The Wonders of the Korean Market

It's been a while since we've been to the Korean market to get our staple Asian ingredients. The one we venture to is in Daly City. It is farther away from us that some other Asian markets, but it is along the way to visit my family.

First, pan chan, the assorted fermented and pickled side dishes at the Korean table, are found in vats and our bought by weight. B, my hubby, loves the shredded spicy cuttle fish and the black beans, while I usually go for the seaweed salad and pickled daikons and cucumbers. This time, I also picked up the fish cakes.


Strangely, we both dislike kim chee.

One thing to note about pan chan when dining at a Korean restaurant: If the pan chan at a restaurant does not taste good or if there isn't much variety, then you can forget about the restaurant because low quality side dishes reflects poorly on the restaurant.

And what is an Asian market without fresh meat? A huge part of any Asian market is the butchery. At this one, it pretty much takes up the whole back wall of the market. You can pick the cut of meat that you want or select your fish from the tank. At this one, they lay out whole fishes on beds of ice. Here is a monkfish:




Also, there is the rice. Here at the Korean market, there is an aisle dedicated to rice from sweet brown to a mix bag of varieties. Also, you can find tapioca pearls and dried beans. A whole new aisle is dedicated to noodles. There is the vermicelli that is made of mung beans (completely wheat free), the soba noodles, the rice noodles. the buckwheat noodles.... But we stick to our brown and white rice. (But $5.99 for a five pound bag of rice reflects the recent rise in cost for rice.)

And a favorite snack for both of us kim bop. Not to be mistaken for sushi. Rather than raw fish, there is usually egg or shredded beef.


And of course, an aisle for sweets: the pumpkin flavored chips, the red bean paste cakes, and the crunchy corn puffs. But my childhood favorite: Pocky, those chocolate covered cracker sticks. There were only two flavors of when I was a kid: chocolate and strawberry. Now there is a display of all of them by the register Men's Pocky? It's a dark chocolate one. I don't know what that is supposed to mean.

I was never into Korean food until we were married. My mother-in-law, makes the best Korean barbeque, kalbi, short ribs marinated in her own mixture of soy sauce, brown sugar, and other ingredients. . We probably bring back about fifty pounds of frozen marinated meat every time we visit. And it make a great excuse to invite people over for a barbeque.