Riding the K-Wave
Yun Hee Nam laughs as she admits that she has yet to watch Squid Game — the South Korean drama that took Netflix viewers by storm around the world last year. She counts the show among the wave of K-culture inspiring an increase in curious shoppers at the Korean grocery store on Pretoria Avenue.
“At least once a day someone comes in looking for specific foods with questions,” Nam says. They are often asking about something they’ve seen in a show. “It’s been fun!”
Nam has been managing the shop since the fall of 2021, when her parents, Hoanback and Sunmin Park, came on board as co-owners to join Soonbum Lee, who has been at the helm of the grocery store since it opened a little more than four years ago. All hailing from the South Korean capital of Seoul, the Parks and Lee met in Manitoba several years ago. The three previously owned another grocery store in Winnipeg before making the move to Ottawa.
Just steps away from the Rideau Canal, the shop is a community hub for Koreans in Ottawa and a welcoming spot for non-Koreans alike. Lee previously worked in production for large food chains in Korea, and brings that intel to Seoul Mart to ensure that the store continues to expand the variety of authentic Korean products. While Korean shoppers tend to come in with lists to pick up raw ingredients for their home cooking, Lee has noticed that non-Koreans gravitate towards Seoul Mart’s grab-and-go offerings — deep fried calamari, gimbap (seaweed rice rolls) and even churros — at least initially. On return visits, Lee has found that non-Korean shoppers want to find out how they can recreate some of what they’ve tried from the shop. Nam points to a recently expanded selection of frozen and microwaveable meals that have been especially popular with non-Korean customers, as a kind of entry point into Korean cooking.
Like many businesses in the area, Seoul Mart saw a drastic drop in business over the weeks that the “Freedom Convoy” was in town and Ottawans were told to stay outside of the downtown core. Throughout the pandemic, shipping and supply-chain issues have been a constant hurdle. On a bad week, Nam can expect to receive only half an order due to shipping woes. Meanwhile, she says business has “been OK” throughout the pandemic. She’s heard from many customers who have been cooking more often, looking to expand their taste buds' horizons or trying their hand at recreating dishes from their favourite Korean restaurants while spending more time at home.
Despite supply-chain problems, the shelves at Seoul Mart are lined with a plethora of brightly packaged instant noodles, soups, snacks, and chip flavours you won’t find elsewhere (the honey butter-flavoured chips were so popular several years ago, it led to a bit of a snack black market). Seoul Mart carries all the ingredients needed for Korean cuisine and then some, along with a small selection of essential Korean kitchenware.
Though there are several different kimchi options to be found on the refrigerated shelves, Nam recommends trying her mother’s varieties.
Sunmin makes fresh batches of the ubiquitous fermented side dish every week, filling deli containers with a bright tangle of Napa cabbage, radishes and spices. She also makes several different banchan — small side dishes that are typically served with rice — such as seaweed salad, seasoned soybean sprouts and squid in a hot gochujang sauce to round out any meal.
Seoul Mart’s takeout offerings are available by calling ahead or ordering upon walking in (with dishes ready in about 15 minutes, which is just enough time to get a grocery shop done while waiting.) The hot menu includes dishes such as japchae (stir-fried glass noodles with vegetables) and jajangmyeon, a popular Korean-Chinese fusion dish of noodles in a black bean sauce, a personal favourite of Dongok Kim’s, the chef in Seoul Mart’s kitchen. Kim previously worked at the Ritz-Carlton in Seoul, where Korean-Chinese fusion food was increasingly in demand. After immigrating to Canada for his daughter’s education, Kim met the Park family in Winnipeg and moved to Ottawa two years ago. While his experience in the Ritz-Carlton’s kitchen involved catering with expensive ingredients and serving VIPs, he says he is happy that his cooking is accessible to more people in Ottawa.
The shop’s butcher prepares the meat cuts for the grocery section, but is also busy in the kitchen prepping its popular Korean Fried Chicken. Nam raves about the Korean-style sweet and spicy chicken, while Lee recommends the soy and chili pepper chicken for those who gravitate towards spicy foods (“spicy enough even for Koreans” Seoul Mart boasts on its Instagram feed.)
As the team at Seoul Mart looks forward to a time with fewer shipping issues and fewer general pandemic irritations, it is keen to import more products directly from Korea and continue to expand the takeout menu. Meanwhile, shipping issues aren’t slowing down the K-culture wave (and it’s already been a decade since Gangnam Style topped the music charts.) Though Nam says she was initially surprised by the number of customers asking her about K-dramas, “K-stuff keeps going viral these days,” she shrugs with a smile.
“There are different product demands from Korean customers and non-Koreans,” Nam says. “We are always trying to meet both demands.”
Whether the shop provides a good takeout opportunity, a chance to travel via grocery store aisles or spot for finding the ingredients for a dish from a favourite K-drama, Seoul Mart is happy to provide a Korean culinary connection.
Seoul Mart
22 Pretoria Ave., Ottawa, Ont.
seoulmart.business.site | 613.567.9988 | @seoulmart.ottawa
