Gondre-namul (곤드레나물, Seasoned Gangwon Thistle)

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Large mixing bowl for soaking
• •Medium pot, at least 3 quarts
• •Skillet with a lid
• •Kitchen scale, useful for checking the cooked yield

Instructions

1. 1

   Soak the greens

   Rinse the dried gondre in two changes of cold water, rubbing lightly to loosen dust from the curled leaves. Put it in a large bowl and cover with cold water by at least 3 inches. Soak 8 hours or overnight. Dried mountain greens need time to drink evenly; hot water hurries the leaves while the stems stay wiry.

   If the greens float, set a small plate on top to keep them submerged. A half-soaked stem will stay tough no matter how politely you season it later.
2. 2

   Boil until tender

   Drain the soaking water and put the gondre in a pot with 8 cups fresh water. Bring to a boil, then lower to a steady simmer and cook 35 to 45 minutes, until a thick stem bends easily and can be pinched between your fingers. Turn off the heat and let the greens rest in the hot cooking liquid for 15 minutes. This rest is not laziness. It lets the fibers finish softening without breaking the leaves apart.

   Keep 2 tablespoons of the cooking liquid before you drain. It carries a little of the green's own taste back into the pan.
3. 3

   Rinse and cut

   Drain the gondre, rinse once under cool running water, and squeeze gently. Do not wring it dry like laundry; it should feel moist but not dripping. Trim away any woody stem ends, then cut the greens into 2-inch lengths. You should have about 300 to 350g cooked gondre, roughly 2 packed cups. That number is why the seasoning below works.

4. 4

   Season by hand

   Put the cut gondre in a mixing bowl. Add the guk-ganjang, jin-ganjang, garlic, scallion, 1 tablespoon of the perilla oil, the crushed sesame seeds, and the ground perilla seed if using. Mix by hand, separating the strands so the seasoning reaches the stems as well as the leaves. Taste one piece now. It should be lightly seasoned, not salty, because the pan will tighten the flavor.

   Season namul in its own bowl before it meets the pan or the rice. 손맛 is real. I still measure it, so it can be handed on.
5. 5

   Saute gently

   Set a skillet over medium-low heat and add the remaining 1/2 tablespoon perilla oil. Add the seasoned gondre and stir for 2 minutes, just until the oil glosses the strands. Add the 2 tablespoons reserved cooking liquid or water, cover, and cook 5 to 6 minutes. Uncover and stir another minute, until the greens are moist but not wet. Do not fry hard; perilla oil turns bitter with rough heat, and gondre dries into twine.

6. 6

   Taste and serve

   Taste once more before serving. If it needs salt, add it 1/8 teaspoon at a time, up to 1/4 teaspoon. Mound the gondre-namul in a small banchan dish and scatter a few more sesame seeds if you like. Serve warm or at room temperature with rice, kimchi, and a plain soup or stew. Let it taste like itself.

Chef Tips

• •Buy dried gondre that is muted olive green with whole leaves and a clean dried-grass smell. If it is black, sour, or broken into dust, my teacher would have sent it back without a word.
• •Cook the month you're standing in. If your market has fresh spring gondre, use 350g fresh greens, blanch 2 to 3 minutes, rinse, squeeze, and season with the same ingredients, starting with only 1 tablespoon guk-ganjang.
• •Perilla oil is not decoration here. Its nutty, grassy taste belongs to mountain greens. Sesame oil will feed you, yes, but it makes this taste like a more general namul and takes away the Gangwon character.
• •The safe shortcut is frozen or vacuum-packed boiled gondre. Use 300g drained greens and begin at the seasoning step, but keep the covered pan step. That is where the seasoning enters the stems.

Advance Preparation

• •The gondre can be soaked and boiled up to 2 days ahead. Keep it refrigerated in a little of its cooking liquid, then drain, squeeze, cut, and season when you are ready to cook.
• •Boiled, unseasoned gondre freezes well for up to 2 months. Freeze it in 300g portions with a spoonful of cooking liquid so it does not dry out.
• •Finished gondre-namul keeps 3 days in the refrigerator. Bring it to room temperature before serving and refresh with a few drops of perilla oil if the greens look dull.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 100g)