Korean Grocery List

What do you normally buy at the K-market?

Here's a rundown of what I usually always pick up each week...

• Moo (daikon radish)
• kong namool (bean sprouts)
• 1 bunch of spinach (actually I'll pick this up at Ralphs because they have it precut already and it saves an extra step)
  
• tofu (normally I get 2 packs)
• Korean peppers
• Korean squash
• potatoes
• onions
  
• green onions (which I chop all at once and store in a container to use for the week)
  
• 1 Asian pear (sometimes more if I feel like eating one)
• Sang chu (red leaf lettuce)
• 1 pack of udon (if I'm out)
• 1 frozen Octopus package (if I'm out because you can keep it in the freezer forever)
• 1 steamed hairtail (also because it can be stored in the freezer forever)
• sam gyup sal (pork belly - I bring it home and saran wrap 3-4 pieces each to make it easier for defrosting when I make kimchi jjigae)
• shitake and enoki mushrooms
• sometimes oyster mushrooms
• beef - I rotate buying boolgogi, galbi, chi-mat sal (for gooks), and any other type of meat I need
• chicken drummettes - for some reason only the K-market sells ONLY the drum part of the chicken wing, so I always grab a package and leave it in our freezer
• dak myun (which can be stored forever also)
• mi yuk (if I don't already have it)
• ginger (if I already don't have some stored in the freezer)
  

I usually already have at home...

• dwen jang (soy bean paste)
• red pepper paste
• red pepper powder
• soy sauce
• minced garlic (I mince up a HUGE amount and freeze them in ziploc bags)
• gook ganjang
• fish sauce
• sugar
• salt
• pepper
• rice wine
• corn syrup
  

If you have all of the items mentioned above, there's a LOT of things you can make. If I cook at least 4 -5 times in a week, I can use up whatever I bought that week. But USUALLY I cook 2 or 3 times a week, which means a lot of the vegetables end up in the trash (much to the dismay of the MR). Depending on whether I buy meat or not my weekly Korean grocery bill is anywhere from $60-120. Then I have to go to Ralphs to buy American products too. *sigh* It seems we work to eat. =P

PS. The MR is my #1 fan! HI, HONEY!!!! This is quite exciting for me because he hardly ever read my other blog. =)