Daejeon oil press shop, sesame and perilla oil set: Dangjin Gireumjip

If I had to pick one ingredient that must never run out in our house, I'd choose perilla oil without a second thought. Sesame oil I mostly use for namul (seasoned vegetables) and muchim (tossed salads), but perilla oil goes into just about everything. Fried eggs, pan-fried tofu, stir-fried kimchi, bibimbap, all kinds of stir-fries. So there's hardly ever a day our fridge is without perilla oil.

This time I went in person to Dangjin Gireumjip (당진기름집), an oil press shop in Taepyeong Market, Daejeon. I bought a sesame oil and perilla oil set, and since I could actually watch the oil being pressed right there in the market, it felt quite different from just picking a bottle off a supermarket shelf.

Dangjin Gireumjip inside Taepyeong Market, Daejeon

Dangjin Gireumjip is inside Taepyeong Market in Daejeon. Walk a little way into the market and the sign reading 'Your Real Oil, Dangjin Gireumjip' (당신의 진짜 기름 당진기름집) catches your eye.

The sign says Since 1980. That makes it 46 years old. You know that feel of a traditional-market oil shop that's been pressing oil in the same spot for ages. It was a nice place to drop by while browsing the market and doing some shopping.

The oil-pressing area you can see in the shop

What caught my eye most when I visited was the oil press machine inside the shop.

These days most of us buy sesame or perilla oil as a finished product, so we hardly ever get to see how it's actually made, right? But here, as you'd expect from a market oil shop, the space where they make the oil and the space where they sell it are right together.

The notice in the shop said they press 100% whole sesame seeds using a low-temperature pressing method.

And on top of that, you can also buy these adorably tiny travel-size oil bottles.

What I liked most of all was that they work on a same-day production principle. Since we go through perilla oil so often at home, freshness is something I look at closely even when buying a single bottle, so I liked that they produce to order.

What's in the sesame and perilla oil gift set

What I bought this time was the sesame oil and perilla oil set. Each comes in its own bottle, and there's a dedicated gift box, so it looked neat enough not just for eating at home but for giving to parents or friends too.

Especially with the holidays coming up, sesame and perilla oil are practical gifts that few people have strong feelings against. They're food that gets eaten up, and they're so useful in Korean cooking, so I'm the type who likes this kind of gift. Besides the product I bought, the shop had a range of other items on display, like sesame and perilla oil in various sizes.

What's the price if you reserve and visit?

The Naver Store price and the reservation price were different too. One of the things I learned during my visit was the price difference depending on how you buy. The sesame and perilla oil set is ₩46,000 on Naver Store, but if you reserve in advance and buy in person, you can get it for ₩40,000.

If online ordering is easier for you, just use the store, and if you live in Daejeon or have a reason to go to Taepyeong Market, reserving ahead and visiting is a good option too. That said, prices and set contents may change later, so I'd recommend checking once before you visit or order.

Opening hours to know before you visit

Closing time varied by season. They close at 6 p.m. in winter, 7 p.m. in summer, and 5 p.m. on Saturdays and public holidays, and they're closed every Sunday. Work for individual customers who bring their own sesame seeds to have oil pressed starts at 1 p.m.

Unlike regular shops, traditional-market stalls may change their hours or days off, so if you're coming from far away, it's best to check before you go.

A place I'll stop by again when I go to Taepyeong Market in Daejeon

Since we normally eat so much perilla oil, this visit was pretty satisfying. Unlike grabbing a finished product at the supermarket, seeing the space where they actually press the oil inside Taepyeong Market and looking over the products gave me that proper feeling of 'buying oil from an oil shop.'

In particular, I liked that they work on a same-day production principle, that you can buy sesame and perilla oil as a gift set, and that with a reservation I could get it for ₩40,000 as of my visit. Sesame oil for a nutty touch in muchim. Perilla oil generously in everything. At the rate our house goes through perilla oil, I doubt what I bought this time will last very long either. :)

I also tried a little of the perilla oil I brought home drizzled over ganjang gejang (soy-marinated raw crab) rice, and the nutty aroma just shot right up. If your house uses a lot of perilla oil, I think the best thing is to buy a bottle and eat it up while it's fresh. The sesame and perilla oil set seems like it'd make a good Chuseok (Korean harvest holiday) gift too.