Are Authentic Korean Food Recipes Hard to Cook Abroad Without Asian Supermarkets? Are Authentic Korean Food Recipes Hard to Cook Abroad Without Asian Supermarkets? Two years ago, moving to a small town three hours away from the nearest major city left me staring at a very ordinary local grocery store shelf. The closest Asian supermarket required a four-hour round trip by train, burning half a day and a hefty sum on transport tickets. Craving a steaming bowl of spicy pork bulgogi on a chilly autumn evening meant facing a choice between giving up completely or figuring out how to adapt traditional Korean recipes using entirely non-Asian ingredients. Many expatriates and culinary enthusiasts assume that authentic Korean cuisine is completely impossible without specialized ingredients imported directly from Seoul or stocked in massive H-Mart branches. That assumption is actually quite misleading. While certain core fermented pastes have distinct profiles, standard Western supermarkets s...