Vegan

Across East Asia, people widely use dried kelp ingredient in traditional cooking. In South Korea, people refer to this ingredient as ‘dashima’ (다시마). In this article, I will discuss dried kelp’s uses in Korean cuisine as well as answer questions you may have about this ingredient. 

Allium tuberosum, otherwise known as garlic chives, Oriental garlic, Asian chives, Chinese chives, and Chinese leek, is a species of clump-forming perennial plant native to the Chinese province of Shanxi. Then, over time, it became cultivated and naturalized throughout Asia and much of the world. In South Korea, people refer to this plant as ‘buchu’ (부추). This ingredient is widely used in traditional and modern Korean cuisine.

Acorn jelly salad, known as ‘dotorimuk-muchim’ (도토리묵무침), is a Korean traditional Korean side dish made by combining acorn jelly with vegetables and tossed with a soy-sauce-based dressing. In this article, I teach you how to make this dish!

In South Korea, people have been preparing acorns into a specific dish known as ‘dotorimuk’ for generations. To make acorns safe, people in Korea crushed the acorns before passing water through the pieces. During this process, the water leaches out the toxins found in the acorns. Then, once dried, the crushed pieces are ground into a fine powder. From this powder, people in Korea make ‘dotorimuk,’ otherwise known as Korean acorn jelly.

Based on my ingredient articles about acorn starch and dandelion greens, you may notice that people in Korea eat ingredients that, though readily available wildly in the United States, we rarely eat. Chrysanthemum greens are no exception! While we enjoy looking at these beautiful flowers during the fall and spring months, people in South Korea also harvest them as a cooking ingredient. In this article, we discuss this ingredient in-depth. Let’s get started!