Cycle 4 – Item 281
13 (Sun) October 2013
Tangpyeongchae
2.0
by me
at home
-Oksu, Seongdong, Seoul, Republic of Korea-
with the Family
After lunch, at a restaurant in a shopping center near home, I stopped by the supermarket in the basement to grab a Coke (Zero). Pandemonium. A store manager was in the produce section tossing out large plastic bags to frantic customers and yelling: “Fill it! Tie it! 5,000 won! Everything must go! Last day!” A couple days ago, I’d noticed that the shelves weren’t being restocked, making me suspect that something was up. This was it. Sold to new owners, shutting down the place for a week to renovate, liquidating fruits and veggies, in an unannounced fire sale (maybe the meats were already sold in a separate sale?), for the lucky patrons who happened to be on the premises at that moment. Within 10 minutes, everything was gone. Never seen anything like it. I got in on the action, just a few minutes behind, by which point all the premium items had already been plucked, but I managed to stuff three bags full of goodies. Funnest grocery shopping ever.
With the pre-made cheongpo muk packets (crappy) and mung bean sprouts (less than fresh) from the haul, I made tangpyeongchae for dinner.
(See also GLOBAL FOOD GLOSSARY)