A-Ri-Rang Oriental Market delivers a simple cup of cold barley tea, hospitality and more

As I sat down in A-Ri-Rang Oriental Market, a beautiful woman with a kind smile and a hairnet brought me a menu and served a simple cup of cold barley tea. In Korea, the tea is called boricha. It’s offered because it aids digestion and is full of antioxidants. Refills are free, and it comes with every meal. With its smoky, instantly refreshing flavor, it’s a humble but meaningful gesture. The woman’s warm smile was delivering an unspoken message: this is a place of hospitality.

That single cup transported me back to childhood, to the kitchens of the matriarchs in my family. They were always conspiring to feed my siblings and me new, delicious things, expanding our palates. One of them was my aunt Amy.

Amy was born in 1913 and raised during the Depression by a single mother whose husband died in a mining accident in Santa Rita. After her mother resettled in Albuquerque, she left school after eighth grade, but her love of reading made her a self-taught scholar and one of the wisest people I’ve ever known. She worked for decades as a housekeeper and cook for a wealthy family in the Albuquerque Country Club neighborhood. That job became a lifelong relationship. She went on to have a career with Nestle and Cain’s Coffee but later cared for Mrs. Meyers in her old age, and the two had a lifelong friendship.

Amy learned the art of fine entertainment and introduced our family to exquisite dishes: Swiss chocolate rolls, elaborate petits fours and a perfectly roasted prime rib with all the fixings.

Without her, I would never have tasted these foods as a young child. She encouraged my interest in cooking, taught me to bake, and gave me the cookbooks that sparked a lifelong passion.

Amy was also an ally in a time when little boys were supposed to play football and weren’t supposed to be interested in cooking. She would rub my hair and say, “Some people have a big mouth. Don’t listen to them. You want to cook, so cook, I love you.”

My dad was also an ally and would say, “The finest chefs in the world are men.”

The naysayers in the family have since become my biggest fans. Those words have served as a mantra throughout my life.

There’s something about A-Ri-Rang that brings all that back. The place feels like being served by your beloved aunties. It reminds me of growing up in Downtown Albuquerque, where two of my aunts lived within three blocks of our home in a triangle of love and food and care.

A-Ri-Rang Oriental Market has been a staple of the Northeast Heights for over 30 years. It’s a family-run business importing delights from South Korea: juice drinks, unique snacks, big bags of rice and all the ingredients you need to make Korean dishes. I especially love the shrimp rice treats, frozen dumplings and the housemade kimchi.

Kimchi is an ancient, fermented side dish which is usually made with cabbage, cucumber, carrot or daikon, and seasoned with ginger, garlic, green onion and Korean red chile flakes (gochugaru). It’s spicy, tangy, full of healthy probiotics and antioxidants, and it complements rich, meaty dishes beautifully. When it’s balanced just right, it can be served on its own as a proper cabbage salad or as a flavorful spicy garnish for rice and meat.

I’ve been a fan of Korean food since my undergrad days in Los Angeles, where trips to Koreatown for spa and food were regular rituals. At A-Ri-Rang, the food is freshly prepared in a small kitchen tucked into the corner. The dining room is cozy and welcoming. The sound of Korean being spoken at nearby tables is common and always a good sign.

The Kimchi Jjigae ($15.95) arrives boiling hot like a delicious cauldron in a beautiful clay pot. It’s a hearty stew made with pork, tofu and deeply flavorful kimchi. Because the kimchi is so well-balanced, the broth achieves a perfect harmony of spicy, sour and savory. You can’t stop eating it. It’s served with rice, which soaks up the soup like a gravy. It was easily my favorite dish.

The Gun Mandu ($8.50) are dumplings that have been pan-roasted, achieving an exquisite caramelization on one side similar to a Choux Au Craquelin. The vegetable filling is perfectly seasoned, accompanied by a spicy soy dipping sauce.

The seafood pancake ($16.95) is a Frisbee-sized frittata with large pieces of squid, shrimp and mixed vegetables. It comes with a piquant soy chili sauce for dipping. They achieve a crisp exterior while the interior remains supple. This delicious disk can feed up to four people.

The Bulgogi ($18.95) comes sizzling on a cast-iron plate. It’s a generous portion of beef, scallions, carrots and a delicious slightly sweet sauce. Because of the generosity of the plates, sharing is highly recommended.

The Spicy Squid ($16.95) is a beautifully cut squid drenched in a red pepper sauce and tossed with green scallion.

The only dish I had an issue with was the cold noodles Bibim Neng Myun ($14.95). This is a cold noodle dish served with fried egg and Fuji apple. I felt like it was more of a condiment than a stand-alone dish. The noodles were heavily spiced and almost needed rice to balance the sharpness. I did enjoy the sweet Fuji apple that accompanied the cold noodles. However, next time I plan on ordering one of the myriad of other dishes that are offered.

The constant refilling of the barley tea was a reassuring reminder of the intentional hospitality at A-Ri-Rang Oriental Market.

For more food pics, recipes, and culinary travel adventures, visit Francisco Asturias Collado’s Instagram at @arkodweller.

A-Ri-Rang Oriental Market delivers a simple cup of cold barley tea, hospitality and more