Discovering the Hidden Korean Food Market

[Cyrus]

My korean friend told me about this korean shopping market that has three little food stores inside of it where you can buy some chinese/jap food (but its cooked by koreans). If you walk into this store its a dingly little store that's behind the shopping center, so if you don't drive behind it, you'd never know its there.

But the food there is so great, its like real food from asia with all these little side dishes that comes with it. I have a miso soup, eel with rice and caviar on it!, some sort of tofu looking cake, some chopped vegtables with a spice sauce on it, some sort of pickled vegtable, and more, and it call costs $10.00!

http://img409.imageshack.us/img409/4173/pict0203eq7.jpg

I love finding little gem of places like this. The best part about it is, its only korean people eating there. So you know its going to be good. The menu has numbers, everything else is in korean.

 

[D H]

My korean friend told me about this korean shopping market that has three little food stores inside of it where you can buy some chinese/jap food (but its cooked by koreans). ... some sort of pickled vegetable ...

It's Korean food. I worked for a *tiny* company owned by Koreans. They are quite proud of their cuisine and their heritage, so don't call it "chinese/jap food".

My guess regarding that "pickled vegetable" is kimchi. Kimchi is a bit like haggis and lutefisk in the sense that you probably don't want to know how its made. A word of warning regarding kimchi: Don't indulge if your body reacts to garlic (if you don't know, ask your SO). The odor of kimchi-laden sweat is a bit pervasive.

 

[Cyrus]

It's Korean food. I worked for a *tiny* company owned by Koreans. They are quite proud of their cuisine and their heritage, so don't call it "chinese/jap food".

My guess regarding that "pickled vegetable" is kimchi. Kimchi is a bit like haggis and lutefisk in the sense that you probably don't want to know how its made. A word of warning regarding kimchi: Don't indulge if your body reacts to garlic (if you don't know, ask your SO). The odor of kimchi-laden sweat is a bit pervasive.

No, that's how its advertised at the store!

How do they make it? It can't be any worse than cheese, which is rotten milk.

Had this same thing been sold anywhere other than that supermarket, it would easily have run upwards of $18+

 

[D H]

I do love little spots like the one you described.

http://www.korea.net/korea/kor_loca.asp?code=G070301" has some good info on kimchi.

Kimchi is a pungent, fermented dish generally consisting of cabbage or turnip seasoned with salt, garlic, green onions, ginger, red pepper and shellfish. ... Chinese cabbage, the main ingredient in the most commonly eaten kimchi, has a higher protein content than many other vegetables and a significant amount of minerals and vitamin C, and its green leaves are rich in vitamin A. Radish roots, another major ingredient, are not only rich in vitamins but also diastase, an enzyme that promotes the digestion of carbohydrates.

OK, so its healthy. Moving on ...

Garlic, which is eaten in many ways including raw, is an essential kimchi ingredient as well as a mainstay of the Korean diet. It even figures in the national foundation myth. Dangun, who, according to legend, founded the Korean nation in 2333 B.C., was born of the union of a heavenly god, Hwanung, the son of the God of All and ruler of Heaven, and a bear who became a woman after eating 20 cloves of garlic and a bundle of mugwort and staying out of the sunlight for 21 days.

Koreans love garlic and love to put *lots* of garlic in their kimchi. Your girlfriend may nor may not love you after you eat lots of kimchi.

So, how is it made?

To make it, Chinese cabbages (baechu) are first trimmed, split down the middle and put in brine to soak. When they are soft, they are rinsed in cold water and drained. Meanwhile, julienne cut radish strips are mixed with a red pepper paste made of red pepper powder and water. To this are added crushed garlic, salt, thinly sliced green onions, and a variety of other seasonings. Finally, the cabbages are stacked in a crock, jar or other appropriate container, covered with salted cabbage leaves, pressed down firmly and covered. The storage temperature of the gimjang kimchi, as winter kimchi is called, should be well controlled throughout the winter to prevent overfermentation and souring. The traditional way of doing this is to bury the crocks of kimchi in the ground.

In other words, put cabbage, a lot of garlic, a whole lot of salt, and a little bit of this and that in a porous clay crock. Put the crock in a hole in your back yard, let it ferment and rot for six months or so, soaking up some flavors from the ground in the process, and tada, you have kimchi.

 

[Evo]

No, that's how its advertised at the store!

How do they make it? It can't be any worse than cheese, which is rotten milk.

Had this same thing been sold anywhere other than that supermarket, it would easily have run upwards of $18+

Monique has a great kimchi recipe, I'll find it and post it.

 

[binzing]

Since when do people eat "vegtables"? Couldn't resist. Anyways, in Asia those sort of things are EVERYWHERE in the markets. Probably a reason that people there don't come home with everything EXCEPT what they wanted.

 

[Evo]

Monique's recipe.

Kim Chee

1 large head chinese (celery or Nappa) cabbage
Salt
4 green onions (including tops)
1 clove garlic, minced
1 dried hot red chili (about 2" long), crushed
1 tsp fresh ginger, grated


1.) Cut cabbage into pieces, 1-inch long and 1-inch wide.
2.) Sprinkle 2 Tbs salt on cabbage, mix well, and let stand 15 minutes.
3.) Cut green onions in 1-1/2 inch lengths, then cut lengthwise in thin
slices. Wash salted cabbage three times with cold water. Add the onions,
garlic, chili, ginger, 1 Tbs salt and enough water to cover. Mix well.
Cover and let stand for a few days.
4.) Taste mixture every day. When it is acid enough, cover and refigerate
up to 2 weeks. Makes about 1 quart.

 

[Moonbear]

In other words, put cabbage, a lot of garlic, a whole lot of salt, and a little bit of this and that in a porous clay crock. Put the crock in a hole in your back yard, let it ferment and rot for six months or so, soaking up some flavors from the ground in the process, and tada, you have kimchi.

It's basically sauerkraut with extra stuff for a spicier flavor. Sauerkraut is also salted, fermented cabbage.

 

[~christina~]

But the food there is so great, its like real food from asia with all these little side dishes that comes with it. I have a miso soup, eel with rice and caviar on it!, some sort of tofu looking cake, some chopped vegtables with a spice sauce on it, some sort of pickled vegtable, and more, and it call costs $10.00!

I love finding little gem of places like this. The best part about it is, its only korean people eating there. So you know its going to be good. The menu has numbers, everything else is in korean.

Eh..expensive? I think so. The food where I live is cheaper and it's great.
There's this vietnamese restauraunt and it's dish of porkchop and etc on the plate is only $5 and it looks exactly like this
http://d1.biggestmenu.com/00/00/2e/7f9e7d216c92bedb_m.jpg
so 10 is expensive.

 

[Cyrus]

Where do you live? Around here going to quiznos will run you about $8 for a sandwich, chips and soda.

Considering your getting seafood, $10 is cheap.

 

[binzing]

Every heard of fish sauce? It's basically fish, salt, water, and fermentation in huge clay pots.

 

[Cyrus]

Every heard of fish sauce? It's basically fish, salt, water, and fermentation in huge clay pots.

No, but what's your point?

 

[~christina~]

Every heard of fish sauce? It's basically fish, salt, water, and fermentation in huge clay pots.

yes, they have 2 types in the vietnamese restauraunt around here.
one is very salty and dark brown and i don't use it. The other sauce is orange in color and they put some carrrot slices in it. (I use that to put on the porkchop rice)

Where do you live? Around here going to quiznos will run you about $8 for a sandwich, chips and soda.

Considering your getting seafood, $10 is cheap.

sorry nope, it isn't. The summer roll with shrimp above which the restauraunt I go to also has, is also $5 so, it isn't expensive.(vietnamese)
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/133/330959199_28ad7f486e.jpg
that roll in the picture seems to be quite skinny though compared with the one around here.

And that eel you had? I can get it at the supermarket frozen for $5 as well. All you have to do is heat it up and it's the WHOLE eel, not part of it. (and trust me, I'm not going to say where I live, but my city is much more expensive to live in)

 

[Cyrus]

yes, they have 2 types in the vietnamese restauraunt around here.
one is very salty and dark brown and i don't use it. The other sauce is orange in color and they put some carrrot slices in it. (I use that to put on the porkchop rice)



sorry nope, it isn't. The summer roll with shrimp above which the restauraunt I go to also has, is also $5 so, it isn't expensive.(vietnamese)
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/133/330959199_28ad7f486e.jpg

And that eel you had? I can get it at the supermarket frozen for $5 as well. All you have to do is heat it up and it's the WHOLE eel, not part of it. (and trust me, I'm not going to say where I live, but my city is much more expensive to live in)

Oh, those viet. summer rolls are great for warm weather because their so light! Use the dark brown sauce in the big squirt bottle, its great.

The frozen eel at the asian market cost $9. Granted, it was more eel, but you didnt get all the little side dishes and rice. So, all in all, I think its still a bargain.

 

[~christina~]

Oh, those viet. summer rolls are great for warm weather because their so light! Use the dark brown sauce in the big squirt bottle, its great.

They sure are good.
I like the peanut sauce, but I mostly use the fish sauce I mentioned.

 

[Cyrus]

Oh, there are no rolls in the picture you see.

 

[~christina~]

Oh, there are no rolls in the picture you see.

what?
plural of roll is rolls I think...

 

[GeorginaS]

The Vietnamese salad rolls (what you're calling summer rolls) are excellent! And peanut sauce is the only way to go with them.

You've got me curious, christina, because I think that 10.00 for the meal Cyrus purchased is a good price. And 5.00 for the pork meal you linked is an astounding bargain. Restaurant food just isn't that inexpensive, here.

Edited to add: I love real photos of food. Don't know why, just do.

 

[Moonbear]

Did $10 include the soup as well as what was on that foam tray? If so, that seems like a reasonable price to me too, and I live in a place where food typically is quite cheap compared to cities. Just regular Chinese take-out here will cost about $7 for a combination platter of a main dish, fried rice and egg roll, and it would be extra for a soup or any other sides, and what Cyrus got looks like a comparable amount of food.

Christina, it sounds more like you just might have a bargain of a place nearby.

 

[Cyrus]

Did $10 include the soup as well as what was on that foam tray? If so, that seems like a reasonable price to me too, and I live in a place where food typically is quite cheap compared to cities. Just regular Chinese take-out here will cost about $7 for a combination platter of a main dish, fried rice and egg roll, and it would be extra for a soup or any other sides, and what Cyrus got looks like a comparable amount of food.

Christina, it sounds more like you just might have a bargain of a place nearby.

The whole lot was $10! And you don't even ask for the sides, all the dishes on the menu have different sides depending on what goes well with it, I guess!

So there all like a surprise! (Hmmm, I wonder what sides will come with this!)

 

[Cyrus]

what?
plural of roll is rolls I think...

Huh, there isn't anything rolled in the picture, whatsoever.

 

[Cyrus]

The Vietnamese salad rolls (what you're calling summer rolls) are excellent! And peanut sauce is the only way to go with them.

You've got me curious, christina, because I think that 10.00 for the meal Cyrus purchased is a good price. And 5.00 for the pork meal you linked is an astounding bargain. Restaurant food just isn't that inexpensive, here.

Edited to add: I love real photos of food. Don't know why, just do.

Oh, oh oh. Yes yes yes. You're right. Its a lighter slightly sweeter sauce. More of a golden brown!

The dark brown one is for the pho.

 

[GeorginaS]

No rolls in your picture, Cyrus. Christina linked a picture of summer rolls.

 

[Cyrus]

No rolls in your picture, Cyrus. Christina linked a picture of summer rolls.

I thought she mistook the white block of (tofu I think) in my picture for a roll, because she said it was small compared to the ones she gets.

Also, its hard to tell, but all the stuff on the big bed of tin-foil is sitting on a big thing of rice.