More hassles at H Mart

Image by wallyg via Flickr

At Super H Mart in Ridgefield.

With my H Mart coupons expiring in two days, I wanted to get over to the Korean supermarket to pick up two 1-liter bottles of 100% pomegranate juice for $4 (normally $7.98).


That H Mart coupon offers an unusually good discount -- about 50%. For example, a second unused coupon offered 10% off "oriental sweet potatoes" that sell for 99 cents a pound, reducing the price to 90 cents a pound.


So, this morning, after a workout in the cardiac-rehab unit of Englewood Hospital and Medical Center, I stopped first at ShopRite in Englewood before driving a short distance to H Mart.


I picked up what I thought was a sweet potato and brought it over to a cashier with my coupon, and asked her if this was the right item. She said yes, so I bagged four or five small ones.


At checkout with a different cashier, the coupon was rejected -- I had the wrong potatoes -- only one of the problems I encountered today.


I found the pomegranate juice down one of the aisles, and put two bottles, the limit, in my cart. I found some fresh collard greens for 99 cents a pound and two small heads of red-leaf lettuce for 99 cents.


Another coupon offered 10% off green seedless grapes, but they were priced at $1.79 a pound, compared to 99 cents a pound at ShopRite, where I bought red grapes for the lower price. No sale.


Also on sale with a coupon was a table-top electric hot pot for $34.99, compared to the regular price of $49.99, but I'm not sure I would use it more than once or twice. 


I did want to use a coupon for live blue crabs that cut the price of $1.99 to 99 cents, but in the fish department, I found an empty bin. An employee brought out maybe 15 crabs, saying more were due to be delivered around noon.


I was trying to call my wife to find out if she wanted crabs for dinner, when a woman walked over and said she had called about blue crabs, and wanted to buy the ones the man had just put out.


I gave up, and handed her my coupon for the crabs.


The cashier rang up the pomegranate juice for $3.99 each, but scanned the coupon once for $1.99. I pointed out the coupon said 2 for $4.


She took off 20 cents for my reusable bag, the most of any supermarket in North Jersey. Then, I remembered I had a $1.06 credit for spoiled fruit I returned to the store a couple of weeks ago.


She said the checkout "machine" was new and couldn't process the credit. I again asked for the proper discount on the pomegranate juice, and told two people waiting on line behind me to be patient.


Her solution was to give me a second $1.99 discount for the juice, then discount an additional $1.99 for my store credit, while taking back the 20 cents for the reusable bag.


My balance was $4.99.


This is the same H Mart that resisted giving me credit for a 12-inch stainless-steel steamer that rusted after less than a year of use. A cashier lectured me about drying it completely before I put it away.


H Mart, 25 Lafayette Ave., Englewood; 
201-871-8822. Food court is closed.


Applegate Farms


Organic and naturally raised cold cuts are sold under the Applegate Farms label. In addition to being raised without antibiotics and growth hormones, the meats are uncured and free of preservatives.


The ShopRite in Englewood is one of the few to carry Applegate Farms, but rarely puts the sliced ham, beef, turkey and other meat on sale.


Today, I looked over the price labels and saw some were selling for the equivalent of about $18 a pound and others for about $13.70 a pound.


Trader Joe's has Applegate Farms cold cuts at much better prices, but is not as convenient. 


Related articles

• H Mart coupons prove to be no big deal (doyoureallyknowwhatyoureeating.blogspot.com)
• Lousy fruit is just waiting for you (doyoureallyknowwhatyoureeating.blogspot.com)
• A diet guaranteed to take off weight (doyoureallyknowwhatyoureeating.blogspot.com)

A good excuse to go food shopping

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High gasoline prices make combining trips a good idea, so after my annual physical in Englewood today, I set off for three food stores in a city well-known to foodies.


I felt great when I left the doctor's office: My weight is 196 pounds, compared to 227 pounds a year or so ago; my blood pressure is low and a blood test likely will result in another low cholesterol reading since I stopped eating meat about 18 months ago.


The physical also included a chest X-ray, an electrocardiogram, a breath test and a rectal exam, all paid for by Medicare, not Medicaid, as I wrote earlier. Not even a co-pay. God bless America.


My first stop was Jerry's Gourmet & More on South Dean Street, where I had my first food of the day -- a bunch of free cheese samples, such as ricotta salata,  pecorino romano and brie.


I picked up Ponti balsamic and chianti vinegars for $1.99 and 99 cents, respectively. Ponti, not Primo, as I wrote earlier, is the brand I was served in restaurants in Italy last September.


Espresso beans


I also bought 2.2 pounds of Lavazza espresso beans labeled "Crema e Aroma" for $19.99, a couple of dollars less than the Lavazza's "Super Crema" beans I've been getting from Amazon.com.


My next stop was H Mart, the Korean supermarket on Lafayette Avenue, where 20 pounds of Kokuho Yellow Label short-grain white rice grown in California was on sale for $11.99.



I also picked up 2.21 pounds of live blue crabs at $2.99 a pound. (They're cooking now in a spicy boil for dinner tonight.) Two dozen large brown, cage-free eggs were $4 with a coupon.

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I also took advantage of ShopRite's Can Can Sale to stock up on 12-ounce cans of Adirondack Seltzer (Mandarin Orange, Lemon-Lime and Original). A pack of 12 is $1.99, a savings of $1.60, with a store card.


At the Hackensack ShopRite, I bought more Adirondack Seltzer, as well as Sparkling 100% Apple Cider from Spain; two 25.4-ounce glass bottles were $4.


Coleman organic chicken legs were $1.99 a pound and antibiotic-free Readington Farms chicken thighs were $1.89 a pound.


Tonight's dinner


Korean bibimbap is one of our favorite dishes -- a stone bowl filled with steamed rice and vegetables, and topped with a fried egg (hold the ground beef). A hot red-pepper sauce livens up the party.


The idea is to mix everything up, add the spicy sauce and go to town.
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Tonight, I'm trying bibimbap at home, using organic brown rice and seasoned vegetables I bought at H Mart in Fort Lee on Monday ($5.99 for 14 ounces of spinach, bellflower, fernrake and bean sprouts).


After the rice is ready, I'm going to dump the vegetables in the rice cooker and mix the whole thing up. I'll plate it and top it with two fried eggs, sunny side up, and hot-pepper sauce.


My wife and son are having the blue crabs.


I'll serve two side dishes I found at H Mart -- a Korean omelet with seaweed ($4.99) and stewed Alaska pollock in a spicy sauce ($5.99) -- both from Jinga in Maspeth, N.Y.

A healthy, filling seafood meal

In one visit to H Mart in Little Ferry yesterday, I picked up fresh red snapper and blue crabs and two prepared fish dishes to make a bountiful meal for my family.

The seafood meal helped us to avoid beef  for another day. Both my wife and son say they want to eat less meat, including goat, oxtail and pork.

I had the fishmonger clean and cut up the wild-caught red snapper into small steaks, with the head and tail, and cooked them in a soup of cheap sake, soy and fish sauces, rice wine and vinegar. I poured the excess sauce over Hong Kong-style spinach noodles I boiled. The crabs, which snapped at my tongs in the store, were boiled separately in seasoned water with hot pepper. I also blanched and sauteed fresh collard greens left over from Thanksgiving.

Our appetizers were prepared whiting two ways: Korean-style pancakes and chunks of the small fish stewed with hot and sweet peppers. It was a great meal.

H Mart, 260 Bergen Turnpike, Little Ferry; 201-814-0400;
open seven days.