Back in the days my family will buy dried sea cucumber locally or in NY. However, we always afraid we got rip off since we don't know the store is honest seller or not. Plus a lot of stores raise their prices and sometime you have to negotiate for a better deal. Even then you thought you got a good deal but end up somewhere else is cheaper. And some sea cucumber are so expensive you couldn't afford to eat it. But now you're in luck because I found a place where we can buy dried sea cucumber and the owner is a nice lady (Lily) where she will help you pick and ship to your door. The place I ordered my dried sea cucumber is from L.J.K Dried Food Wholesale located at South El Monte, CA. This is a wholesale so the prices are a lot cheaper than those retail stores. They are working on their site so it will be available later. Guess how many pounds of dried sea cucumber I ordered. Ordered 20 lbs of dried sea cucumber. Yup...20lbs. How in the whole am I going to finish them? Well, they are dried so I can store them for a very long time. I will also share these with my parents and have some for myself or give some to friends. I think the reason why I ordered so many because the price is very reasonable.
Here is the picture of my 20lbs dried sea cucumber. I ordered three different kind ( 18lbs donkey dung, 1 lb bahama, and 1 lb floridian just to try these out first before I order more.) The donkey dung (chinese name: Fu Pei Sum) is from Mexico. I think the reason for the cheaper price is because it's from Mexico, harder to clean, and lives in the shallow water. I have tried the donkey dung where I bought from a different store before. The donkey dung (a weird name :) have a thicker meat compared to the other and tastes very good....of course that have to do with how you cook it. At first I wasn't thinking of order donkey dung because it's harder to clean compared to other sea cucumber. However, Lily changed my mind because she tells me a way to clean it and I'm going to try that method and will post later after the 7 days rehydrating process. So stay tune to how to rehydrate and clean the dried sea cucumber. I also think you get more for your money on the donkey dung compared to other sea cucumber. Plus, I learn that nutritional value of all sea cucumbers are similar or same, so way waste money on the more expensive one :).
9 comments:
Wow..how interesting that there are so many different kinds of hoisum. I had it at the restaurant before, but never really cook it. Maybe I can learn from you how to cook it and then order some. I can't wait to try it.
Zoe
Yes, I'm learning how to rehydrate them myself. All these years my dad rehydrate, clean and cook the hoi sum for us so we didn't have to do anything but eat.lol. But now I'm very interested in learning and cooking them. However, the process for rehydrating and cleaning is so long....got to have some patience. :) I'm also interest in getting some dried abalone. I've always wanted to try some but they are so expensive and take a long time to cook. You know the prices for dried abalone? I think I will get some of the small one first before I try anything too too expensive. :)
I love sea cucumber. Can you please give me an idea how much a pound and if they ship to Canada?
Thanks,Tricia
Hi Tracia,
I'm not sure if the company ships to canada or not. As to how many in a lb, it depends on the size of the cucumber. If its 8" or more then it would be like 3-4 per lb. If the cucumber is about 5" then it would be 5-6 per lb.
Tracia,
They do ship to Canada!
Hi Cherri,
Thank you very-very much. I called Lily and she remembers you very well.
The shipping is very expensive to Canada. :((
I have figure out after shipping if the price is still good.
Thanks for your help, Cherri
Tricia,
Shipping can be very expensive. They ship priority mail to me cost $16.85. It arrived within 3 days. I think they can ship up to 20 lbs in that box. Remember to ask them to put some cushion on the bottom of the box or you'll get some broken one. Since I ordered a lot and they are on sale for $23/lb. Hope this helps. If you order a lot then remember to ask for a little discount.
Hi,
Thank you sharing this information with us. My friend in China is pregnant and wants to buy some dried sea cucumbers. She does not trust the food quality in China so she asks me to buy some for her in the States. I am living in Atlanta and am wondering if I can order them online from the shop you recommended in your blog? Or shall I try to buy them in local Korean Supermarkets? There are plenty of Korean markets in Atlanta.
Looking for your reply.Thanks!
Julia
Hi Julia,
I would recommend buying from local Korean Supermarket if they are good quality. Also if they are dried or already rehydrated sea cucumber. If you're traveling back to China and if your friend want to store them for a long time then it would be best to buy dried one. Also check on the price and quality of the local sea cucumber. The one I got from L.J.K Dried Food Wholesale is good if you can pick them yourself or if the owner help you pick out the best quality. For the price from L.J.K, I think this is the lowest I seen for dried sea cucumber.
My sister wanted 2 lbs so I weighted 2 lbs of my dried sea cucumber for her. I gave her some small 6" and some 8". The total for 2 lbs were 6 dried cucumber. So I did the math plus a little shipping fee then it would cost roughly $8 per piece. Let me know if you have any other questions. Good luck.
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