Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Bloopity Bloop]

... if you're not making Korean food.

I'm planning on cooking an Italian dinner later this week and couldn't find almost any of the ingredients I was looking for at my local E-marts or department stores.

Where can I find stuff like sundried tomatoes, whole basil leaves, mozz, ricotta, etc.? Really need to trek it out to the 'won?

HMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM. I really miss Trader Joes, Whole Foods, etc. even Albertson's/Vons/Safeway.

[darkjedidave]

I made friends with people on base and usually get what I need from them. Whatever else, I usually can find at Costco, 'won, black market or pick it up at home in Guam.

[plato's republic]

Basil leaves and mozzarella can be found at most Homeplus/Emart stores, or at least in my area they can. Not sure about ricotta or sun-dried tomatoes. Might be a little more challenging to find those. Parmesan cheese can also be found at the bigger stores. Depending on what kind of pasta sauce you want to make, it can be quite simple to make your own using just a few simple ingredients:

Why not make your own carbonara, using eggs, some strips of bacon or ham, mushrooms, maybe a little garlic, black pepper and some grated parmesan. Very simple and yet tastes delicious if you can pull it off.

Or make an aglio e olio sauce (olive oil and garlic). You need olive oil, garlic, some black pepper. That's it, and it tastes great.

Or just buy some cherry tomatoes, peel the skins off them and make your own tomato sauce. Add whatever ingredients you like. Ground beef and eggplant work really well.

Now finding some pesto sauce would be a real catch...

[sadguy]

sometimes they sell fresh basil and cilantro at the e-mart in our neighborhood, it's in the section where they sell avocados and lemons. i THINK i've seen mozz there too but i don't buy cheese at emart. you'd probably have to go to the foreign food market for ricotta i think the one in hannam has a bigger selection of cheeses and they also sell more herbs.

what are you cooking?

[darkjedidave]

[sadguy]

i've seen pesto at the foreign food mart too.

[Bloopity Bloop]

[sadguy]

oh man, if you are going to make steak and mushrooms, then i suggest you make a steak diane by gordon ramsay. i made this for my girl last week andshe LOVED it. check it out, it's so easy to make. instead of the brandy, i used spiced rum and instead of worcestshire sauce i used soy sauce. anyway check out the vid.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9rWZNHkrsNg

[crisdean]

[busanmum]

It's ridiculously easy to make your own ricotta. We do it whenever we make lasagna and keep some about, too, for spreads or press it for a homemade paneer.

To make homemade ricotta/paneer:

Pour milk into a pot and gradually heat it using medium-low heat and stirring occasionally. Once it has started bubbling around the edges of the pot let it bubble for about one minute and turn off the heat. Stir about a 1/2 cup white vinegar or lemon juice into the hot milk (I think other vinegars will work as well. It's the acid that's needed). The milk should start to separate immediately into the curds (cheese) and whey (juice). If it doesn't start to separate quickly you have to go through the process again (re-heat the milk, then add your acid).

After a couple of minutes the separation should be complete. You'll see white bits and a yellow-ish liquid--very obviously separated. Line a strainer with cheesecloth (or even an old, washed t-shirt will work) and pour the pot contents into that. Let it sit about an hour or so for all the whey to drain off.

At this point you have a couple of options. You can use the cheese as-is, if you like the texture. You can put a bit of milk in it and 'cream' it to make it a creamier spreadable cheese. You can add some herbs or a pinch of salt for flavor. Or you can press it into paneer. Leave it in the cheesecloth. Put it on a dinner plate. Put another dinner plate on top and something heavy on top of that and leave it until more whey comes out and it's a firmer cheese.

[Bloopity Bloop]

@ sadguy: Yo brudda. I'm not a chef like you haha. Looks way beyond my abilities. I'll give it a try in the future after I've spent a bit more time in the kitchen. Also, re-thinking steak cause I forgot about Saturday. Is your girl coming?

@ busanmum: FANTASTIC! Thanks for your help. Great directions that I think even I will be able to manage

[NYC_Gal 2.0]

[freddy teacher]

to the people who are talking about the basil pesto from the food market...it tastes like CRAP.

well, my mom is an amazing cook, and im just used to her making it from scratch with fresh basil from the garden. i went to Lotte Department store, i paid 15,000w for some little 150g jar, and that tasted like crap too.

im picky about my food, especially about italian food. if you are the same, dont buy that junk...

[SeoulNate]

I don't think I have ever seen ricotta in Korea, but sun dried tomatoes I usually find at home plus in their foreign foods section. They are a little hit or miss though, one week they are there, and the next week they are not.

[ccikulin]

It's not the cheapest way to shop, but nicedeli.com has ricotta and most of the other stuff you'll need. I find that I can usually get most of the ingredients I need when I cook locally, but it seems like I'm always missing one or two things. I can usually get the 'hard to find' stuff from that site.