Kim chee cucumbers, Korean seaweed salad with sesame oil, and crunchy kim chee radishes are three of my favorite banchan items. Banchan are those little plates of food you get at a Korean restaurant. All three items are available in the extensive banchan refrigerator case at the deluxe Korean supermarket called Super H Mart at 1302 Blalock.
Marinated bulgogi meat was less than $4 a pound. Pick up a pound of bulgogi, a head of romaine lettuce and a couple of packages of banchan and fire up the George Foreman grill (or whatever variety of grill you use), and you’ve got an impressive Korean dinner going on. I like to roll my bulgogi up into romaine tacos with lots of kimchee and hot sauce.
You’ll find some amazing specials on other stuff at this bright and shiny Asian supermarket too. They have an amazing selection of fish and seafood, including live conch, live clams, and live blue crabs. Live lobsters were $5.99 a pound the last time I stopped by.
This article appears in Jan 28 – Feb 3, 2010.