Korean Job Discussion Forums

[potin14p]

apart from growing my own (which I am doing, but the plants are still tiny), where can I find fresh basil in Seoul?

[tob55]

Your neighbors backyard. Foolin with you, go to most any Emart and you can find it in the spice area. They're commonly limited, but for some reason most Emarts have basil available. Also there is an Indian market down the street from the Hamilton Hotel in Itaewan that carries it along with loads of other foreign foods.

[Illysook]

I sure hope that someone will answer this person.

I've been reading all about how everyone on this forum misses the food back home and it's got me running around town, eating all of my favorite things in all of my favorite places before I leave.

This afternoon, it was salty caramel ice cream and this evening, it was homemade pesto with fresh basil from the downtown farmers market.

It was also my last day at Starbucks.

[climber159]

You'll discover new favorite foods in Korea. As for Starbucks...If you will be in Seoul, then you will likely encounter more Starbucks that you ever did back home.

Fresh Basil: It's cheapest to grow your own. All the upscale department stores have it (Lotte, Hyundai, and Shinsage).

[discostar23]

Haddon market or hannam market usually carry basil, rosemary, oregano,tyme, parsley etc.

Its about 2000 for a pack

not really enuf to make pesto but a good garnish.

[Poemer]

It seems that the dept. stores usually only keep a small amount of basil on hand. So, if you go looking for basil and they don't have it, try again another day because they were probably just out of it.

[vdowd]

Hi Potin14P,

Have you grown basil before - if not, here is something I learned. Basil will stay small if in a small pot. If you use a large pot and pinch it back, it will grown into a small bush.

If anyone is desperate in Daejeon for basil - I have more than I or my fellow teachers can use. I have about 12-13 large plants and might be willing to part with a few or some fresh cuttings.

As it goes into winter, I will have to move them inside (as basil doesn't like cold - in fact will die off entirely) and don't want to move them all in. I'm willing to share some seeds to if you want to grown your own.

PM me if you are interested.

A basil lover, too

[potin14p]

thanks for the replies. =) I had a sudden craving for pesto (but vegan, not the stuff available at Costco or the foreign marts)
As I said, i'm growing it at the moment, but the plants are too small for me to start picking off leaves. I'll definitely try E-Mart, I have seen other fresh herbs there on occasion, but its usually parsley and mint.

[mindmetoo]

Joe at Zenkimchi has figured out you can use widely available sesame leaves to make pesto:

http://www.zenkimchi.com/FoodJournal/?p=388
http://www.zenkimchi.com/FoodJournal/?p=222