Ojeong Market

I’ve recently decided that it was time to try out this whole adult grocery shopping concept.  Personally, I’m the girl that will drop $200 on an impromptu visit to the grocery store but then forget I did it and not open my refrigerator for the next month.  Once I finally do, everything has gone bad.  That’s gross and an awful lot of wasted cash. 

Lately, many people have been talking about a market in Daejeon that is about 1/4 the price of super market goods.  And a fun time to boot!  The last few weekends a small group of us have been going on Saturday morning to collect our produce for the upcoming week. Now, to be fair, this is one of many open markets in the city. After a few accidental run-ins with identifiable, though dead, pigs, cows, fish, chickens, and more, I decided that the Asian market concept really wasn’t for me.  My heart can’t handle the little empty eyes staring back at me.  Many times the animals (fish and otherwise) are still alive when you are choosing what you want for dinner that night. I’m not built for that.

This market appeals to me because it is set up different.  The produce is in one area and the meat is so far away that I actually haven’t found it yet.  The area is packed full of butcher shops, but once the meat gets to a butcher shop it has already become unidentifiable.  It’s a little more Amy friendly that way. 

These are the things that make me think about my dad.  Yes, there are farmer’s markets everywhere but this is a Korean one.  Every few stalls we walk by there will be something that none of us recognize.  “My dad would know what that is,” I say.  And, if he were there, he would proceed to give us a little ten minute lesson on what it is, where it’s grown, the nutrients it offers, and why we should eat it.  I know he would. And then I would send him off to go “hunt” for dinner in the meat district.  He would love it here.

The first time we walked away with all of this for two people.  Grand total was less than 40,000 won, or about $36.  For people who complain that fruits and veggies are too expensive in this country, you’re shopping in the wrong place!

(Please take note of pretty reusable bags under everything.  Those have been a lifesaver in this country! I have one in my purse at all times.)

For about $36 we got:

14 bananas

a medium sized watermelon

15 plums

10 stalks for bok choy

2 bags of white potatoes/1 bag of sweet potatoes

5 cucumbers

2 huge carrots

3 green peppers (and a yellow pepper for free!)

8 chameh – a Korean yellow melon similar in taste to canteloupe

10 green apples

a large bowl of cherry tomatoes

a good size stack of lettuce

5 large mushrooms

two Sunkist lemons

and a free packet of sesame leaves

 

Now, granted, I am not an experienced grocery shopper, but that’s a pretty darn good deal.

but the dogs were confused…

Charlie and Flower.  She comes to hang out on the weekends. I think the poodle was too busy trying to steal a plum.