Hi everyone, and hi Maangchi! New convert to Korean cuisine, and new and ardent fan.
Just thought I'd post a couple of places where I've sourced Korean ingredients. We are lucky in Melbourne to have lots of Asian grocers where you can at least find some Korean ingredients, and there's a few specialised Korean grocers, too.
Clayton has a fairly strong Korean community and is an enclave of Korean eateries and one small but fairly comprehensive grocer. The grocer is called JIREH KOREAN AND JAPANESE GROCERY, at 309 Clayton Rd., Clayton. Now: that's the address of the actual little complex, but to find Jireh, you go around the corner to Carinish St. That's where it is. They stock most basics, but not exactly all (eg. they didn't have dried anchovies, but had dried anchovy stock bags), plus some nice extras. The woman who served me was really friendly.
You can also get lots of Korean foods from any large Asian grocer. My favourite is NAN YANG SUPERMARKET at 307-313 Springvale Rd., Springvale. The place is HUGE and if you can't find some good Korean stuff among all the Chinese, Vietnamese, Japanese and Singaporean goodies, you just ain't looking! Nan Yang also stocks some good kitchen equipment, including some really cheap and efficient charcoal grills and clay pots that cook beautifully. While you're in Springvale, you can pop into any greengrocer to pick up Napa cabbage, white radish, perilla leaves, and all kinds of wonderful stuff.
Hope this helps the Melburnians out there! I'll add more places as I find them, and if you have your own, please feel free to add them to this thread. :)
