Tuesday, July 08, 2008

Korean supermarket loot

So my friend took me shopping yesterday: we went to a NEW SUPERMARKET that I had NEVER been to before. And it was tooootally awesome. It's tucked away on Shafston Avenue at East Brisbane, near the pub, on the way onto the Story Bridge. They stock mostly Korean and Japanese stuff: some frozen, some fridge, some personal care products, the usual motherlode of dried ramen. The best part, for me, was going with a Japanese speaker, so that I could finally find out what the hell half of this stuff was actually for, and get some insider tips on cooking like a local. Here's what I bought:
Panko (Japanese bread crumbs: FAB), sushi nori for my maki rolls, fresh miso paste (this one had dashi already mixed through, but my buddy was right when she said to add more), dried mini squid pieces (apparently to snack on with beer)


Dried bonito to make dashi stock, a citrus soy sauce to go with shabu-shabu, a sesame oil Japanese salad dressing (I poured it on a salad of herbs, wombok and bean sprouts... yum), Bulldog-type tonkatsu sauce (had that on some panko-crumbed chicken pieces: Porkface nearly died and went to heaven), mini bottle of chili oil, and some bizarre reduced-price meat stick. Probably some kind of Asian twiggy stick, except this one says "be patient" in English on the side.
Frozen black sesame ball with red bean paste inside (not a fan...maybe if I cooked it somehow), weird coffee-flavoured icecream biscuit sandwich, frozen slices of pork for making shabu-shabu, fish-shaped icecream biscuit sandwich with red bean paste inside, and an another flowery-shaped one.


The fish, out of its wrapper. Since when are fish associated with bean paste?
And it was all just so exciting. Perhaps I need to get out more. Maybe... to another new supermarket!

3 comments:

Rabbit Sim said...

Oh, you need to try the honeydew ice-cream. Just look for honeydew/cantaloupe on the wrapper. No, I don't know Korean. Korean chili paste (gochujang) is a good marinade for meat (add sugar and soy sauce to taste) and a Korean staple.

Unknown said...

I think the ice-cream Rabbit Sim means is melona.
They're well worth a try! I get them from the Kimchi Store which is at 6 Zamiz St, Sunnybank. I haven't been to the supermarket at East Brisbane, but I wouldn't be surprised if you could find your Korean loot a bit cheaper at the various supermarkets in Sunnybank. Have fun!

Anonymous said...

Think you're supposed to steam those sesame balls. Not absolutely sure but that's usual with the sticky rice ones that have the sesame inside.