Right in front of a large Korean grocery store.

I know you guys are so interested in

Korean cooking ingredients.

Even though you are in the Korean grocery store

still be confused.

Everything is written in Korean.

You don't understand what it says.

I was just thinking maybe I should make a really nice video.

Very nice and informative video

for some Korean grocery store shopping walkthrough.

So, today I invited some of my readers

who have been cooking Korean food

for their family and for themselves.

So, here they are.

(cheerful instrumental)

- Hi, I'm Cora.

I married into Korean family

so that's why I started cooking it

and my husband and I both love the cuisine.

- Hi, I'm Andrew.

I just love all different types of food

and I've been watching Maangchi's videos

for about three years and making her recipes,

so I'm super excited to be here.

- Hi, I'm Lucy Marvin and I've come

all the way from Washington DC.

I'm very excited to be here with Maangchi today. Thank you.

- Hi, I'm Shawn.

I'm so happy to be here today.

I love Korean food because I love anything hot and spicy.

Hi, I'm Andrew Lee.

I am Korean so I grew up eating a lot of Korean food,

but I'll be learning just as much

as everyone else in this video.

- Yay! It'll be so fun today.

See all this avid Korean cooks.

We are ready to go shopping with all of you guys.

You guys watching my videos,

including those who will be watching in the future.

Plus, my five lovely readers.

Let's go shopping!

(cheerful instrumental)

Whenever I come to Korean grocery store,

I'm going crazy because it makes me so excited.

I love to buy everything here.

East, West, North, you know?

Lot of things are going on here.

There are many Korean grocery store chains in the USA,

but pretty much almost similar,

even though the size is a little different.

But it's like this.

But don't get intimidated (laughs).

So, first, what do you think I'm going to choose?

Most important Korean cooking ingredient.

You got it?

You got it, guys?

- [Shawn] Red pepper flakes? - Rice?

- [Maangchi] Rice, rice!

(everybody laughs)

- Lot of people ask me,

"What kind of rice you are using?"

So, I'm going to show you Korean short grain rice.

I always eat short grain rice. Let's go.

This is rice section.

Any Korean grocery store, rice is like piled up like this.

This is short grain rice.

Rice grain is short.

The short grain rice is a little stickier

than long grain rice.

That's why whenever we make some gimbap,

Korean seaweed rice rolls,

I need to use short grain rice.

Many of my readers asked me if they can make

the gimbap with long grain rice.

It's not going to work well,

because you are going to roll and squeeze.

And then all this rice is going to fall apart easily,

because it's not sticky enough.

What kind of rice you guys are using?

- I use normal white.

- Yeah. Normal white short grain rice.

- I like brown rice. - Brown rice.

Japanese rice also short grain rice.

It's very popular rice.

Sweet rice is glutinous rice.

It has nothing to do with taste sweet.

Stickier than usual short grain rice.

- [Maangchi] So next

Let's go to produce.

(footfalls)

This is apple, strawberry.

Everybody knows it.

I'm not going to mention this.

But this is Korean melon.

It's called chamoe. Really sweet and crispy.

How can you eat?

Just peel it off and eat.

Inside scoop out just like honeydew.

Crispier and also firmer than honeydew.

Perilla leaves, even now, stems are long.

But sometimes they package it to sell.

But sometimes sell this way.

This perilla leaves are very herby and minty.

I usually stir-fry this. Saute.

What I'm doing is this part is very tough,

so I don't eat it.

So, I just cut this way. Some tender part.

And then stir-fry with onion, garlic, and soy sauce.

And really nice.

King oyster mushrooms.

Slice it this way.

You can make bulgogi with this.

Instead of beef, use this, sliced

and tastes really tasty.

So I gotta mention this kongnamul. Soybean sprouts.

Each stem, pretty and white.

that's the kind of good kongnamul.

You can make bean sprout soup. Soup is so delicious.

And also, you know, steam this and mix with seasoning sauce.

And then really, really tasty.

- What is the difference between mung bean and soybean?

I know you've explained this before

but I just can't remember.

- Mung beans are small and green,

and much smaller than soybeans.

Mung bean sprouts is right here. I saw that.

These are mung bean sprouts.

So, sprouts but they're kind of head part smaller.

Because beans are small.

Mung bean sprouts I use in my bindaetteok.

Mung bean pancake, we need this.

This is Korean dae-pa.

Large size green onions.

Stems are really thick and long.

And really sweet.

When I make pancake or Korean spicy fish soup,

I just add this and really nice.

So, Korean chili pepper.

green chili pepper.

These days these guys are not very spicy,

so I use the long green hot pepper.

You can get this at any grocery store these days.

But this is very spicy,

that's why that's my favorite.

That's why this is in Korean grocery store (laughs).

This is water dropwort.

This is called minari.

Oh, this very tender these days.

We put this in the kimchi.

And sometimes I blanch this and then mix

with the seasoning sauce and sweet and sour spicy,

I make this.

So, water dropwort.

Minari.

Korean red pepper.

So, you see. Fresh red pepper.

and I just use this for garnish.

They're beautiful color.

I can keep in the refrigerator

like up to two weeks,

but sometimes I just let them dry.

So, I have like a Korean dried chili pepper even at home.

(water flowing)

Taro root. Toran.

Tastes like a potato. Very soft.

You need to know the special care,

because it has a little poison

in the skin part.

So, check out the how-to-do on my website.

So now chives.

In Korean, it's jung-guk buchu.

That means "Chinese chives."

But real Korean traditional chives is this.

See, what's the difference?

This guy is very thinner and shorter.

My recipe, you guys can use any type of chives.

Even this. I usually use this chives.

Because Korean chives are kind of seasonal.

Not easy to find them.

So, you can use this chives.

Very fresh. I love that.

This eggplant is thinner than usual, regular eggplant.

The skin is thin.

And just steam five minutes,

and then you blanche this.

After that, just seasoning.

Season with Korean spice.

And very sweet and tender when you do this,

like melting in your mouth.

That's my favorite.

I use a lot of garlic when I make this.

This is Korean pear.

You guys know that, eh?

Years ago not many people knew about Korean pear.

And then I used to give this present to my Canadian friend.

My Canadian friends, when they taste this,

"Oh my! This is pear?"

"How come so delicious?"

They are so shocked.

But these days everybody knows

about my secret, you know.

So, you guys can buy this anywhere.

They call this the Asian pear, but smaller.

Korean grocery store they sell really nice.

They came from Korea directly.

Next, very important ingredient to make kimchi.

What do we need?

Yeah, cabbage. Korean cabbage.

Napa cabbage. Let's go.

When you choose a Korean radish,

and it should be smooth.

Everybody likes smooth. Smooth. (laughs)

These days not peak season,

but I always buy Korean radish

and then I keep in the refrigerator.

How can you keep in the refrigerator?

Don't put it in the refrigerator by itself like this,

because this guy is going to freeze easily

even in the refrigerator temperature.

Wrap it with paper towel, kitchen towel,

and then put it in the plastic bag

so that it's not going to dry out.

And then keep in the refrigerator.

Then you can store this, like,

for one month in the refrigerator.

So, I use, like,

sometimes I make soup or stock.

Delicious anchovy stock.

Always I need this guy.

What I'm doing is that I cut it. Cut.

And then I use this amount. There's leftover.

I wrap with kitchen towel and then plastic bag

and then refrigerator.

See you later. (laughs) Like this.

So you make the cubed radish kimchi.

Everybody loves cubed radish kimchi.

Kkakdugi. It's called kkakdugi.

You can make this kimchi.

It's main ingredient.

And this cabbage. Napa cabbage.

I'm always excited, especially whenever

I travel foreign country, if I see Korean Napa cabbage

on their farmer's market, my heart is beating.

"Oh my God! My relative is here."

You know something like feeling.

When you choose this, lot of green stuff.

There is not much blemish.

And also, instead of really thick leaves

and stem, I use thin.

Thin leaves are better taste,

because if these are too thick,

after making kimchi, water comes out too much.

Too much of kimchi brine.

Peak season is before winter starts.

That's really delicious.

Everything. Radish and cabbage really delicious.

But what else can I do?

I have to keep making kimchi.

Even though some blemish.

Okay, I have to make kimchi, you know.

Because I run out of kimchi.

I cannot live without kimchi (laughs).

Okay. I just only one item.

This produce section I can introduce you.

And then let's go.

We have a long day to walk!

So, Korean sweet potato.

American sweet potato is a little like orange color.