ShopRite, H Mart supermarkets ask customers to jump through hoops

At ShopRite's Can Can Sale, 8-ounce cans of Glade Spray are 99 cents each, compared to 19-ounce cans of Lysol Disinfectant Spray for $3.99, below.

The Can Can Sale price for Lysol matches the $15.99 Costco Wholesale charges for a 4-pack, but this week Costco is offering an instant coupon of $4, lowering the price to $11.99.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

ShopRite has a great deal on 15.5-ounce cans of organic beans for 77 cents each, but you'll have to buy 10 to get that low price.

The organic beans, which are made with water and a little sea salt, normally are $1 each. 

Welcome to ShopRite's Can Can Sale, which I shopped at the Paramus store on Wednesday, picking up Organic Black, Pinto, Kidney, Garbanzo and Cannellini Beans.

For a one-dish meal, I add organic beans, organic diced tomatoes, and water or chicken broth to organic brown rice or organic quinoa, and prepare them in an electric cooker.

Progresso Soups are $1.08 in 18.5-ounce cans, a discount of 97 cents, but you can't lower the price by buying 10 cans.

At the Can Can Sale, Adirondack Seltzer is a better buy by the ounce in liter bottles, above, than in cans, below, but you'll need a calculator to figure that out.

Botticelli Pasta Sauces from Italy in 24-ounce jars are half-price at the Paramus ShopRite ($1.99), including a meatless Bolognese Sauce, left. The vodka sauce is one of the few without heavy cream.

I prepared a pound of Luigi Vitelli-brand Organic Whole Wheat Fusilli ($1.25 at ShopRite) in the Vegan Friendly Bolognese Sauce, which substitutes soy for meat. Next time, I'll add a little red wine while heating up the sauce and use a half-pound of pasta.

A addictive Korean seaweed roll known as kimbap was $6.79 at H Mart in Englewood, where the price of such prepared side dishes and snacks has risen dramatically in the past year.

H Mart rebates are not cash

The Korean supermarket chain known as H Mart offers customers a Smart Savings Card similar to ShopRite's Price Plus Club Card.

To qualify for sales and specials at both stores, customers must use their loyalty cards.

But, unlike the ShopRite card, the Smart Savings Card also is a rebate card, entitling the customers to 1% back on their purchases.

There's a big hoop to jump through, however.

You don't get the rebate until you spend $1,000, and when you receive the $10 certificate, you have to use all of it to buy more food at H Mart.

On Saturday, at the Fort Lee H Mart, I picked up two $10 rebate certificates, then purchased fresh whole whiting ($4.99 a pound), and a head of red leaf lettuce ($1.29) for a total of $18.26.

When I gave the cashier the two $10 certificates, she informed me she couldn't give me change. 

I had to use one $10 certificate and a credit card for the $8.26 balance.

At the Englewood H Mart on Tuesday, I bought fresh Chinese Broccoli and Chinese Eggplant, both on sale; and a Seaweed Roll for a total of $9.94, and paid with the second $10 certificate.

Again, the cashier said she couldn't give me the change. I ate the 6 cents difference.

I added a little sea salt and brushed Chinese Eggplant slices with sesame oil as they grilled on the stove top until the flesh turned creamy.

I washed and seasoned, then cooked Chinese Broccoli in chicken broth and sake in a covered pot. I brought the liquid to a boil first, then cooked the broccoli for less than 5 minutes, softening the thick stems.

H Mart eggplant and broccoli over organic quinoa prepared with organic diced tomatoes, whole garlic cloves and olive oil in an electric rice cooker. The organic quinoa, diced tomatoes and California garlic were from Costco Wholesale.

Details

The Paramus ShopRite is at 224 Route 4 east, but also is accessible from Spring Valley Avenue.

The Fort Lee H Mart is in the Linwood Plaza shopping center on Fletcher Avenue, and the Englewood H Mart is at 25 Lafayette Ave.

Other H Marts are in Little Ferry and Ridgefield. All of the Korean markets have counters offering fresh fish and other seafood at low prices.