Korean Job Discussion Forums

[MixtecaMike]

My kids are adapting reasonably well to Korea, but would kill for some tamales or torillas. Does anyone know where I could either buy maize (the dry kernels) or Maseca, the flour to make them.

Flour tortillas or those disgusting dried out frozen tortillas just don't cut it, I'm afraid.

Thanks to anyone who can point me in the right direction,

And a Feliz Navidad to all our readers.

[noguri]

Mixteco aventurero,

what are you going to do with "dried kernels" of corn? Grind them up in your molcajete?

There are regions of Korea that specialize in producing corn but I'm not certain if they ever consume it in the form of dried kernels.

Your best bet would be to contact the mexican consulate or mexican embassy and ask them if they know of any place where Maseca might be sold.

My wife is Korean and she told me that one of the "yummy" things sold in Korean bakeries is a type of bread that has corn in it. TO me it didn't taste at all like corn but the name is "oksusu pang." oksusu=maiz; pang=pan.

So, I reason that if they have corn bread, they must have corn flour. I know that wheat flour is called "milkaru" and therefore corn flour is called "oksusu karu." But I doubt seriously that it would have the right texture for making tortilla or tamalito.

You could ask a baker where do they purchase their oksusu karu.

Why do you say that "Korea is better than Mexico?"

[Hollywoodaction]

Either way, the corn flour used for bread is different from the corn flour for tortillas, noguri. If it is available in Korea, it doesn't seem to be advertized on the net. I looked into this a few months ago. At first, I was thinking of preparing the corn from scratch, but I've only been able to find listings for industrial grade slaked lime in Korea (the kind you mix with cement), so I didn't want to take any chances. I think noguri is right. You'll probably have to call the Mexican Embassy and ask if they can direct you to an importer. There's always Ebay if that approach isn't fruitful.

[Dawn]

http://www.bobsredmill.com/catalog/index.php?action=showdetails&product_ID=134 ships internationally ... for a price.

Expat Express also has both tortilla and tamale mix:

http://www.expatexpress.com/Expat/jsp/store/productdetails.jsp?product.productid=6050

http://www.expatexpress.com/Expat/jsp/store/productdetails.jsp?product.productid=6051

FedEx shipping rates are already factored into their prices.

[chronicpride]

[Ya-ta Boy]

The kind of corn bread I've found in bakeries is just plain old white bread with kernels of corn scattered around in there. They are kind of chewy because they dried some in the baking process. All in all, a major disappointment.

I have not found a reliable source of corn meal for years.