It’s What I Ate Wednesday! I don’t have any great photos of stuff I ate (nor do I think you care too much) but I did have some good food experiences this week that I wanted to share.
(Skip to the end to read about plans for our Friday Favorites link party!)
After being inspired by Missy’s Korean Kimchi post, I was totally craving kimchi and rice wrapped in nori. I live near a Korean market, H Mart, but have never been, so I figured this was a good time to check it out.
The market always looked sort of shady to me...
I wonder what that says?!
I was about five feet in the door before I knew I never wanted to get produce anywhere else for the rest of my life. They have everything and it’s the freshest produce I’ve ever seen. Based on the supply of daikon radishes, it is clear that there is a lot of fresh kimchi being made in my area.
Need some sugar cane? Oh yeah, they’ve got it.
They had some crazy looking fruits, too, but I felt awkward taking a photo of them, disrespectful almost. I regret that now, because I don’t know what they are called and I’d love to share them with you! Next time…
Okay, so I continued on my quest for fresh pre-made Korean kimchi. I could have asked someone for help, but browsing was too much fun. I rounded the corner and saw this. I swear to you, I heard angels singing.
You better believe I picked up a bag of garbanzo flour to make some of that socca I’ve heard so much about.
The market also had some things I am not so sure about. I almost vomited as I passed the section of fresh tongues and ears. Even typing it out now makes me feel a bit light-headed. Plus, there was a varied selection of dried fish and what-not, like these anchovies.
What exactly is this for? Are you supposed to eat them whole and dry? Or add water to make regular anchovies for a recipe? Interesting…
And Missy, I thought about getting these but it fit squarely into an “impulse purchase”, which I have given up for Lent.
Just when I was beginning to think the Korean market didn’t actually have fresh kimchi, I made it to the far corner of the store and saw this.
A whole wall of kimchi goodness. I really wanted to buy one with no fish in it, but everything seemed to. I picked up a small container.
(Holy crap, I just noticed it has M.S.G. in it?!?!?! What the heck? Ughhhhhh…)
I also needed some nori, and I was crazy intimidated by the options, so I picked this one because it seemed small. (and no, I don’t read Korean, so it was my best guess that this was what I wanted!)
Unfortunately, I am the world’s worst when it comes to dimension, and these nori pieces are way too small to stuff with kimchi and rice. Here it is on a salad plate.
Topped with some kimchi (which is amazing by the way)…
and brown rice…
Next time I need to buy larger nori pieces so I can roll it all up. Me attempting to eat this was an incredibly messy experience, but it was delicious and totally hit the spot.
Moving on…
I’ve been curious about Averie’s raw dough balls. The Korean market also had raw cashews so I picked up a small container. Cashews and oats in the food processor…
Blendy blendy…
I was afraid to blend too much, lest I end up with cashew butter, so I stopped here. Added the rest of the ingredients, mix into balls, refrigerate. Easy! And really tasty. Next time I will blend longer and hopefully get doughier balls. But look how pretty they are, and they were so easy to make, and they are healthy(er than real cookie dough).
Friday Favorites Link Party!!!
This Friday, I’m going to host the first Friday Favorites link party! Just like WIAW, all you’ll need to do is post the Friday Favorites link on your site, then come to my post and link up. This will be such a fun way for us to share our favorite things and find new things to try out! Please consider sharing some of your favorite blog posts from the week, too. It’s a great way to help promote your fellow bloggers.
Merf In Progress 
MSG!?!?!? nooooooo way doll! no bueno. That stuff messes with your insulin levels. stay. a. way! Hookay so you reminded me that I miss H mart sooooo much! I used to live near a GIANT one in virginia and they had the ballerest raw salmon ever! ohmygosh it was perfection!
I love kimchi. I recently found a recipe for making some at home but totally misplaced it. The Asian market is one of my go to places for all things fun!
Hi Erin! Click the link for Missy’s post about Kimchi. She posted a tutorial on making your own. Looks pretty easy but makes a LOT.
Making your own Kimchi isn’t complicated, if you want to give it a go. (A slicing disc for the food processor is a necessity though!). Mmm, daikon radish. Yum. I love the Asian markets around here too… 10 beautiful limes for 99 cents! Yes, please.
~
I love our H Mart too – they have the BEST produce! and a whole aisle of nori, which I loooooove… 🙂 your dough balls look great, almost exactly like Averie’s! 🙂
The dough balls sound great! My boyfriend has a Super H Mart right by his house. Never gone in though!
That market looks like so much fun!! Definitely a way to find some unique things. I love lychees – my fave Asian market find :).
Lychees… I just Googled them and they look really intersting. I’ll have to check them out – thanks for the recommendation!
It was so much fun “shopping” with you. Your Korean mart is so much more sophisto than mine. You’d think mine was WAY shady lol.
David tells me about the Kimchi with apple and pear. I have to make some.
You really have to be careful about MSG in the Korean products. I learned that the hard way…but that doesn’t seem like so much in your kimchi.
Next time you are there look for the seasoned nori, not the sush nori. Its crispy like a chip!
Or, you can make your own by brushing the nori with sesame oil and putting it in a pan for a few seconds.
Anyways, glad you got your kimchi fix!
Wonder if you could get the little man to eat it.
Ha.
You tell me where it says “sushi nori” on that package, lol! Believe it or not, I bought these nori-wrapped rice crackers, and J totally loves them. He likes the wasabi peas too, but they are too hot.
Hi there- I’m new to your blog and really enjoying it! You really hit the kim-chee mecca there 🙂 I like it but I always feel bad opening it up and making other people smell it haha!
Your rendition of the dough balls turned out quite pretty! I always love a good excuse to use my food processor so maybe I’ll give em a try.
Cheers!
meri
merigoesround.blogspot.com
Try them, sooo easy. I can’t wait to make more of Averie’s treats!
That store looks really good! I can’t wait to hear about the socca! It’s so easy and tastes great 🙂 i LOVE kim chee, too bad is had MSG!
I’ve had kimchi once and liked it, but I know I couldn’t eat volumes of it. Those little dessert balls would rock my world, however 😉
I went to an H Mart in DC (or just outside of it) around this time last year! I think it might have been a different one, though. I recently made my own version of raw cookie dough for the second time – it’s actually pretty similar to Averie’s, I see, but I tend to use almonds and cashews 🙂
I love visiting international markets! I always feel a little awkward in there, but it’s still fun! That MSG is a sneaky bugger! They snuck it in on the end there LOL.
Those dough balls look really really good, I have been meaning to make some of those forever! I will have to do that soon. Can’t wait for the link party!
AHHH i just licked my screeen- dough ball heaven!
I totally love Asian food markets, and this one looks especially awesome. (Cane sugar? 😯 ) A thing I dislike is that there’s MSG in so many products, and sometimes GMO soy. Eek! 😯 😯 😯 (It has to be written on the label if the soy it GMO, though, but you always have to read very carefully.)
The writing on the nori package is Japanese, I think. (Uuuuuuut, uuuuuuut, nerd alarm. ;)) I can’t read it yet, but they look like kanji and kana. However, not Korean.
A fellow H-Mart enthusiast! Favorite. Store. Ever. The kimchi options are definitely way overwhelming but I LOVE that their tofu selection is huge. And their produce is amazing. I’m a huge fan of the purple yams. Mmm!
I was just there yesterday and have officially decided it’s my favorite place to purchase produce. I have never seen strawberries so beautiful. Thanks for stopping by, hope to see you again soon!
I’ve never seen strawberries at mine.. I did buy a container of chopped papaya that was consumed in one sitting, though. =)