What to Get at a Korean Market?

BlowYourMind

They are always filled with exotic fruits and veggies and have low prices for everything. Any recommendations as to what to get? Fish choices as well?

lc504

Definitely get Korean pears - yum! And kimchi is delicious and very low-cal. It's been a while since I took a visit to my local market so I don't have any other ideas, haha.

BlowYourMind

Ooh, sounds yummy, definitely looking into them!

celerieaz

Persimmons and winter squash are my favorites. I don't eat fish so I can't help you there.

I agree with the other poster though; kimchi is delicious and sooo versatile. It's also easy to make and customizable to your own tastes. There are great instructionals for making and storing kimchi; I like maangchi.com because she has videos.

lc504

Oooh yes I LOVE maangchi's recipes! Yum yum yum, I gotta make Korean food some time this week.

seaoftears

Bulgogi is amazing, but very fatning........:P

Allie_71

You lucky duck! Any of the veggies can be steamed, baked, thrown into a soup. Bok choy, su choy, napa cabbage, eggplants. The fruits are all delicious and exotic. You can use the dried mushrooms and seaweed to bulk up soups and add flavour without lots of calories.

mokpochica

Maangchi of maangchi.com is amazing! I'm one of her food fans
See if your market makes their own kimchi. Paechu kimchi (the 'regular' napa kimchi) is a must try. Also, dongchimi (winter radish kimchi) and nabak kimchi (another type of water kimchi) are not spicy.
Korean sweet potatoes are amazing and Korean markets usually have good prices on chestnuts which are also delicious. I agree that persimmons and pears are also great. I usually get better prices at our big chain store though.

Mackerel is our favorite fish. Maangchi has at least 2 great mackerel recipes. I think they are koteungo jjim and koteungo gui. Squid is another tasty treat. Dried squid is delish, but has been very pricy lately.

If they have bibibap namul (bibimbap veggies and beef) prepared, get that and eat delicious bibimbap at home. Another great thing to try is samgyetang. They sell kits at Korean groceries that include ginseng, chestnuts, jujubes, sweet rice, etc. You just need to buy a cornish hen and you can have a delicious chicken stew.

BlowYourMind

Thanks for all the wonderful ideas guys!
:flowerforyou:

lc504

Just remembered - if you like spicy stuff pick up some gochujang. It's a delicious spicy paste, I love mixing it into plain rice or in a bibimbap dish like someone else mentioned

sammybey

My boyfriend and I go to a local Asian market at least once a month. We stock up on things like sesame oil, rice vinegar, rice cooking wine, Sriracha, chili garlic sauce, etc. The prices are exponentially lower than at a big-name grocer. We also get produce like enoki mushrooms, bok choy, daikon, ginger root for a fraction of the cost. Ethnic markets are the way to go!

BlowYourMind

I thought it was significantly cheaper, and there's an abundance of healthy food there, not all the processed crud that American markets have.

Marie_Little

I am actually stationed in Korea so I get a first hand look at how they eat. Let me tell you...there are rarely any fat Koreans. You could walk around all day and maybe see one or two. They eat primarily vegetables. The main staple is Kimchi and rice. Kimchi comes in all kinds of varieties and is super low in calories. Also they often substitue eggs for meat. Water is always served at every meal and you have to ask for anything else. All of the portions here are small. A can of coke comes in a 5 oz can.. an oreo mcflurry fills up about half of the cup...ect. I think the food preperation has a lot to do with how healthy it is. Food is rarely fried and it is seasoned primarily with red pepper (no salt). That helps prevent water retention.