When I want to have a really nice home cooked Korean meal I usually shop on Payneham Rd and around Glynburn corner which I call “Little Korea”.
A great little Korean Butcher shop on Payneham Rd is Choi’s Butchers where you will find unique Korean style cuts of meat. No lamb though, as we just don’t farm sheep in Korea. My first ever experience with lamb was when I first came to Adelaide almost 20 years ago and was dished up “braised mutton”. My wife keeps trying to convince me to eat more lamb as she loves it, of course because she grew up in country SA. I do like a Russian Lamb Shaslik though.
One of my favourites is beef short ribs that I can cook up into “Kalbi Jim” or more commonly known as Chunky Beef. I love this dish as the taste of any meat close to the bone is special and this particular dish is slow cooked so it is tender, slightly chewy and tasty all in one.
I also love Korean BBQ, especially if it is over charcoal. The easiest and very tasty is “Samgupsyal – pork belly” and this should be served with lettuce, rice, of course kimchi, and a tasty dipping sauce which most commonly is a big pinch of salt and pepper in sesame oil. Very popular in Korean BBQ restaurants throughout the world. For all the other ingredients I require to complete this dish, I can just head on up to any of the Korean Marts in this vicinity
My first stop is Lucky Mart, you can’t miss it, as it is a hot pink building and the best thing about shopping in any Korean grocery shop is they always give me extra “service”. I usually get an icecream from here, around the corner at the warehouse a Bacchus (Korean energy drink) and my last stop Happy Mart where I am given a coffee so I am content to go home and cook.
There are a few major necessities in Korean cuisine, the main ones being “Dashida” – an exotic powdered seasoning made from shank broth, “Gochu Gadu” – dried chillies turned into a fine powder and “Kang Jang” – soy sauce made from fermented beans.
The Bread Garden next to the pink Lucky Mart is a nice little Korean Bakery where they have traditional Asian sweet and savoury breads. I love anything with red beans and the crunchy “Hoddeok” is a must too, a combination of cinnamon, sugar and brown peanuts. Reminds me of home!
Chung Jae Lee is former head chef and owner of Adelaide’s Mapo Restaurant and is author of the recently released Korean Cookbook: A Twist on the Traditional. His last column for Indaily’s Food & Wine section was on his mother’s cooking.
