Monday 18 May 2015

Lotte Mart Seoul Station Branch (롯데마트-서울역점)

Ginseng - must buy item in Korea | by Meheartseoul
Aw Aw yo... Sorry for taking so long to write this posting. I've to blame K-drama for this delay. Ups sorry~! I mean to blame myself for K-drama marathon watching.

After finished 'Angry Mom' my fingers were itchy and searched for Ji Hyun Woo's profile, and found that he's the leading actor in drama 'Queen In Hyun's Man'. It's Saguek drama, so I decided to watch. And after completed QIHM, I'm curious to know more details about why she's exiled, I found another drama 'Dong Yi'. Pondering for few minutes whether I should watch it because it's 60 episodes long.

Ok, you knew the answer already, right? I didn't regret to watch Dong Yi. It's really worth my 60 hours to watch this epic historical drama! I even delay watching others airing dramas such as 'Sensory Couple', 'Hwajung' and 'Missing Noir M' because of 'Dong Yi'.

Anyway, I just completed Sensory Couple episode 14 this afternoon. So decided to write this first before watching the others two dramas.

Ok, back here... May I know what do you usually do or spend the last night in Seoul?

For us, we always go to Lotte Mart Seoul Station to shop for Korean Ginseng. It's one of the must-buy items in Korea.

Korean Panax ginseng root resembles to human body. It's the most valued variety of ginseng therefore it's named ‘Panax’ which is derived from Greek word Panacea meaning ‘Cure All’.It's known not only for its healing powers, but also warding off diseases and helping to maintain physical strength.

Korean Ginseng is recognized for its superior quality. It's believed to be the best of ginseng in the world because of the right climate and soil and best techniques for cultivation.

Actually we wanted to buy it when we're in Punggi. Punggi ginseng grown in the Sobaeksan Mountains is widely known for its superior quality. However, it's not easy to distinguish good ginseng from lower-quality ones. Even my Korean friends advise to shop in department stores or duty free shops for guaranteed quality.

Shopping at Lotte Mart Seoul Station | meheartseoul.blogspot.com
Bought different age of Susam (수삼).

The plant can also be classified according to the processing methods:
  • Susam is unprocessed ginseng in its natural form. While it is used for freshness in various dishes, it is not suitable for long-term storage because Susam is over 75%  water content.  
  • Baeksam which is four-years-old sun-dried ginseng, is usually used as a medicinal herb. 
  • Hongsam is four-to six-year-old ginseng, which has undergone a process of repeated steaming and drying,  which gives it a  blackish-red color. Because the moisture  has been  eliminated, hongsam  can be stored for over 10 years and provides eight additional beneficial ingredients.
  • Sansam  has the same  medicinal  properties as Insam, but is much  more  effective  than the other ginseng. Sansam is grown naturally in the mountains and is called ‘Bullocho (herb of immortality)’. Because of this, Sansam costs from millions to hundreds of millions of won as it's very rare to find. 

Shopping at Lotte Mart Seoul Station | meheartseoul.blogspot.com
The counter Ahjumma suggested me to buy this big ginseng
after seeing me buying so much ginseng. 
Only KRW 39,500 for 500gr.

Sigh... we didn't see it earlier, else will just grab few boxes. It's nicer presentation as gift, but we not so nice to tell her to unpack those we selected.

Actually wanted to buy more things, but it seemed that our luggage weight not allowing us to shop. My husband took Scoot budget airline and no baggage check in, and I only have 20 kg luggage allowance. 

Shopping at Lotte Mart Seoul Station | meheartseoul.blogspot.com
My Korean friend gave me Market O-Brownie when he visited Singapore,
 and my kids love it so much.


Shopping at Lotte Mart Seoul Station | meheartseoul.blogspot.com
Therefore, we only bought ginseng and brownie for gifts and own consumptions.
Ginseng is for cooking our favorite Samgyetang.

As usual, Lotte didn't provide plastic bags for your purchased items. But, there are empty boxes available at packing counters.

Wait~! Need to pack others unnecessary items together inside the box. Let's retrieved our bags from storage locker first...


Shopping at Lotte Mart Seoul Station | meheartseoul.blogspot.com
 I really love this free storage locker facility!

Shopping at Lotte Mart Seoul Station | meheartseoul.blogspot.com
 It's free for the first 3 hours! 
Normally, we only spent 1 hour or so for shopping.
It's so convenience and FREE :)

Please check this Youtube video on how to use it...

Lotte Mart Seoul Station
432, Cheongpa-ro, Jung-gu, Seoul
서울특별시 중구 청파로 426.