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Korean Shopping List...and food in general.
This entry was posted on 5/27/2007 9:15 AM and is filed under South Korea.
The first several weeks here saw me freaked out in the food store. Not by Korean food, mind you there are some strange things on the shelves, but by the complete lack of the type of stuff I eat at home.
There are no whole grains to be found, no turkey, no low-fat cheeses (and any cheese will set you back at least $8...even American cheese-type-stuff)...no red onions, no cauliflower, no spinich...half the fruits and vegetables were unidentifiable actually. Tuna comes only in oil. Cereals all have tons of sugar. Spices are few and far between.
Needless to say I've adapted over time. I've been able to hunt down some items I couldn't find originally...though I occasionally have to hit 3 or 4 different stores. I have learned some new veggies. I learned enough hangul (Korean writing) to decipher some of the nutrition information. I'm making progress...and care packages from home vertainly eased my pain.
But still, I marvelled recently at what exactly was in my shopping basket in the super market:
Kim -aka seaweed, which I eat at lunch, wrapping the thin sheets around rice.
Japanese pickled radish -the freaky yellow stuff that I've had back in the states but no one ever seemed to know what it was. Love it! Cruch, crunch.
Boiled quail eggs were next -though I've since found out they have the highest cholesterol content of any eggs and I think I'll be staying away from those.
Tuna jerky and dried squid -both of these were to try and I'm not sold on either of them.
Fiber drink -a strangely sweet beverage, to supplement fiber intake as there really isn't much in the typical Korean diet and most everyone seems to drink fiber drinks.
Veggie-Squid patties -a low fat version I might add! Score! These are typically for deep frying, but I sautee them. Tteokbokki Sauce -a spicy red sauce that is used with rice cake (which is nothing like rice or cake...more like super dense pasta cylinders). I love tteokbokki from street vendors...and I think I'm going to have to leave it to them...it didn't work so well at home, and it's only $1 on the street.
Soju -Korean vodka. It's super cheap and a small amount makes me giggle.
Black bean 'corn' flakes -okay...I really don't know what they are. No one seems to...but it's just about the only healthy cereal that I can find and what everyone at school reccomends.
Canned corn and canned peas -there are NO frozen vegetables here. I've never bought canned veggies except beans. Seeing as how fresh corn is several dollars a cob and fresh peas non-existent, this was the only option.
Canned pineapple -another first. A fresh pineapple costs at least $6 and can go as high as $10...which is nothing compared to $20 watermelons and $25 mangos.
Bottled lime juice -there are no limes in the whole country. None. Ever! What the heck!?!
So yes...I'm definitely adjusting...though I still cook up simple chicken and veggie dishes all the time.
And God, I can not tell you how much I miss sandwiches!!! I would kill for whole grain bread. Or bread that didn't taste completely like sugar. Ooooh...and turkey breast...that's another impossible find. (To be fair, a Quiznons just opened up near my apartment and they have turkey sandwiches and supposed wheat bread...but a large sanwich can cost as much at $14!...and all the turkey sandwiches seem to have avacado, which I have an irrational hate for. Crazy, I know.)
Funny too...I miss asian food! Here I am in Asia and I'm dying for Thai food, and Chinese...and Japanese. All of these are available but crazy expensive and are usually more Korean than Japanese or Thai. I hunted down one of the two Thai restaurants in Busan (quite hard to find actually) and was ecstatic to have basil (another impossible find here, fresh basil). The food was okay, but pricey. I know 5 better Thai restaurants in the east village for 1/3 to 1/2 the price.
One thing Koreans have in abundance...pizza. There are pizza shops every 3 stores it seems, though all the pizza is kind of super-doughy, Pizza Hut style. There's one place called Mr. Pizza with the tag line 'For Women'...which I thought an odd sexual reference, trying to make Mr. Pizza sexy or something...but it turns out they use oils that are good for women...supposedly.
Well...that's quite enough for today. I'm babbling now.
Hope you enjoyed catching up on my goings on. Send me emails with your news please....
*Liz
There are no whole grains to be found, no turkey, no low-fat cheeses (and any cheese will set you back at least $8...even American cheese-type-stuff)...no red onions, no cauliflower, no spinich...half the fruits and vegetables were unidentifiable actually. Tuna comes only in oil. Cereals all have tons of sugar. Spices are few and far between.
Needless to say I've adapted over time. I've been able to hunt down some items I couldn't find originally...though I occasionally have to hit 3 or 4 different stores. I have learned some new veggies. I learned enough hangul (Korean writing) to decipher some of the nutrition information. I'm making progress...and care packages from home vertainly eased my pain.
But still, I marvelled recently at what exactly was in my shopping basket in the super market:
Kim -aka seaweed, which I eat at lunch, wrapping the thin sheets around rice.
Japanese pickled radish -the freaky yellow stuff that I've had back in the states but no one ever seemed to know what it was. Love it! Cruch, crunch.
Boiled quail eggs were next -though I've since found out they have the highest cholesterol content of any eggs and I think I'll be staying away from those.
Tuna jerky and dried squid -both of these were to try and I'm not sold on either of them.
Fiber drink -a strangely sweet beverage, to supplement fiber intake as there really isn't much in the typical Korean diet and most everyone seems to drink fiber drinks.
Veggie-Squid patties -a low fat version I might add! Score! These are typically for deep frying, but I sautee them. Tteokbokki Sauce -a spicy red sauce that is used with rice cake (which is nothing like rice or cake...more like super dense pasta cylinders). I love tteokbokki from street vendors...and I think I'm going to have to leave it to them...it didn't work so well at home, and it's only $1 on the street.
Soju -Korean vodka. It's super cheap and a small amount makes me giggle.
Black bean 'corn' flakes -okay...I really don't know what they are. No one seems to...but it's just about the only healthy cereal that I can find and what everyone at school reccomends.
Canned corn and canned peas -there are NO frozen vegetables here. I've never bought canned veggies except beans. Seeing as how fresh corn is several dollars a cob and fresh peas non-existent, this was the only option.
Canned pineapple -another first. A fresh pineapple costs at least $6 and can go as high as $10...which is nothing compared to $20 watermelons and $25 mangos.
Bottled lime juice -there are no limes in the whole country. None. Ever! What the heck!?!
So yes...I'm definitely adjusting...though I still cook up simple chicken and veggie dishes all the time.
And God, I can not tell you how much I miss sandwiches!!! I would kill for whole grain bread. Or bread that didn't taste completely like sugar. Ooooh...and turkey breast...that's another impossible find. (To be fair, a Quiznons just opened up near my apartment and they have turkey sandwiches and supposed wheat bread...but a large sanwich can cost as much at $14!...and all the turkey sandwiches seem to have avacado, which I have an irrational hate for. Crazy, I know.)
Funny too...I miss asian food! Here I am in Asia and I'm dying for Thai food, and Chinese...and Japanese. All of these are available but crazy expensive and are usually more Korean than Japanese or Thai. I hunted down one of the two Thai restaurants in Busan (quite hard to find actually) and was ecstatic to have basil (another impossible find here, fresh basil). The food was okay, but pricey. I know 5 better Thai restaurants in the east village for 1/3 to 1/2 the price.
One thing Koreans have in abundance...pizza. There are pizza shops every 3 stores it seems, though all the pizza is kind of super-doughy, Pizza Hut style. There's one place called Mr. Pizza with the tag line 'For Women'...which I thought an odd sexual reference, trying to make Mr. Pizza sexy or something...but it turns out they use oils that are good for women...supposedly.
Well...that's quite enough for today. I'm babbling now.
Hope you enjoyed catching up on my goings on. Send me emails with your news please....
*Liz