Hankook Korean Market

A few days ago, I had a craving for Korean beef. Plus I wanted to provide a dinner for some good friends and for my Bro Jeff, so I made a little trip to a Korean supermarket called Hankook. I usually go to Mitsuwa or Nijiya for my Japanese/Asian food, but I needed meat in bulk and those two places would break the bank for me.

I went in the late morning because 1)Emi-chan was in a pretty good mood, 2) the workers at Hankook are usually in a good mood, and 3)I was in pretty good mood. After 12 PM, we all would be in foul moods.

When I make a trip down to this store, I usually get their marinated meats and banchan, but not today. I went straight to their meat section and bought, oh, about 8 pounds of beef short ribs. I don't think I got enough :)

After picking up some other items for the marinade, Emi-chan and I wandered up and down the aisles for a few minutes. She was fascinated by the fish section. They had these HUGE flatfishes swimming unhappily in a tank. Emi-chan kept laughing and yelling, "Fishes!" I hope the fishes didn't think she was laughing at them. The fish guy looked a little annoyed.

I also picked up a couple of interesting items. The first one is a bag of frozen mantou.


I remember my mom telling me she loved eating mantou for breakfast as a little girl in China. I also remember my uncle, her younger brother, buying a dozen at a store in Chinatown in San Francisco, and eating about half in one sitting. The mantou brought back some good memories so I decided to get a bag. I got the chocolate flavored one, since I was a little scared of the pandan flavored one (pandan? What's pandan?). I microwaved one and ate it. It was pretty rubbery and dry. And it didn't taste like chocolate. Maybe I'll try to steam it next time.

The second item I got was Habanero Shoyu (soy sauce).

I was actually looking for la-yu and came across this instead. I'm a little scared to try this. Maybe I can talk Rick into trying it first.


I wanted to explore a little bit longer, but I could tell Emi-chan was getting a little tired and the lunch crowd was starting to trickle in, so I decided to leave. I want to go back soon to see what else I can find.