Note: this is the first installment of a four-part series profiling Manchester's ethnic food stores.

If, like me, you've been wondering where you might possibly be able find your favorite barbecue-flavored shrimp snacks, rest easy. I can report that they are waiting for you at Saigon Asian Market:

Saigon Asian Market, 93 Maple St., is one of about a dozen ethnic food stores in Manchester, where shoppers can get everything from Lebanese tahini to Indian ghee to German mayonaisse.

Don't let the fish smell turn you off, Saigon Asain Market is packed with good stuff, including the source of the pervading fish smell:

As the name suggests, Vietnamese products are in abundance here, but the "Asian" part of the name is quite truthful as the large store (probably the largest of the city's ethnic stores) carries products from several Asain countries, including roasted seaweed from Korea:

Tea from Thailand:

Pocky from Japan:

and "nutritious cereal" from China:

Moving westward across the globe and westward across Manchester takes us to Desi Bazar, 126 Kelley St, which features Pakistani and Indian groceries.

The store's owner told me his store caters mainly to the Pakastani and Indian communities in southern New Hampshire, which he said number about 3,000. But he said it is not uncommon for Pakastani and Indian families to come all the way from Vermont and Maine to stock up on staples like spices, flour and ghee:

The owner (alas, I forgot to ask his name) also told me that other big sellers are Pakastani and Indian snacks like this:

(No matter what the ethnic food store I visited in doing research for this series, I found certain items to be found at all of them. Among these were native snack foods, candy and coffee.)

But the number one seller, the owner told me, is Shan spice mixes, which sell for 99 cents a box:

These are a great way to try different Pakastani and Indian dishes cheaply (as opposed to buying all of the spices individually, which in some cases, he said, can run someone $50).

"I urge everyone to try it sometime. Try something new. You might love it. When I moved to the U.S. I had never had pizza. Now I have at least one pizza each week," he said.

And if Pakastani and Indian food isn't your thing, you can always pick up a good Bollywood flick at Desi Bazaar: