- If you are wondering what to buy from a local Korean grocery store, you are at the right place.
- You don’t have to be a Korean national, and neither do you have to be Korean literate to visit a local Korean grocery.
- This article will give you a vast array of suitable selections you can pick from.
1. Noorogi
Noori is dried rice with a crunchy toasted flavor. Its taste is so popular that many manufacturers sell them in a package just like dried ramen noodles.
To make a savory soup, you put it in boiling water and add scallions and garlic after turning it into a broth. While still stirring, add a spoonful of kimchi, then leave it to cook.
Warning: Do not expect the broth to be uniform because the rice doesn’t dissolve completely, though it will still be tasty.
2. Sea salt
Sea salt is quite popular for its nutritional value. There are many farms in Korea converting seawater into salt crystals.
After the salt has been extracted, it is bagged and piled into mounds for drying by gravity. The final product is packaged and sold for approximately 6 dollars per 3 kilograms.
3. Korean frying mix
The frying mix adds seasoning to anything making it crispier flavorful, and tasty. Its primarily used on Korean pancakes.
4. Sesame oil
The oil is used popularly for creating marinades when adding drizzle amounts to any cooking of any Korean dish. It instantly gives the dish a unique flavor.
5. Seaweed
Korean stores are mostly filled with seaweed products, so it’s not hard to come across seaweed. You can use the seaweed as toppings, wrappers, or soup, or consume it as a snack.
6. Peel sausages
These peels can be used as toppings for porridge or noodles. If you need the most popular flavor, then go for cheese sausages.
7. Ice cream
Do you need to soothe your palate? Ice cream would be your best option. The most popular dessert is the Philippine Melona. It has a honey-dew and fruit-like taste. You can opt for B-b-big if you want a textured and filling flavor.
8. Soju
If you are craving some alcoholic beverage, soju is your option. Soju has a clean and unique flavor. It is made out of grain rice, barley, or wheat.
When ready, it appears colorless but distilled with an alcoholic content of 17% to 53%. There are many cocktail recipes you can mix it with, e.g., soju-lemon-Yakult.
9. Gochujang
It’s a hot red paper paste. If you like your food hot with a hint of taste, then it is a must-have item. It is used in various Korean dishes for added heat flavor: soups, stew, and sauces. Refrigerate to preserve.
10. Buckwheat noodles
If you’re looking for something gluten-free, the noodles are your best choice. They make cooking feasible, especially on a weeknight from a pantry.
11. Prepared Banchan
It is hard to miss readily prepared banchan in any Korean store. These are small Korean side dishes comprising lotus root, spicy octopus, black beans, pickled garlic, brined coned roe, and much more.
12. Jook
This is a porridge made out of rice. Mostly, it is consumed by sick children and people recovering from surgery, and it’s easy to prepare.
Anyone can eat it. You don’t have to be patient to consume it. It is also quite ideal during cold winters. Adding jook to a child’s diet is a clever way of sneaking a vegetable dish into an unsuspecting picky child’s meal.
13. Soybean sprouts
Aside from being nutty and nutritious, soybean sprouts are easy to prepare. Their taste is piquant and rich in garlic when prepared into banchan salad.
When prepping after washing, remove the embryonic shell layer covering the top of each sprout. Ensure you have sesame seed and oil alongside garlic and scallion as your ingredients.
Cooking takes 10 minutes only after which you are ready to stimulate your taste buds.
14. Perilla leaves
Perilla leaves are more like the crispy variety with the same shape but with a different taste. The taste is more savory and less minty. The leaves are ideal when used as appetizers than shiso.
The leaves can be consumed raw with meat or rice. They Can be deeply fried or rolled like grape leaves and eaten.
15. Danmuji
Danmuji comes either in white or yellow color and in whole long pieces. You can slice them into short and thin sizes. Then slide the pieces into kimbap nori rolls length-wise or with jjajangmyeon.
Its taste is salty with a tangy sweetness. Danmuji is made by pickling daikon radishes (Korean daikon), persimmon peel fruit, salt, green vegetables, sugar, and rice bran.
Conclusively,
You can buy tons of items from a local Korean grocery store, but the above are the best. Now that you have the options and even cooking skills as a bonus, it’s time to get your hands dirty.
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