Last week I went to a park to pick “Cham Namool”, Koreans’ favorite vegetable.
Canadians never know how tasty it is. While picking it, I noticed some bike riders stopped to watch with curiosity what we were doing.
My Korean friend Changhee took me to the place, her secret area. She said she has been picking the vegetables at this time of the year for years, and keeping it in her freezer and eating it until the next picking time comes. She didn’t tell anyone about the place, even her Korean other friends. So I must be a very special friend for her.
We know picking plants in the park is not legal, so if we get caught by police, we would get in trouble. A few years ago, my mother and her friends in LA went to pick some Korean vegetables one day. She had to leave before all the other old ladies because it was time for my sister to come home from work. Next day, my mother heard that all the old ladies got caught by a police officer and got penalty to participate in some education sessions for a while.
Once I saw the field on the corner of a wet area in the park, full of delicious vegetables, I couldn’t think about anything else except for picking. Equipment for this activity was only a thin rubber glove and a plastic bag.
I brought it home and cooked it. First I put it in hot boiling water for a few seconds and then rinsed it with cold water and squeezed it slightly to get rid of the water before mixing it with sauce. The sauce was made with bean paste, soy sauce, minced garlic, sesame oil and seeds.
Oh my, it was very delicious!
I heard the vegetable I picked is sold in a korean grocery store, but it is very expensive. : ) Probably the vegetables being sold in a korean store must be picked by korean women.
Hmm maybe that’s what that group of young women were doing in the strip of land accross the street form my new place. They were inspecting the ground and once in a while one of them would eat something off the ground. It also reminds me of a british man who eats nothing but what he can find in the forest near his home. Lots of plants that we don’t normaly eat or would even consider eating. Why don’t you grow these korean ‘vegetables’ at home in a little herb garden? You can’t find them in the grocery store? what about dog pee? `:)