortbread or a syrup, it gives a sharper, brighter heat than the dried powder in the spice aisle.

Part of the pleasure of shopping here is how close the park is. Golden Gate Park's edge is only a short walk from the main shopping blocks, and a stroll past the museums or around a pond is a good way to break up a long list. On colder days, a bakery stop on Irving with a hot drink and a slice of something sweet gives you a chance to taste the flavors you are about to bake with. If a pastry case shows a matcha roll or a sesame bun, notice how strong the flavor is, and adjust how much powder or paste you add at home.

Holiday lists always leave one or two stubborn items, such as a specific mold for rice cakes or a brand of coconut cream the recipe swears by. In the Karpo APP you can tell Karpo what you are making and that you are near Irving Street, and it will suggest nearby grocers and specialty shops that tend to carry those ingredients, plus a cafe or park stop to fit into the same outing. Use the suggestions to plan the order of your loop, so the heaviest bags come at the end and the walk feels like a winter morning out rather than an errand.

Dress in layers, because the fog can lift into bright sun and drop back again within an hour. The N Judah is the easiest way to arrive with empty hands and leave with full ones, and it runs right along the shopping blocks. Weekday mornings are calmer than weekend afternoons, when the sidewalks fill with park visitors and brunch lines. Carry a sturdy bag for flour and cans, and a softer one for fruit and delicate items like persimmons. At home, store glutinous rice flour in an airtight jar, keep matcha in the fridge once the tin is open, and toast sesame seeds fresh in a dry pan just before you bake. Your butter mochi will be chewier, your shortbread greener, and your kitchen will smell like the Inner Sunset on a foggy December morning.