Gondre-bap (곤드레밥, Gangwon Thistle Rice)

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Medium pot for boiling dried greens
• •Heavy 2.5 to 3 quart pot with tight lid or electric rice cooker
• •Colander
• •Mixing bowl
• •Rice paddle

Instructions

1. 1

   Soak the gondre

   Rinse the dried gondre in two changes of cold water, rubbing gently to loosen dust caught in the curled leaves. Put it in a bowl with enough cold water to cover by 2 inches and soak 8 to 12 hours. Dried mountain greens do not soften by courage. They soften because you give the water time to reach the stems.

2. 2

   Boil until tender

   Drain the soaking water, put the gondre in a pot, and cover with fresh water by 2 inches. Bring to a boil, then lower to a steady simmer for 25 to 35 minutes, until a stem folds between your fingers without snapping. Turn off the heat and let the greens sit in their cooking water for 20 minutes. That rest finishes the center without beating the leaves to rags.

   If your dried gondre is very old and woody, it may need 45 minutes. If it smells musty after soaking, don't rescue it. Cook the month and the market you're standing in, and choose another namul.
3. 3

   Season the greens

   Drain the gondre, rinse once in cool water, and squeeze lightly. Do not wring it dry; a little moisture keeps the rice from tasting dusty. You should have about 220 to 250 grams cooked greens. Cut into 2-inch lengths, then season in its own bowl with the guk-ganjang, 1 tablespoon perilla oil, and 1 teaspoon minced garlic. Taste one leaf. It should be savory and nutty, not salty.

4. 4

   Prepare the rice

   Rinse the rice until the water is mostly clear, then soak it in fresh water for 30 minutes. Drain well for 10 minutes. Put the rice in a heavy pot with 1 3/4 cups water and 1 teaspoon perilla oil. Level the rice, then spread the seasoned gondre evenly over the top. Do not stir yet. Rice cooks evenly from below; the greens perfume it from above.

   Using a rice cooker is a safe modern corner to cut. Add the soaked, drained rice, fill to the 2-cup white rice line, remove 2 tablespoons water, then lay the seasoned gondre on top and run the regular white rice cycle.
5. 5

   Cook and rest

   Cover the pot and set it over medium-high heat until you hear active bubbling, about 4 to 5 minutes. Lower the heat to very low and cook 13 minutes. Turn off the heat and rest, still covered, for 10 minutes. Don't lift the lid to inspect your own impatience. The rest is when the rice finishes and the bottom releases cleanly.

6. 6

   Mix the sauce

   While the rice rests, make the yangnyeom ganjang (seasoned soy sauce). Stir together the soy sauce, 1 tablespoon water, scallion, 1/2 teaspoon minced garlic, gochugaru if using, sesame oil, sesame seeds, and maesil-cheong or sugar if using. The sauce should be salty enough to season rice by the spoonful, not sweet enough to distract from the gondre.

7. 7

   Fluff and serve

   Open the pot and use a rice paddle to fold the gondre through the rice, lifting from the bottom so the grains stay whole. Serve in bowls with the sauce on the side. Start with 2 teaspoons sauce per bowl, mix, taste, and add more only if needed. The first taste should still be gondre and rice. Crumble a little roasted gim over the bowl if you like, but don't bury it.

Chef Tips

• •Buy dried gondre that smells clean and grassy, not damp or sour. Good dried leaves are green-brown, not gray with powder. The stems will look stubborn, but after soaking and simmering they should bend without splintering.
• •Fresh gondre is best in late spring to early summer. Use about 300g fresh leaves and tender stems, blanch 3 to 5 minutes until pliant, rinse, squeeze lightly, then season the same way. Fresh is brighter; dried is deeper and more like the Gangwon bowl most people know.
• •Do not pour the sauce over the whole pot. Every soy sauce has its own salt, and every bowl needs a different hand. Two teaspoons per serving first, then taste. 손맛 is real; I measure it anyway, so it can be handed on.
• •Perilla oil belongs here more than sesame oil does. Sesame oil is for the sauce, a small finish. Perilla oil is what makes the mountain green taste round and nutty before it meets the rice.
• •Serve with sharp kimchi and one or two quiet banchan (side dishes), not a crowded table of loud flavors. Gondre-bap is plain food in the best sense. Let the plainness do its work.

Advance Preparation

• •Soak the dried gondre the night before. After boiling, the cooked and lightly squeezed greens can be refrigerated up to 3 days before seasoning and cooking with rice.
• •Seasoned cooked gondre can be frozen up to 2 months in a flat bag. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator and squeeze only if it has released too much liquid.
• •The seasoned soy sauce can be mixed 2 days ahead and refrigerated. Add the scallion the day you serve it if you want the flavor cleaner.
• •Cooked gondre-bap is best fresh. For leftovers, cool quickly, refrigerate within 2 hours, and reheat covered with 1 tablespoon water per bowl so the rice softens again.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 285g)