Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Chokse]

Just about everything on your list can be found in Korea, but I'd expect to pay at least double what you are currently paying for the "easy to find items", like apples, bananas, honey (giant bottles at Costco), bread, bags of salad, olives, etc. For the harder to find items, like feta, porridge, cheddar, brown rice, etc, you can expect to pay 3-4 times what you currently pay.

If you are not eating a Korean diet, food here can be really expensive. It seems as though anything that is either fruit, or non-Korean in origin, automatically doubles or triples in price when sold here.

[NYC_Gal 2.0]

Brown rice is not hard to find if you're around Seoul. I'm in Incheon and there's a huge rice aisle in my local Homeplus. There are several different varieties of brown rice, and it's not very expensive, though it is more than its white counterpart.

[lonestarteacher]

[ren546]

Yeah, brown rice is easy. You should be able to get it at any Homeplus. As for protein shakes, order from iherb.com (I think that's what most people on here do these days). They're fast and relatively cheap, and they have a decent selection.

[NYC_Gal 2.0]

I also order 10-grain (Bob's Red Mill) porridge from iherb. I like it more than oatmeal. Sometimes I order oat bran there, but usually just use that for baking.

[Chokse]

I wasn't talking about the sticky crap Koreans call rice. I was talking about long-grain wild rice. That stuff is really hard to find here.

You can pretty much find any color of the sticky crap, but good rice is more difficult to find here.

[NYC_Gal 2.0]

I like short-grain brown rice. I use it when making sushi. I did back home as well. Long grain doesn't work as well.

For wild rice, I order it via iherb, but I don't eat it as often.

"Crap" is relative.

[da_moler]

[schwa]

Do you guys really mean "wild" rice? Wild rice as I know it (wikipedia concurs) is a distinctive grain harvested primarily by native peoples in Canada. Somewhat of a delicacy, tasty & expensive.

[northway]

[nathanrutledge]

I don't know the markets in Busan, but there are a couple of agriculture markets in Seoul where you can buy fresh foods direct. Overall, you can have the same diet for around the same price with some smart, timely purchases. You just have to be willing to get there early and buy in bulk. I bought a small restaurant sized sack of beans that cost me about 60% of what they charged at Lotte Mart. You're going to pay more for some, less for others, but in the end, you can do it for about the same price. Just find the bulk open air markets.

[Weigookin74]

Don't forget those underground markets in Namdaemun. Get off at the Hoehyeon stop. Walk through the main strip. When you see the orange BYC building and the purplish one next to it, go into the basement and wander around. Many stalls of US goods. There are foods, cleaning supplies, soaps, etc. All things you'd want from home. Well, at least if you're from North America. Basically, it's one stop up from Seoul Station on the light blue line. If coming from Yongsan Station, take the dark blue line to Seoul station then switch to the light blue and go for one stop. I usually make a trek specifically for this once or twice a year and bring 100,000 with me. Good for suplimenting when Costco doesn't have a few items you're searching for. (IE Underarm Deodorant, Mounds Chocolate, Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, Ajax cleaning powder, etc)

[nstick13]

Nice thread.

Didn't see anything about the feta. Anyone know a place for that?

[northway]

[NYC_Gal 2.0]

I've seen feta at Homeplus, but you could also get it at nicedeli.com, ezshopkorea.com, or at the foreign food market. Probably costco, though I haven't been.