H Mart - no ordinary grocery store

H Mart has Asian ingredients and much more

H-mart is not just a grocery stop along the way. It’s a destination in itself. Allow yourself plenty of time to explore this enormous cook’s Mecca in Aurora filled with Asian delicacies and pantry staples.

As you enter the store, your eyes are greeted with a foyer full of small electrics, including rice steamers and griddles. From there, you enter a world of household necessities including ‘Joy Gloves.’ Which brings up a point. Some product names just don’t come through translation to have the same impact in English as they did in their native country’s language.

H Mart’s selection of fresh produce is amazing. One finds that a food dictionary is a good companion to have in-hand so that your mind’s taste buds can picture the fruit or vegetable’s flavor.

A large variety of meat lines the cold cases along the wall. You’ll find not only the traditional cuts of beef and chicken, to name a couple, but unusual things as well. Take a gander at the duck heads and chicken feet. If you’d rather not bone such things yourself, boneless chicken feet can also be found there.

The majority of the fish in the cold case is very fresh as is demonstrated by their clear, domed eyes. Old fish have cloudy eyes that are sunken. H Mart has a large variety, most of which you won’t find in American grocery stores. If you want the very freshest fish, there are glass fronted tanks of live ones under the cold case.

The prepared foods are tasty as well. The kim-chee from the refrigerator case is top notch, as are the fried beef and sesame chicken. In the freezers are everything from squid and octopus to red bean ice cream. Try some of the gyoza or steamed dumplings for a treat. There are also frozen ducks in the case labeled ‘duck, parts missing.’ It’s best to not think too hard about which parts are absent.

For an unusual dinner that is sure to meet with approval from your family and friends, make a group trek to H Mart and buy prepared foods that appeal to each. Once home, heat up the choices, fill your sauce dishes with condiments such as sweet chili sauce and hot mustard, and dig in. It’s even more fun when you use chop sticks. They sell those at H Mart, too.

This is a ‘no dish’ meal as all of the food has been prepared for you.

For more info: email bbqbarb@recipesoftherockies.com