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Jujunbury and Myjingo in Koreatown

Wednesday, November 18th, 2009

Remember Myjingo from the seafood “festival” in Koreatown? Well, the peanut-butter-flavored squid called ojingeo is now available in front of Gaju Market on Western Avenue! Sign on the right in picture below.

Momzzang (몸짱) is the squid’s body; a serving costs $4. Darizzang (다리짱) refers to a serving of squid legs; price is $5.

Jujunbury and Myjingo at Gaju Market in Ktown

Also… Myzingo has a companion product at this stall: Jujunbury, which sells 군고구마 (roasted sweet potatoes) — two pieces for $3, four pieces for $5. I’ve got to tell you they are huge pieces. There’s this sign by uncooked samples that says 만지지 마세요 (Don’t touch) because people have been fondling the tubers, amazed at how ginormous they are.

You can also see part of the sign on the left that states County of Los Angeles Department of Health Services Permit #132053. The stuff is all cooked at high heat, so there’s little risk of food poisoning.

Jujunbury in front of Gaju Market in Koreatown

The guy in the picture got sort of ticked off at me. He thought I was going to order, but I said I was just going to take pictures with my iPhone.

I’m giving him free publicity now. For roasted sweet potatoes and pb-flavored squid, head on over to 가주마켓 (California Market aka Gaju) at 450 S Western Avenue, Los Angeles, California 90020. Map here.

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Korean Soboro Bread

Wednesday, October 28th, 2009

I bought this soboro bread from the Bosco Cake Salon counter inside HK Super about three weeks ago. Just now getting around to writing it up. It’s about as big as an adult’s hand.

Soboro from Bosco Cake Salon

Soboro (소보로) is a common Western-style baked product in South Korea. There’s a Japanese soboro そぼろ but it refers to a dish that contains seasoned ground beef, pork or chicken.

Soboro Korean Bread Soboro Bread

Turns out that Korean soboro is short for streusel bread (스트러셀 브레드). The crumbly-looking surface is supposed to call to mind German streusel, which is really crumbly. Have always heard Korean-American teens refer to it as the ugly-looking bread.

This one I bought was plain with no special filling inside. Price is somewhere about a dollar at Bosco; across the street at Paris Baguette it’s like a dollar twenty-five or fifty.

*You’ll also see it spelled in hangul as 소보루 빵 (soboru bbang).

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2009 Korean Seafood Festival in Los Angeles

Saturday, October 24th, 2009

When they said ‘festival’ I imagined something big. This is the smallest festival I’ve ever seen — fewer than half a dozen companies from South Korea…. maybe five. I was disappointed by the paltriness so I didn’t bother being thorough. It’s a sales event with a few samples of dried myeolchi (멸치 = anchovies).

2009 Seafood Marketing Event in LA
2009 LA 수산물 판촉전

Yet I’ve got to hand it to those folks staffing the tables. They were proud of their products and were really hustling in a positive way.

The most dominant item was seaweed. Stacks of giant packs from South Cholla province — Wando Island in that jurisdiction is famous for kim (김 = dried sheets of “laver”). The other kind of seaweed they had was wakame, the brown seaweed that you rehydrate to use in miyeok-guk.

Two seaweed companies: one was Jaewon GlobalNet, the other was Oyang, which was touting its unique patents for making seasoned kim — invention numbers 0455993 and 0455994. Not willing to decipher the technical details from the handout, but the first patent seems to involve a three-part process that does NOT require adding MSG, while the second patent is some sort of two-part process. Will update this later. Meanwhile, visit their website taejo.org. No, they did not give me samples, but the ajumma were very enthusiastic so I’m devoting space to them.

Onggolchan (옹골찬) was selling different seafood banchan (반찬 = side dishes). I was glad to see their very substantial tri-lingual brochure with pretty pictures and quite presentable copy in English, Korean and Japanese. Their website: onggolchan.kr

Menu of Myzingo 마이징어

The unique marketing angle was provided by Myzingo. Are you familiar with ojingeo (오징어), the dried squid that everyone loves gnawing on? Well, this is Myzingo, which happens to be flavored with peanut butter. Momzzang (몸짱) is the squid’s body (mom in Korean) and Darizzang (다리짱) refers to the legs (dari in Korean). Really clever branding. Website: www.myzingo.co.kr

So this “festival” runs until October 25 (Sunday) in one tiny corner of the the parking lot of Hannam Chain SuperMarket. Address: 2740 W. Olympic Boulevard, Los Angeles, California 90006.

I did see a lot of Korean ajosshi and ajumma (married men and women in their forties) eagerly snapping up the gigantic packs that were on sale. And I bet Korean-American teens might get a kick out of the peanut-butter-flavored squid. If you’re in the area, might as well drop by. The LAPD is also holding their Halloween carnival about a block east with carnival rides, games, food and a haunted house until Sunday 10 pm.

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Food Marketing EVENT in Koreatown!

Friday, October 23rd, 2009

The Agriculture Ministry of South Korea is sponsoring a three-day Korean seafood marketing and sales event in Los Angeles, from Friday to Sunday (October 23 – 25), as part of the government’s drive to boost the country’s exports.

The goal is to sell $100,000 throughout the three-day event taking place at the Hannam SuperMarket in the heart of Koreatown.  Foods available include kim (sheets of dried seaweed) , ojingo (dried squid) and myeolchi (anchovies). At least four trading companies from South Korea are on site.

By establishing a  distribution network in Los Angeles, the government aims to attract orders not only from the Korean-American community, but also from the local consumer market.

If you drop by, you can taste samples of Korean food.  More details with photos after I’ve dropped by this weekend.

UPDATE: Was just there. It’s a very, very small affair. No free kimbap or tuna, but there’s lots of dried seaweed (brown wakame too). There’s something unique called peanut-butter-flavored dried squid or something to that effect. It’s a selling event, so you’re expected to buy seafood products in bulk. I’ll post the pictures later.

Also, nearby, you won’t be able to drive a personal vehicle south of Olympic Boulevard on Vermont Avenue. It’s been closed off for the LAPD festival. Lots of rides and carnival food and games for the kids! Also until Sunday (10 pm).

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Korean Hardtack : Black-Bean Flavor

Saturday, October 17th, 2009

I’ve always translated gon-bbang 건빵 as hardtack and I’ve always thought of it only in terms of being made from plain barley, but this product set me straight.
Korean Hardtack: Black-Bean Flavor
The product name is Gomun Kong GonBbang, which the English sticker label translates as Black Bean Cookie. No matter that it was the squarish shape of regular hardtack. I guess by now I should know that when a Korean manufacturer says “Cookie” it means, hmmm, any Western-style baked product? Gwaja in general?

Ingredients: wheat flour, sugar, palm oil, corn starch, black-bean powder, salt, black sesame. The actual black-bean content is 0.5%.

Nutrition Facts: Serving size 33 grams. 3 servings per 3.5-ounce bag. Each serving contains 136 calories, 18 from fat. Total Fat 2 grams. Saturated Fat 1 gram. No Trans Fat. No cholesterol. Sodium 74 milligrams. Total Carbohydrates 25 grams. No fiber. Sugars 5 grams. Protein 4 grams.

Suggested retail price is 1200 won in South Korea. I don’t remember what I paid for it but it must have been under a dollar.

UPC bar code number 8 804782 005497. The manufacturer is Cheju Nongyeon, and the importer is Purunchon of 3435 Wilshire Blvd., #122, Los Angeles, CA 90010.

Tasted like plain hardtack… You eat it to satiate the munchies.

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Sammi Aloe Drink with Aloe Vera Gel

Friday, October 16th, 2009

I drank this in the dark. I mean, without pouring it out into a glass, so I can’t tell what color the liquid is. I did feel the bits of aloe vera in my mouth.

You’d be forgiven if you saw this and it didn’t occur to you that this was a product of Korea. Absolutely no hangul on the can! Just English, French and Spanish. Bebida de Savila con Aloe Vera Gel.

Sammi Aloe Drink with Aloe Vera Gel

Sammi Aloe Drink with Aloe Vera Gel

I saw this at the Korean supermarket ASSI so that gave me an inkling. The brand is SAMMI (삼미식품), which I’m unfamiliar with. The reason I even noticed it was because first it was on sale for 79 cents and was prominently displayed in a tall basket by the checkout counter. Also, it’s aloe vera juice!

The only other time I had seen aloe vera juice was in the sample kit I got from JayOne, and it was a novelty for me. Aloe vera juice! It must be another South Korean fad that I missed.

The can prominently states in front: No sugar added. But look at the ingredients list: Water, LIQUID FRUCTOSE, aloe vera gel, citric acid, sodium citrate, calcium lactate, gellan gum, pyridoxine hydrochloride, calcium panthothenate, gardenia blue, carthamus yellow, artificial flavors.

Nutrition Facts: Serving Size 1 cup or 8 fluid ounces or 240 ml. 125 calories per serving. No fat. No trans fat. 48 milligrams of sodium. 25 grams of carbohydrates. No fiber. 25 grams of sugar. No protein.

Distributed by Sammi International Inc. 707E 61st Street, Los Angeles, CA 90001, USA. Tel: (323) 233-2224. Sammi Food Corporation. UPC bar code number 8 94975 00251.

The flavor’s not bad. Tasted like sweetened water with bits of stuff in it :)

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