Same chain, same 15-pound bag of rice, so why is it double the price?

The H Mart in Fort Lee displays bags of rice just beyond the checkout counters, because the staff says there isn't room for them anywhere else in the store. Today, this 15-pound bag of rice was selling for twice what I paid on Saturday at another H Mart.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

We shop regularly at stores in the H Mart chain for prepared Korean food, Asian greens, fresh wild-caught fish and free samples on the weekends.

Today, I drove to the Fort Lee store, where I found a box of 16 Ataulfo Mangoes from Ecuador on sale for $9.99 with a store card -- a discount of $5 -- and two heads of Red Leaf Lettuce for only 99 cents.

After I checked out, I saw a sign for a 15-pound bag of Kokuho Yellow Label Rice for $19.99, twice what I paid the day before at the Little Ferry H Mart, 260 Bergen Turnpike.

In Little Ferry, the California-grown rice was $9.99, a discount of $10, according to the sign there.

This isn't the first time I've noticed different prices for the same item at stores in the H Mart chain, but I haven't seen anything as dramatic as the prices for rice in Little Ferry and Fort Lee. 

Squeeze play

At the Little Ferry store, I also picked up a 5-pound box of Bagu Clementines from Spain for $4.99, a discount of $3; and a package of Stewed Alaskan Pollack for $7.99.

The clementines rang up at $7.99, but I told the cashier the sign said they were on sale for $4.99. 

She went to get the sign, scanned the bar code on it to give me the lower price, but didn't return the sign to the display of clementines.

In Fort Lee today, a 5-pound box of clementines was $6.99.

Whole sea bass, which my wife seasoned and fried in olive oil, were $6.99 a pound on Saturday at the Englewood H Mart, 25 Lafayette Ave.

A Korean Finger Roll or Kimbap is even tastier when you add a couple of pieces of kimchi to it and wrap them in a lettuce leaf. A package of rolls with Korean pickles was $4.79 today at the Fort Lee H Mart in the Linwood Plaza shopping center.

Before I went food shopping today, I joined two friends for breakfast at the Rochelle Park Diner & Grill, 222 Rochelle Ave., Rochelle Park (201-843-0068), below. My tasty three-egg Florentine Omelet, with spinach and feta cheese, was $7.25, including potatoes and toast.

At the Rochelle Park Diner, the umbrella stand and clock are eye-catching, above and below.

At H Mart in Little Ferry, are some of the savings exaggerated?

At H Mart in Little Ferry, is one 15-pound bag of white rice for $12.88, above, a better deal than two bags for $19.99 with a store card, below? I pay a few dollars more for Kokuho Yellow Label Rice because it is grown in California.

The label of the cheaper rice doesn't specify where it is grown in the United States.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

After a trip to H Mart in Little Ferry on Sunday, I looked over my receipt to see how much I had saved on clementines and a 16-pack box of spicy noodle soup.

A 5-pound box of Bagu Clementines from Spain were $5.99, and the receipt said I saved $4 over the "regular price" of $9.99.

But other stores list the retail price of clementines as $7.99.

A box of 16 4.2-ounce servings of Shin Ramyun, a spicy instant noodle soup that is MSG free, was $9.99, compared to the regular price of $16.99, a savings of $7.

You have to present an H Mart Smart Savings Card to get many discounts, and I get the feeling the Korean supermarket chain sometimes exaggerates savings.

In 2011, the box of Shin Ramyun contained 20 portions, not the 16 you find today, and the retail price was $15.99.

A year ago, the 16-portion box was on sale at the same time for $12.99 at the H Mart in Fort Lee and for $9.99 at H&Y Marketplace in Ridgefield.

The label of Kokuho Yellow Label rice says it is "100% California grown."

The Hukukome Rice makes no such claim.

At the Little Ferry H Mart, I also purchased a 1.6-pound package of prepared Stewed Tofu from Pinocchio Catering for $5.99 (the label listed the weight incorrectly as 4 ounces). This was a better buy than a smaller package from Jinga, another caterer, for $4.29.

If we are what we eat, what are you and I?

A canned fish salad -- yellow-fin tuna, pink salmon and skinless-and-boneless sardines with their oil or water, all from Costco Wholesale -- gets its crunch from an abundance of diced celery, onion and apple. Instead of mayo, I dress the salad with Dijon mustard, fresh lime juice and ground cumin, and, if the salad is dry, add extra-virgin olive oil.

Editor's note: Today, I discuss the concept of "You are what you eat" and how we think of food, progress on the reopening of Arirang Kimchi, formerly of Englewood; and food samples at Korean supermarkets.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

Am I what I eat?

If so, I am low fat (milk), reduced fat (cheese) and no fat (Greek yogurt).

I don't eat butter or cream, and use a lot of extra-virgin olive oil in salads and bottled pasta sauce, and to fry eggs sunny side up or make frittatas.

I go organic as much as possible to avoid pesticides and genetically modified organisms (GMOs).

I switched to brown -- in rice and pasta -- regularly eat quinoa, and went from conventional potatoes to less starchy sweet potatoes.

I fill up not on animal fats, but on the heart-healthy fats found in wild-caught fish and other seafood.

When I shop for the meat eaters in the family, I buy antibiotic-free poultry and meat, including grass-fed beef; and preservative-free cold cuts, hot dogs and bacon.

I shop for good food at Costco Wholesale's good prices or food that is on sale at ShopRite and other markets, but I don't buy any one item because it is cheap.

Preparing food at home is the easiest way to control what you are eating, including sodium and sugar.

Since I hit a high of 228 pounds in April 2010, I have lost more than 40 pounds by not eating bread and pizza, and loading up on whole grains, fruits and vegetables.

I'd rather be eating than doing almost anything else, and I agree with a woman I once overheard telling her friends during dinner at It's Greek to Me in Englewood, "I'm happiest when I'm eating."

Earthbound Farm Organic Spring Mix is a great foundation for a dinner salad with Campari tomato wedges, fresh blueberries, roasted almonds dusted with cinnamon and chunks of Parmigiano Reggiano, a reduced-fat cow's milk cheese imported from Italy. All the ingredients came from Costco Wholesale.

The dressing is extra-virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar without added color, such as Ponti Balsamic Vinegar of Modena, available at Jerry's Gourmet & More in Englewood. 

Arirang Kimchi is 'coming soon'

Arirang Kimchi, formerly of Englewood, is renovating a store in the H&Y Shopping Center in Ridgefield, above and below. The construction permit was issued in late April.

Free samples, sales

On Saturday, I went to see if Arirang Kimchi had reopened in a storefront next to the H&Y Marketplace, a Korean supermarket at 1 Remsen Place in Ridgefield.

I found an Arirang Kimchi sign, and a construction permit on the door for renovating the interior that was issued at the end of April.

Since Arirang closed its Englewood factory last year, my consumption of fermented cabbage, radish and cucumber kimchi has plummeted.

The H&Y supermarket offers a limited number of free food samples, but among the best anywhere are warm balls of Mixed 7 Grains (brown rices and beans) that you can wrap in dried seaweed sheets.

The woman preparing the samples handed me one containing pieces of radish kimchi, and it was outstanding.

I did a little shopping. Bunches of scallions were 10 cents each, with a maximum of 10; and two kinds of apples were on sale for 99 cents a pound, with a maximum of 6 pounds.

H Mart

At the H Mart at 321 Broad Ave. in Ridgefield, a box of 15 Ataulfo Mangoes from Mexico were $7.99 or $6 off, and Chinese broccoli was 98 cents a pound, compared to the usual price of $2.49 a pound.

Today, I stopped at the H Mart at 112 Linwood Plaza in Fort Lee, looking for brown rice on sale, but didn't find any.

The store displays bags of rice just beyond the checkout counters, claiming there is no room for them inside.

But this H Mart has the most extensive array of free food samples in the Korean supermarket chain, including freshly cut fruit; prepared noodles, tofu and dumplings; kimchi, pork or beef barbecue and other items.

I had to go to the bigger H Mart at 260 Bergen Turnpike in Little Ferry to find a 15-pound bag of U.S. grown brown rice for $12.99, a savings of $4.

A box of 16 4.2-ounce packages of Nongshim Shin Ramyun, a spicy instant noodle soup made without MSG, was on sale for $9.99 or $7 off.

But I noticed that the box of mangoes I bought for $7.99 in the Ridgefield H Mart was $9.99 in the Little Ferry store.

I'll bet you can't eat just one. A 16-ounce tray of seaweed-and-rice rolls (kimbap) from Jinga in Queens is $6.49 at H Mart. They contain egg and imitation crab made from pollock, and come with Korean pickles and jalapeno peppers.

How a trip for Costco Wholesale limes cost me $200

My basket at the end of an impromptu shopping trip to Costco Wholesale in Hackensack.

Editor's note: Today, I discuss an accidental shopping spree at Costco, sales policies at ShopRite and H Mart, and more ideas for meatless meals.

 

By VICTOR E. SASSON

EDITOR

All I needed was limes, so I didn't even have a list when I dropped into Costco Wholesale last Friday.

But when I got to the checkout line, I had put $200 worth of items in my shopping basket, including two pairs of beautifully tailored wool pants from Italy ($49.99 each).

My clothes are too big now that I've lost weight, so they were an essential purchase.

As were two LED floodlights that are supposed to last more than 20 years ($25.99 each). I have four floodlights above my garage door that burn out frequently.

When I got to the Hackensack warehouse store, I remembered my teenage son asking for AA batteries, so I picked up a package of 48 from Kirkland Signature, the store brand ($12.99).

I also need something for Sunday dinner, so walked over to the seafood case, and found 5 pounds of Littleneck clams ($3.49 a pound).

I stopped buying those wonderful Sunset-brand Campari Tomatoes when the price for 2 pounds soared past $5, choosing Sunset beefsteaks that averaged $1.20 to $1.30 a pound.

But at $4.49, these tasty little orbs were impossible to resist.

And I was almost out of fruit, so picked up bananas (3 pounds for $1.39) and apricots (3 pounds for $5.99). 

A 5-pound bag of Persian Limes from Mexico were $4.99 -- perfect for broiled seafood, iced tea, canned fish salad and fruit salad.

Blueberries

Those sweet Jersey blueberries appeared in the market early this year and now, they've been almost totally supplanted by fruit from Michigan and Canada.

On a previous trip to Costco on July 31, I picked up a 2-pound package of fresh, sweet blueberries from Michigan for $6.49 (32 ounces).

This past Wednesday at Costco, I bought another 2-pound package of blueberries for $6.49 (32 ounces), but these are from Canada.

At the Paramus ShopRite on Wednesday, a pint of Canadian blueberries (12 ounces) was $2.99, and an 18-ounce package of Jersey blueberries was $5.99.

The day before at the same ShopRite, a pint of blueberries was $3.49.

Good luck trying to figure out when ShopRite and other supermarkets put food on sale.

Some of the prepared food available at H Mart in Fort Lee, made by the Korean supermarket or by such outside suppliers as Jinga and Pinocchio Catering.

Seasoned vegetables for bibimbap, left, and noodles without meat.

H Mart takeout

I went to the H Mart in Fort Lee on Wednesday to pick up prepared items for a Korean dinner at home, and found almost nothing on sale, compared to the Little Ferry H Mart, where I usually shop.

At checkout, the clerk said the Fort Lee store stopped giving customers a 10-cent credit for bringing in a reusable bag "last year," and claimed that was also the case in Little Ferry.

But he was wrong. My receipt from a visit to that store last Sunday, when I bought lobsters, shows I was given the 10-cent credit.

Lobsters at the Fort Lee store were $6.99 a pound, compared to the $4.49 a pound I paid on Sunday in Little Ferry. 

Rice, ramyun on sale

On that trip to the Little Ferry store, I also picked up two sale items:

A 15-pound bag of Kokuho Yellow Label rice grown in California for $7.99 or $7 off the regular price, and a 20-portion box of Shin Ramyun Gourmet Spicy instant noodle soup for $15.99 or about 80 cents a portion. 

At the Fort Lee H Mart, I bought Seasoned Vegetables for Bibimbap ($6.49), and Japchae, vermicelli noodles made from yam flour ($4.49).

I also picked up a small bunch of collard greens (99 cents a pound) and young carrots (99 cents).

A dinner of homemade bibimbap with carrots and collard greens.

Vermicelli noodles with a smoked wild salmon omelet for breakfast.

Bibimbap at home

To make the bibimbap, I prepared 2 cups of organic long-grain brown rice in an electric cooker and added the seasoned vegetables, sesame oil and gochujang, a Korean red-pepper paste.

Whole eggs, egg whites and milk went into the omelet.

I finished the open-face omelet under the broiler.

Frittata at home

I chopped up sweet red, orange, yellow and green peppers, removing parts that were beginning to spoil, and a little onion and Enoki mushroom, adding them to whole eggs and egg whites, milk and pieces of Reggiano Parmigiano cheese.

I poured the mixture into a 10-inch non-stick pan in which I had heated up a couple of ounces of olive oil, then added a layer of smoked wild salmon from Costco. 

After the omelet was set, I put it under the broiler.  The milk gave it a fluffy interior.

New Korean supermarket comes to town

Image via Wikipedia

Fort Lee, which is filled with Asian restaurants, now boasts two Korean supermarkets.

Han Nam Mart employees in red jackets were still putting price tags on grocery items and shelves Thursday, but this new Korean supermarket in Fort Lee is open for business.

This first Han Nam Mart in North Jersey is not to be confused with H Mart -- formerly Han Ah Reum -- the dominant Korean chain with four stores in Bergen County. 

The new supermarket, which has scheduled a grand opening for Jan. 27, is in the Plaza West Shopping Center just off Route 46.

This is a big space, formerly a Pathmark, but there are smaller selections of fish, produce and prepared Korean food than at H Mart, and far more American grocery items. I looked at some, such as canned red salmon and mixed berry jam made with sugar, and prices are higher than at ShopRite.

For example, Barilla pasta was two for $3, compared with three for $4 or nine for $10 during the Can Can Sale at ShopRite. Stem tomatoes from Texas were $1.49 a pound at Han Nam Mart. The new store carries a good selection of Arirang-brand kimchi from Englewood.

I bought a three-pound jar of peeled ginger in water for $1.99, the first time I've seen this convenience item. Organic jumbo brown, cage-free eggs were $2.29 a dozen. Lactaid organic 2% milk was $3.99 for a half-gallon -- cheaper than the same milk from Organic Valley.

Enoki mushrooms were 40 cents for an estimated four-ounce package. I bought five, and for a dinner side dish, I sauteed the spaghetti-like mushrooms in olive oil with a little salt until they were hot.

Whole fresh whiting was $3.99 a pound, and I bought two one-pounders for dinner Friday night.

I saw several shelves without price tags, and I couldn't find much prepared food, including the stewed tofu with red-pepper paste and stewed Alaskan pollock with hot peppers I usually get at H Mart.


At checkout, I used two reusable grocery bags, but received no credit for them, as I do at H Mart.

When I am in Fort Lee, I find the newest H Mart near Route 4 more convenient than this new supermarket if I want greens, fresh fish and prepared Korean food. 

I live in Hackensack, and a bigger H Mart in Little Ferry, one of my favorite stores, isn't far from the Hackensack ShopRite and Costco.

Han Nam Mart, 1475 Bergen Boulevard, Fort Lee; 201-224-0036.