Business Spotlight: Asian tastes converge at East East Oriental Market

|tab|

Their customers come from as far away as West Plains, Lebanon and Mountain Home, Ark., and with good reason. Only a handful of Oriental food markets can be found in the Ozarks, and many specialize in products from just one country. |ret||ret||tab|

That's not true of East East Oriental Market, which stocks a wide variety of food products from Korea, Japan, China, Vietnam, Thailand and the Philippines. |ret||ret||tab|

Owners Tony and Hannah Choe opened East East Oriental Market in 1999. Prior to starting the business, Tony Choe worked as a chef at various restaurants and over the years he developed a following. In fact, some former restaurant patrons still call Choe and ask him to cater a special event or cook at a private party, which he does occasionally. |ret||ret||tab|

Choe's restaurant experience has helped him make East East Oriental Market a success. He knows which ingredients cooks use the most. He also knows which ingredients are difficult to find. |ret||ret||tab|

Cooks who come to East East Market will delight in the selection of sauces they find there, which range from fish sauce to Korean barbecue sauce. There's also a large selection of saut mixes and Thai curries. |ret||ret||tab|

Other com-monly used food items in stock include fresh oriental vegetables, herbs, spices, a wide variety of rice and noodle products, sushi-grade tuna and red snapper, and seafood products ranging from octopus to soft-shell crab. In the market's beverage section, shoppers can find everything from soy drinks to teas, including several medicinal teas. |ret||ret||tab|

Hard-to-find items include oxtail, fresh kimchee, fresh Japanese and Korean pastries, ice cream, bean cakes and an assortment of oriental medicines including deer horn and ginseng. Shoppers also can find some unusual nonfood items, such as Japanese and Korean videotapes and a large line of high-end beauty products made in Korea. |ret||ret||tab|

What really makes East East Oriental Market stand out, however, is its layout. Unlike some oriental markets that arrange products haphazardly, East East Oriental Market follows the same layout used by most American supermarkets, which allows shoppers to find the products they need quickly and easily. |ret||ret||tab|

Although East East Oriental Market serves as a wholesale food supplier for several ethnic restaurants in the area, the major-ity of sales come from retail customers. |ret||ret||tab|

The Choes estimated that 80 percent of their retail customers are of Asian heritage. The remaining 20 percent frequent East East Ori-ental Market because they love Asian food. |ret||ret||tab|

In an effort to attract more customers who love Asian cui-sine, the Choes recently started a "fusion" cooking class. Tony Choe teaches the class, which combines elements of American cooking with those found in the Far East. |ret||ret||tab|

"Most people don't like truly ethnic food," Tony Choe said. "That's why I teach fusion cooking. Students learn how to make some basic sauces. I also teach them how to cook some of the more popular dishes found in ethnic restaurants. Occasionally, we'll branch out a bit and do things like sushi."|ret||ret||tab|

Approximately 15 students, most of whom are regular customers, attend the cooking class, which is held every other Monday and starts at 7:30 p.m. Each class costs $10, which includes the price of ingredients needed to make the meal that will be prepared and eaten by the students. |ret||ret||tab|

In addition to cooking classes, the Choes are looking for other ways to expand their business. In the future they may offer catering services. They said, however, that expanding the business will have to wait until they've expanded their family. The Choes are awaiting the birth of their first child, which is due in August.|ret||ret||tab|

[[In-content Ad]]