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These melons have a flesh and taste somewhat like a mild honeydew; It's not nearly as fragrant nor sweet as ripe honeydew. The ones in your picture looked fairly ripe and ready to eat.

Mackerel's pretty popular on this board at the Japanese and Korean restaurants. I'm trying to eat more mackerel simply for the health benefits, although it's a fairly tasty fish grilled or pan-fried. H-Mart sells whole mackerels of different varieties. The regular Norwegian mackerel was on sale for $2.99/lb, and I thought it might be a decent buy if I could have 'em filleted. First time I bought them, the fishmongers were willing to fillet after a little persuasion; second time no luck. So I had 'em gut 'em and snip the fins/tails on two large mackerel. I was also curious to see how much I was actually paying per lb when filleted. I have to say I was very surprised to see my cost jump from $2.99/lb to $5.72/lb (granted some people fillet more cleanly than others), after I'd filleted them and weighed them on a scale at home. I didn't realize the heads, guts, fins&tails as well as bones constituted so much weight. With this in mind, I may be better off in the future purchasing saba fillets rather than the whole fish.

i found korean bbq gold yesterday @ H-mart:


Hanoonsem marinaded thinly sliced dicon, used for bulgogi/chadolbaegi wrappings on sale, 2 for $3.

sadly, the yogurtu is no longer on sale

TonyC,

How long do you steam these before cracking them open and eating them? I bought 49 cents worth to taste, but I don't know how long to steam:

Mike G photo:


Thanks!

Regards,

_________________
Cathy2

"You'll be remembered long after you're dead if you make good gravy, mashed potatoes and biscuits." -- Nathalie Dupree
Facebook, Twitter, Greater Midwest Foodways, Road Food 2012: Podcast

Super H-Mart now smartly has a number system (one through seven) for how you want the fishmongers to deal with your pick. Point at a fish, say the number for say filet, and voila.

-ramon

We used to serve Mackerel at one of the hospitals that I worked at in Virginia. I think that it is a great fish - as long as you are serving it to people who do not mind the natural oiliness of the fish.

The number system's been there for a while. You can SAY the number, and even the word fillet, and they'll tell you NO. Just try to get them to fillet mackerel for you. They won't do all the "cleaning types" on different fish. Even better - see if they'll fillet some crucian for you; If you can get 'em to do it for you (on camera - I want to see their facial expressions and Korean expletives they hurl your way), your next bottle of soju's on me.

Actually, I won't do it again b/c the cost ratio is no longer a "deal" after the fish is gutted and filleted.

I don't even know what a crucian is!

-ramon

I had a similar issue with my monkfish the other day - the lady at the counter asked me if I wanted it cut up, and I said no; but could they skin it and bone it for me (fileted would have been fine had I read the signs in front of me.) It was returned sawed into chunks - bone, skin and all, making it less easy to remove the bone and skin at home.

FWIW, I was a bit tentative about the whole thing, so I'm not certain it wasn't somehow my error....

_________________
No guts, no glory.
http://www.chicagonow.com/quips-travails-braised-oxtails
http://quipstravailsandbraisedoxtails.blogspot.com/

They're always present for sale at H-Mart; It's essentially a big goldfish (in the carp family).

Hi,

I was H-Mart yesterday.

They had frozen, shucked razor clams for $4.99 a pound. I am dreaming of battering them up and frying someday soon.

New ingredient to muse about: Beef Marrow Guts at $1.99 a pound. This is the marrow extracted from the bone. These are frozen packed in quantities in excess of a pound. I need to figure out how to use them before buying them.

Amusing price anomalies: soup bones for 99 cents a pound and fatty cross rib sections for 79 cents a pound. I bought both for making stock. My all time H-Mart favorite: oxtails for $5.99 a pound and beef filet for $4.99 a pound.

Regards,

_________________
Cathy2

"You'll be remembered long after you're dead if you make good gravy, mashed potatoes and biscuits." -- Nathalie Dupree
Facebook, Twitter, Greater Midwest Foodways, Road Food 2012: Podcast

Actually, that happens rather frequently. Oxtails for $4.29 and rib steals for $3.99.

They also have veal tails; I'd never seen 'em elsewhere.

Do you happen to recall the price? If Oxtail can cost as much as $5.99 there, I can only imagine veal tail price.

Regards

_________________
Cathy2

"You'll be remembered long after you're dead if you make good gravy, mashed potatoes and biscuits." -- Nathalie Dupree
Facebook, Twitter, Greater Midwest Foodways, Road Food 2012: Podcast

Are you sure? Marrow gut usually refers to a part of an unweaned calf's stomach. It's an essential ingredient of sonofabitch stew. See Frank X Tolbert's A Bowl of Red for plenty of background on this Texas delicacy.

I don't recall this week's price for the veal tails, but they were only about $1/lb more than the oxtails; However, the pricing of their oxtails is atrociously expensive - can't bring myself to buy 'em at that price when there are other nice cuts of beef for less. I've also been buying their frozen shabu-shabu-thin sliced boneless lamb leg (actually it's lamb butt) for marinating & stirfrying and shabu-shabu - at $3.99/lb it's a pretty good deal considering Costco sells a whole leg of lamb for the same price.

Aside: This brings up another interesting aside: I've seen the veal tails and tongues for sale... but no other veal parts... Perhaps undesirable leavings from the Western market?

Another aside: I remember back in Houston, they used to sell 1-claw lobsters at a dollar less per lb in the Chinese megasupermarkets; For Chinese who eat the whole lobster (aside from the antennae), the loss of a claw is no big deal. For the western market where the tail and claws are the primary dining item, I suppose these lobsters were undesirable. In fact the Houston Chinatown restaurants used to run specials for 2 ginger & scallion lobsters for $13.88 then $16.88 when the priced bumped. First coupla times my Dad and I ate this deal, we'd be thinking, "Two lobsters... how come only 2 claws?.... Chinatown restaurant tax? The owner keeping two claws for his own lunch?" Then we saw the lobsters for sale in the groceries and it all made sense.

I'm sure everyone has been waiting with bated breath for the in-house H-Mart Pizza Hut to open. Good News!

That's Right!

H-Mart Pizza Hut (3.7.07)

_________________
Sauce on the side, always, implied, axiomatic..........never a doubt, BBQ sauce without.

Low & Slow

I left my camera in the car on this occasion. It did not look like a stomach, though it did look like a tube. I then looked at a wikipedia definition:



ReneG, it appears you have made a correct ID. I simply reacted to the name, seeing the tube, then assumed it was extracted bone marrow. Do you have an overwhelming desire to make this charmingly named stew? I think I could arrange it!

Regards,

_________________
Cathy2

"You'll be remembered long after you're dead if you make good gravy, mashed potatoes and biscuits." -- Nathalie Dupree
Facebook, Twitter, Greater Midwest Foodways, Road Food 2012: Podcast

hahah thanks gary thats what those are...i found these in my mom's fridge a few days ago, and i had no clue what they were...i finally settled on maybe octopi beaks that were oddly deformed?

those melons are called chamee in Korean you're supposed to eat the seeds and pulp as well...the sweetest part, but most time i discard it since the flesh when its ripe is usually sweet enough...not used to eating fruits seeds

my favorite thing about hmart is that they sell freshly made tofu....it comes in a plastic cylinder container....like the takeout containers for soups at chinese restuarants...and their wonderfully extensive selection of nattos

its convenient that they supply american products as well as asian products in the store...but its kinda weird seeing lean cuisine in the frozen aisle

Odd bit of trivia from the Uberspouse's military background: a caltrop is the three-pointed metal thingy you scatter across the road to make it impassable for vehicles with tires. Now, except for the chicken-and-egg issue, we know where it got its name.

_________________
No guts, no glory.
http://www.chicagonow.com/quips-travails-braised-oxtails
http://quipstravailsandbraisedoxtails.blogspot.com/

It wasn't your error. I had the same run-in this past weekend when I purchased some monkfish and some rockfish. They owuldn't do fillets, the sign notwithstanding. I at least got the rockfish into almost-fillets (skin-on, but scaled). The monkfish was very disappointing--and very messy. Skin, bone, wings (or whatever those things are called)...yuck! I spent a long time at the cutting board and though the final product was worth it (made some bouillabaise), the effort was far more than I anticipated. And I know they understood me: they just refused to do it.

_________________
Gypsy Boy

“How can a nation be called great if its bread tastes like kleenex?” (Julia Child)

I've found the easiest way to skin a monkfish is similar to what you'd do with a big 'ol southern catfish. Make a slit all the way round it's neck, then tug all the "slimy" skin off in 1 piece to the tail, kinda like de-gloving the fish. Of course, in skinning a big 'ol catfish, it helps to nail it's head down on an 'ol tree stump 'fore pulling off the skin.

I've heard similar advice for eel. Have you really done this?

Regards,

_________________
Cathy2

"You'll be remembered long after you're dead if you make good gravy, mashed potatoes and biscuits." -- Nathalie Dupree
Facebook, Twitter, Greater Midwest Foodways, Road Food 2012: Podcast

I've seen the catfish-skinning; it seems like it would work for Monkfish if only they left the head...but then the thing would cost $50 because the head (which you discard) must weigh a ton.

_________________
No guts, no glory.
http://www.chicagonow.com/quips-travails-braised-oxtails
http://quipstravailsandbraisedoxtails.blogspot.com/

Actually, I've only degloved headless monkfish; You don't really need the head to hold. The skin comes off pretty easily in 1 piece - even comes off of the fins.

Good deal - 'cause it was an *#$^%$&! to get it off each individual chunk! I'll just buy it whole next time...

_________________
No guts, no glory.
http://www.chicagonow.com/quips-travails-braised-oxtails
http://quipstravailsandbraisedoxtails.blogspot.com/

I needed a 1lb bag of frozen/cooked/deveined crawfish tail meat for my world famous Mud Bug Stew. Figured H-Mart had it – nope. Grand Mart – uh-uh. Had to buy at Hagen’s, which fortunately had a greatly reduced price on this from the last time I checked (years ago).

For reference, and just because I can, here’s what I was looking for (damn camera pics):


So the question is: do Koreans or more broadly Asians, in general, shun this lovely crustacean? This type of crayfish-product is always from Asia, the one pictured from China. Why didn’t I find them today, and why have I never seen crawdaddy’s on an Asian menu? I’m sure I’m missing something simple.

-ramon

I think mudbugs are very popular with Vietnamese, but I'm not certain with other Asian ethnicities... I only base this on observation from Houston China(Viet)town when I lived in Houston and my various Viet friends. They even had Louisiana/Cajun/French style places in China(Viet)town that served just mudbugs... I found it odd... but then again I'm not Vietnamese...

I don't know for sure, but depending on what their market is, crayfish may not be crawdaddies. In Australia, which I'm guessing has more influence on labelling in Asia than we do, crayfish are rock lobsters, not crawdaddies. The freshwater crustacea we call crawfish they call yabbies.

_________________
"Nothing important is easy." Patrick White (Australian Nobel laureate)

http://waltzingaustralia.wordpress.com

HI,

For whatever it matters:

Bridgestone wrote an interesting post on Swedish crayfish, which includes information on the native species having disapeered due to disease. American crayfish were introduced to Swedish waters because they are not affected by this disease.

In the same thread, there is a picture of someone in former Yugoslavia holding a crayfish, which they refer to as scampi. I think the French couple said similar in France is referred to as langoustine.

Regards,

_________________
Cathy2

"You'll be remembered long after you're dead if you make good gravy, mashed potatoes and biscuits." -- Nathalie Dupree
Facebook, Twitter, Greater Midwest Foodways, Road Food 2012: Podcast