Dotorimuk with Wild Harvested Acorns

I was delighted to see a story about wild harvesting a Korean food source reported from a main stream paper such as the NY Times.

NYC and the states has many oak trees. Their acorns were a painful thing I stepped on growing up. However, traditionally native peoples have used it as a source of food. Koreans do the same to make Dotorimuk.

I was happy when I discovered they could be food source instead of just painful thing to step on is an easy start to wild harvesting everywhere. Now that this times reporter has reported about it other people will know as well.

Dotorimuk is a dish made from acorns turned into a jelly. Usually the the NY Times food section buy's their ingredients, she took it a step further.

Nature is not a friendly source of food. Even plants, innocent seeming one's like grains and beans and legumes have toxins in them that can give us gastric distress or render us infertile such as in the case of Soy Beans, if not prepared right.

Our ancestors new before the modern area new specific techniques to prepare foods to remove these techniques. She goes on to describe the way to she prepares them to renders them edible. Fortunately, the process is simple and safe. You soak them until they begin to taste sweet. If not ready they will taste too bitter like medicine to consume enough to poison ourselves. This our bodies defense against poison but also our test for the medicinal properties of things.

I think to add some excitement to the piece she tells a story of how a Wild Forrager named Steve Brill describes his process for preparing the Acorns to eat. Brill who is famous for urban forraging in NYC's Central Park, got arrested for a Forrest Ranger for picking Dandelions with a group of people. Then embarrassed, the city hired him to give wild gathering expeditions.

Brill preparation for soaking acorns. He soaks them in a bag placed in the toilet tank.

“The tank isn’t contaminated with sewage,” he said, “but be warned that the tannins will turn the toilet water brown.”

After three toilet uses the toxins will be washed away and their will be no more brown water.

'To date, his wife has refused to let him use this particular method, ' notes the reporter.

The reporter opted to soak the acorns somewhere else.

You got to smile at these things.

Here's the article and the recipe.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/13/dining/13acorn.html?ref=dining