Pinoy Mart

(Borrowed from this website) Getting there: Noksapyeong Stn, Exit 2. Walk for about 300m, until the road forks. Veer left at the kimchi pots. Meander past a bunch of (for want of a better word) funky bars and cafes for a few minutes. PM is across the road, on your right.

 

Last night we stumbled into this foreign foods mart with some friends on our way to find a restaurant.  Several minutes later we wandered out of this mart with lots of foreign foods that we haven't seen in months.  

I am the first one to say that when living in a foreign country one ought to fully embrace the culture and shop as a local.  However, I said this more when kimchi and strange seafood were not the primary cuisine.  After several months in Korea, all I really want to do is to bake in an oven, cook with hearty flour, eat raw honey by the spoonful, and smother my food with spicy sauce.  These things are nearly impossible if shopping is done in a Korean market.  

I don't recommend these little markets for price, for they are not cheap and a lot of what they have you can buy at Costco for less, but they do have some gems that I highly recommend.

 The sauces are wonderful and will last a long time.  

The coconut milk and curry are fantastic, fairly inexpensive, and the curry paste will provide multiple batches of curry.  

The lentils are the first I've seen of lentils since coming to Korea, and my Korean friend had never heard of them before.  Stock up.

 The flour and honey are a must, considering all the stove top baking recipes I have that would benefit from these two ingredients.  In fact, I made a scrumptious batch of pancakes this morning using this flour and honey; check out the recipe for Health-Conscious Pancakes.

Happy shopping!