By Michelle Woo
It was an appetite emergency, recalls Peter Pomponi of Grants Pass, Ore.
The 35-year-old engineering sales representative came home from work one evening and had an overwhelming craving for kimchi.
The only problem? He would have to drive more than 30 miles to get to the nearest Asian market, which is mostly stocked with Vietnamese food.
Frustrated with what was in the fridge, Pomponi hopped online and did a quick Google search. He came across KoaMart.com, an online Korean grocer, where he discovered an entire section dedicated to the tangy, fermented side dish. There, on his computer screen, were vibrant photos of aged kimchi, fried kimchi, sesame leaf kimchi, ponytailed radish kimchi — all for less than 10 bucks per bag.
With a few clicks and a credit card number, he could have a box delivered to his doorstep.
“It’s comfort food,” says Pomponi, who is of Korean and Italian descent and lived much of his life in the San Francisco Bay Area, where Korean ingredients are abundant. “Kimchi is one of those things you can’t make overnight.”
For Korean Americans living where Asian food is scarce, the rituals are all too common. They cram their suitcases with instant curry and spicy ramen noodles from their parents’ pantry, rationing until their next visit home. They empty their wallets for the handful of Korean snacks nestled in their neighborhood markets, which are often overpriced and stale. Some, like Pomponi, arrange for monthly shipments from mom.
Jonathan Kim can relate. While attending college in Tucson, Ariz., he hankered for Korean home cooking. Several years later, while working at an Internet company in Los Angeles, he also noticed a lack of Korean food online. He and his partner, Gun Kim, decided to launch KGrocer.com and KoaMart.com, two Web sites specializing in authentic Korean food products.
“We just kind of fell into it,” says Jonathan Kim. “There are many people who don’t have access to Korean food or who crave a greater variety.”
Three-year-old KoaMart.com offers more than a thousand items, from rice porridge in a bag to seasoned seaweed snacks. In addition to Korean goods, there are items from all parts of Asia and the Pacific Islands, including Japanese udon noodles, Vietnamese spring roll skins and Thai chili paste. There are refrigerated and pickled items, which are shipped in special temperature-sealed boxes, along with fish-based side dishes, packaged in air-tight storage bags.
Though the prices are reasonable, comparable to those at Korean chain markets such as H Mart, shipping can be steep. It would cost about $9 to ship five packages of ramen noodles to Phoenix, Ariz., and about $39 for overnight service.
For some Korean shoppers, it isn’t worth it.
While living in Detroit for a college internship, Catherine Jun, would drive 30 miles to Troy, Mich., to visit the city’s handful of small Asian markets. Even though the Korean products were limited and expensive, she said she wouldn’t have opted for the Internet as a shortcut.
“Shopping for food is an experience that you shouldn’t be so far removed from,” says Jun, 25. “Asian food can be so sketchy. You have to touch it and smell it. Why would I trust someone else to pick my food out for me?”
In reality, Koreans only make up about 30 percent of KoaMart.com’s customer base, up from about 10 percent three years ago.
The site caters to Western crowds. Each product has a short history and description. Underneath photos of the instant ramen packages there are step-by-step cooking instructions.
For those unfamiliar with Korean cuisine, navigating through such online grocers can be easier than thumbing through aisles of fish heads, baby octopuses and spices with names they can’t read.
“We are a small force spreading Korean culture and history,” says Jonathan Kim, who describes business as “not booming, per se.”
Thank goodness for those loyal customers with emergency kimchi cravings.
Got a hankering for some ddeokbokgi or doenjang jigae? Check out these online Korean and Asian grocers.
n www.koamart.com
Easy-to-navigate Los Angeles-based site offering more than 1,000 high-quality Asian products. There are even pages of kitchenware, Korean movies and cosmetics.
n www.kgrocer.com
Sister site to KoaMart.com, offering only dried and instant food.
n www.asianfoodgrocer.com
San Francisco-based Asian grocer featuring basic Korean products and ingredients such as instant noodles, dried seaweed and soup stock.
n www.asiafoods.com
Large Asian retail and wholesale grocer offering more than 600 products. Includes lots of recipes and a glossary of Asian ingredients. Free shipping on all orders over $75.
n www.ikoreaplaza.com
Launched in 2000, ikoreaplaza.com was the first online Korean grocer. The Oakland, Calif., company carries authentic, hard-to-find products at reasonable prices.
