My very own happy place..

It was about this time last year when I was introduced to a place that would change my life forever. Super H Mart, located on Old Denton Road in Carrollton. This place is magnificent to say the least. I am going to post the website, but there isn't much English on it, so just take my word...its worth the drive. Not only to they seem to always have the freshest proteins, produce, and anything else you can think of, the prices are incredibly low! In my fridge at this very moment I have a fillet of salmon, weighing in at 1.32 lbs and only costing me $7.42. Go to a chain grocery store and it will cost at least twice as much! Super H Mart not only serves as a grocery store, but there are about 6 different little cafes that serve made from scratch, fresh foods ranging from sushi to Chinese to Korean (I'm not sure they have any American food, except for the sodas). They also have little novelty stores sprinkled about selling anything from Hello Kitty to Suitcases to shoes. I could spend an entire day at this place.

When you first walk in, you are immediately overwhelmed. There are people everywhere, like little ants with shopping carts. The produce section is what you run into first. Its unbelievable. They sell fruits and vegetables there that I have never even heard of, and the items I have heard of seems to be on steroids. Ever seen a one pound pear? No? Well go to Super H Mart and they sell them for a dollar, as well as their strawberries, blackberries and raspberries. I was used to buying a pound of strawberries for $5.99, but not at this place. Once you weave your way up and down the produce rows, you hit the protein section, which seems to go on forever. 50 different types of fresh lay on ice behind glass, while about 10 other kinds of fish are swimming around in fish tanks (including shark sometimes). The have an aisle about 20 yards long full of freshly packed fish, as well as squids, clams, mussels and lobsters. Across the way are the meats, which actually I have never looked through because I am always so enthralled by the fish. Once you make your way through that section you run into the frozen foods followed by 12 aisles of packaged foods. Most everything is in Korean, I'm not even joking. Yes they have little 8 foot long sections of foods from other parts of the world, but that not why you go...you go for the Korean items. Scatter through the market are employees preparing fresh dumplings, Boboa Teas, and even steaming fresh snow crab for sampling.

Yesterday I introduced a friend (and hopeful upcoming foodie) to Super H. Within about 5 minutes I can say, with almost certainty, that they became a believer. After walking around the store picking up various items for about an hour, we stopped and ate at one of the little cafes. All the menu items at the cafes are served with white rice and some type of miso soup. My favorite thing to order is Kimchi Fried Rice. What is Kimchi you ask? I'll post a little something about the food at the end of the post.

For dinner last night I prepared seared tuna (around $13 for about a lb that served 2 people) along with fried rice. I really can't take any credit for the fried rice because I had my friend make it, I just boiled the rice :) Anyways, it was an all around delicious meal that we estimated cost about $20 for the two of us. If you had gone out to eat the same meal at a restaurant, it would have been anywhere from $20-$35 a plate depending on the restaurant.


The little pile between the tuna and the rice is squid salad that I bought from Super H...one of my favs.


Hard to see the vibrant pink color because I took this with my iphone, but you don't want to cook a piece of tuna this fresh anymore than searing for a couple minutes on each side...the color was beautiful


Here's a little history behind kimchi-

"The word kimchi has 2 possible origins. Some people believe that it evolved from the native Korean words ji or jimchae (meaning vegetables soaked in salted water), then later changed its pronunciation to timchae or dimchae, then to jimchi, and finally kimchi Another possible origin is as a Korean pronunciation of the Chinese character Ham-tse or Kam-tse (meaning processed with salted water or pickle vegetables).

The earliest recorded account of kimchi is found in the Book of Si-Kyong (a collection of Chinese poetry that was written between 2,600 and 3,000 years ago). It contains a stanza which says, "a cucumber has grown on the bank of the field, and pickle it for worshiping ancestor." This worship was wishing longevity and happiness.Kimjang (Kimchi-making) usually started in late October or early November and lasted for 2 or 3 days with help from many people. The number of cabbages prepared depended on the number of household members, usually between 100 and 200 cabbages. Considering the number of cabbages and amount of preparation for Kimjang, it was not a job for just 1 or 2 persons. People considered it as a major annual event, so close relatives, several neighbor housewives, and a few strong men all pitched in and worked together. People who participated in Kimjang helped wash cabbages, prepared materials, and stuffed ingredients inside each cabbage leaf."

http://www.lifeinkorea.com/culture/kimchi/kimchi.cfm

www.hmart.com


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