Monday 25 April 2011

Forraging Identification and Preparation

I can't read Korean but the Korean guidebooks I am using for identification can be crossed referenced to sources on the internet. Also, some helpful forragers or want to be forragers and the curious alike have provided some helpful information. 

This site lists Japanese Sansai:

Sansai is the Japanese word for wild vegetables.

The Japanese seem to get including in common names for things, that Korea and China has as well.

I found this article in the Japanese times for fern forraging. One of the ferns is quite common in bibimpap. Called bracken fern(Pteridium aquilinum), the fiddle heads are used in the dish.

I am most interested  finding some Ostrich Ferns (Matteuccia struthiopteris). The young sprouts are called fiddle heads and used in Asian and French cuisine.

Fiddle Heads

                                                      Source: downrightcurious.com

Preparation:

Before eating food its important to know how its traditionally prepared. The Ostrich Fern Fiddle Heads shown above will need only some blanching or roasting.  To remove the toxins from it.

Wikipedia provides useful common information and Pubmed provides peer reviewed scientific data on pharmacology.

3 comments:

  1. I went and stayed with a meditation teacher near Sangju the weekend before last. We went for a stroll on the mountain nearby and he showed me a bunch of edible pink flowers. We also gathered firewood for heating the rooms at night and wild Fiddle Heads for dinner! Awesome~~

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  2. Wow. That's so cool. The simple understanding of nature is beautiful. Also, It is admirable how good you've studied Korean to get to the level of proficiency you have to be able to meet meditation teachers.

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  3. BTW There are seven kinds of pink flowers I've seen in Korea off the top of my head. Can you describe it? I know most are edible but preparation is important. Did you eat them raw?

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