How is the aralia tree used in Korean cooking?
In the supermarkets, I’m drawn to the the displays of mysterious dried woods and roots used to add flavour to various chicken soups so popular in summertime. And now I’ve discovered that one bark comes from the aralia tree.
The aralia (aka kaloapanx or eom-namu in Korean) is such a useful tree because the aralia shoots are edible and the thorny bark is used in the aforementioned chicken broth!
Thorny Tree eom-namu
Spending some time with my in-laws in the countryside, I soon realised why the aralia tree is called a thorny tree! There are so many sharp thorns on the branches that even pierce through gloves.
Towards the end of spring and beginning of summer the aralia shoots are ready to be picked. So I had a go with the long cutting tool to reach the shoots on the top branches.
See us trying to cut down some aralia shoots.
My mother-in-law picked these shoots from the tree in the morning and then we had them for breakfast with kimchi and rice. The shoots only need to be blanched and then served with sesame oil or chilli dip.
Very healthy but quite bitter!
See more spring shoots for banchan side dishes
SUMMER CHICKEN SOUP
So the aralia bark is used to flavour several chicken soup dishes that are particularly popular in the summer. And on the three hottest days of the summer, lines of people wait to get into the popular samgyetang chicken and ginseng restaurants.
Samgyetang 삼계당
Samgyetang chicken ginseng soup is probably the most well-known of the Korean chicken soup dishes. It’s made with ginseng root and glutinous rice. Each bowl has a whole chicken in the soup!
Chicken soup in thorny tree broth 엄나무 닭개장
I love the name of this dish!
And I’m going to try to make it one day. According to this chicken soup recipe on Naver I need to boil some dried hwang-gi root and thorny aralia tree bark for a good hour to let the flavour come out. Then cook a whole chicken in the broth with the root, wood, jujube, garlic, leek and some cooking sake, ground sesame and salt.
After it’s well cooked, take the meat off the bone and put it in a pot with cooked bracken, mung beans, and sliced mushroom. Mix in soy, sauce, crushed garlic, pepper, chilli flakes, and salted fish.
Finally, pour the bark-infused water back into the pan over the whole mixture and cook again for a while. And voila! Feeling hungry already.
Related posts to Korean chicken soup:
Chilled chicken noodle soup 초계국수
As well as hot soup, cold soups are also popular in the summer. Chilled chicken noodle soup is very cold – well the broth IS full of ice – and the flavour is savoury with a slightly sweet and very sour vinegary taste.
How to get over spring fever: Korean spring shoots
What’s the difference between perilla and sesame?
What are the flavours of a Korean summer?
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This is wonderful information, it must be wonderful to have fresh food picked off the tree. My grandmother knew so much about what herbs and plants were edible, I wish I had learned about that from her. I hope I can visit the Korean countryside someday.
It does feel like luxury to have such fresh veg! I like how nothing is wasted in Korea since even the leaves from radish and chilli plants are used.
That’s true, my mother taught me to never waste food. It takes energy/care to grow it, so all edible parts should be used, even the roots. I loved having fresh vegetables that were grown in our garden. I think Korean food was originally designed to be healthy, but modern convenience of packaged food made it (still tasty), but not good for you. I want to learn to make my own healthy version of traditional vegetarian Korean foods.
Yes, it seems that eating habits and tastes have changed a lot. More meat, salt, and sugar in the diet and vegetarian restaurants are hard to find. Cooking at home is certainly healthier.
I dislike that traditional Korean food has changed to incorporate Western food like milk, cheese, desserts, and chemical preservatives, high fructose corn syrup is awful but I see it in many Korean packaged food. Many Asians are lactose intolerant so introducing dairy (cheese) isn’t good, (at least that’s how it affects me with allergies).
I also try to avoid dairy. I think it’s a battle trying to find healthy options in supermarkets anywhere these days!