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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