The pantry list: what Costco and Macey's cover
Okay. Rice is handled. Now let's talk about everything else, because I know a lot of you are sitting there thinking you need to make a special trip somewhere exotic before you can cook a single Korean meal.
Heck no. Here's the thing — most of what you need is already at Costco and Macey's. You need one trip to the Korean grocery up in Salt Lake to round it out, and then you're set for probably two months. That's it. That's the whole barrier everyone builds up in their head.
What Costco and Macey's already have
Write this down.
Soy sauce. Any Costco brand works fine for cooking. You don't need a Korean label for this one.
Garlic, ginger, green onion. Costco garlic in the big bag, keep it in the fridge. You'll go through more garlic than you think once you start cooking this way — Korean food leans on it hard.
Brown sugar. For marinades. Regular granulated works in a pinch but brown sugar is better and it's not a specialty item.
Sesame oil. Macey's carries it in the international aisle, usually a small bottle. Costco sometimes has a bigger one. Either is fine. A little goes a long way, so don't buy the giant one thinking you'll save money — it can go rancid before you finish it.
Rice vinegar. Macey's, international aisle, no problem.
Eggs, carrots, spinach, zucchini, cucumber. All your produce for banchan and bibimbap toppings. Regular grocery store stuff, nothing special.
Beef. This is the one where I'll actually steer you. For bulgogi you want a thin-cut ribeye or a well-marbled cut you can slice thin, and Costco's meat department is genuinely good for this. Ask the butcher counter if you're not seeing it pre-cut thin — sometimes they'll slice it for you if you ask nicely. If not, freeze it for about thirty minutes first and it's much easier to slice thin yourself.
That's a real list. That's most of a Korean pantry sitting in stores you already shop at.
What you actually need the Asian market for
Short list, and it's a short trip.
Gochugaru — Korean red pepper flakes. This is not the same as regular red pepper flakes or Mexican chili powder, and you cannot sub those in and get the same flavor. This is the one non-negotiable special ingredient.
Gochujang — the fermented red pepper paste. Jarred, keeps in the fridge for a long time.
Doenjang — fermented soybean paste, for soups later in the course.
Toasted sesame seeds — you can find these elsewhere but they're cheaper there.
Sweet potato starch noodles — for japchae. More on that later, but I'll tell you now, this is the one ingredient people always ask me where to find, so just get it while you're there.
That's the list. Five things. One trip. You're stocked for two months, easy.
The Melissa story
I have a friend, Melissa, who kept telling me she couldn't make Korean food because she "didn't have the ingredients." She'd say this every time I brought something to a ward party. So finally I just made her a list — basically this list — and drove her to Costco and then the Asian market, and we walked through it together. Took maybe forty-five minutes total, both stores.
She makes bulgogi tacos now. Tacos. I have opinions about that I mostly keep to myself, but you know what, she's cooking, her kids are eating it, and she's not scared of the ingredients anymore. That's the whole point. The fear was never really about the food. It was about not knowing where to stand in a store.
So don't overthink it. You don't need a special trip every week. You need one real pantry stock, and then you're just refilling produce and meat like you already do.
A word on cost
Buying gochugaru and gochujang up front feels like an investment because you're not sure you'll use them again. You will. Once you have them, you'll find yourself reaching for gochujang in things that aren't even Korean — I put it in a marinade for chicken thighs sometimes and Scott has no idea it's not just barbecue sauce. Don't tell him.
Before next time
Take stock of what you already have at home from this list — I'd bet you've got more than you think. Then plan one trip to the Asian market before our bulgogi lesson, because you'll want the gochugaru and gochujang in hand, not scrambling for them the night before.