Korean Job Discussion Forums

[PeterDragon]

So I went to the "World Market" foreign food store in the tiny little town I live in, the one that mostly serves the Bangledeshi and Iraqi migrant workers. I bought 4.5 kg of lamb, cutlets an ground lamb for 24,000 won. For you fellow Americans, that's around $2.70 a pound. That's cheaper than pork, chicken, beef, or many kinds of fish at the GS Mart or Kim's Club. The world market also seems to be selling farm grade venison steak for around 15000 won per 2 kilogram package. That's venison for $3.75 a pound. Venison and lamb arent' even that cheap back home in Wisconsin, where deer farms and sheep farms litter the landscape. Hell, it's hard to find beef and steak that cheap back home sometimes.

I've seen comparable prices for lamb/"deer meat" at the International Market near WhatTheBook in Itaewon. How is this possible, when meat at all the "mainstream" stores is so damn pricey?

(Edited to add--- as an amusing aside, the Korean clerk assumed I was Middle Eastern/Islamic, since no Westerners ever go to that store. When I asked for a prepaid calling card, she immediately handed me the most popular middle eastern one, and I had to correct her, saying "anio, migook".)

[Evil Boweevil]

There's one in my tiny little area as well and when I go in there and buy spices and lentils I always get the combo stink/evil/shock eye from all the foreign workers, as I am the only white devil who goes in there. Nice to get fresh cilantro and basil though. What was the quality of the lamb like? I assume it has been frozen for quite some time.

[PeterDragon]

This stuff is brick hard. It'll be a good day til it thaws out to the point where I can cook it;* maybe I'll post the results here. The color looks of the meat seems to indicate decent quality. I worked meat/grocery warehouse for seven years, and I've learned you can tell alot about meat just by observing its shade and outward texture, especially red meat.

Evil Weevil--- good point about the basil and cilantro, I should go back and retrieve some. Since I discovered that place, I've been like a kid in a candy store, not knowing what to get or where to start.

*I don't believe in microwave thawing.

[mrsquirrel]

Is there a foreign shop in Yongin?

[Evil Boweevil]

[mrsquirrel]

Got lots around the city, never seen a market though.

[Evil Boweevil]

[bangbayed]

I've been buying lamb from the shop by What The Book for the last year. The quality is good, but I wish the cut was better. The chops are basically cut frozen with a butcher's bandsaw (whatever they're called) and they're usually too thin for proper lamb chops. But if you like them well done or medium well done, they're perfect. I found proper NZ cut chops there a while ago, but that's not the kind they regularly stock. Still, at man won for a hefty bag (I'm guessing around 4 or 5 kilos), it's a great deal.

Even the cheap stuff is from NZ. I suspect it might be more on the mutton side rather than lamb though. One guess why it's so cheap is that most of the people buying it are foreign workers, who don't make that much.