Comments on: Fernbrake

By: isabela95

isabela95 — Mon, 31 Dec 2012 10:32:46 +0000

Sorry I didn’t check this discussion before I tried to make some kosari with dried fernbracken I bought about a year ago.

It had very brief instructions in English which said to boil it for 20 minutes, drain, and then soak in cold water for an hour, then mix with sesame oil, soy sauce, shiitake muishroom powder, and red pepper and stir fry.

I had used just a small bit of it when I first bought it, then placed it in a ziploc bag.

I had no idea how much to use so I prepared the WHOLE BAG.

What a waste. It wasn’t softened properly and I had two HUGE bowls of it. (If I had used 20 cups of water for each cup of dried bracken I would have had to move out of my house to make room for it! :-)

By: Maangchi

Maangchi — Tue, 11 Sep 2012 15:35:03 +0000

Check this out please. http://www.maangchi.com/talk/topic/question-on-kosari

By: kmsand4

kmsand4 — Mon, 10 Sep 2012 15:18:56 +0000

My mother and I would always use all of the fernbrake.
If they are already dried, we would just throw them in the pot of boiling water but you can also pre-soak them as you would with dried beans over night.
And back in traditional times, they would use wood ashes since this also gave a slow but steady temp to dry and preserve them. My mother and I would lay them out on newspapers in a storage room and keep the door closed w/a normal room fan turned on to dry them before storing them in big black trash bags to use when we needed.
You can either leave them whole or cut them up into bite size pieces. We actually would just leave them whole.
And don’t crush them so that they splinter. Leave them whole.
Enjoy the meal! :D

By: Francesca

Francesca — Tue, 08 May 2012 21:47:44 +0000

Hello, Maangchi…

You’ve been my Teacher for about three years, but this is the first time I’ve written to ask you a question. Your instructions are so complete I’ve never had to ask one before- but this isn’t exactly about a recipe…

Here goes!

I’m trying to learn how to gather, process, and dry bracken for kosari… I live in Washington State and am gathering bracken for experimenting with. So far, I’ve soaked overnight (with soda), rinsed, boiled in fresh water, and put to dry about ten pounds but I have no idea if I’m doing it right.

Can you help with the old way that Korean people handled and dried the bracken after gathering? I’m hoping you might know about this from your Mother/ Grandmother, or if not, that you might know someone else who’s willing to share the knowledge!

There aren’t any instructions online- just a few casual references…For example, I read that in Korea the ferns were either soaked or boiled with wood ashes, but no mention of what kind, or when/why/how much to add.
I think this was done to remove bitterness/toxins-?

My questions are:
1) How much of the fresh stalk can be used?
2) Should I presoak them in cold water overnight before cooking? (With/without ashes/soda???)
3) What’s the story with the wood ashes?
4) Should I cut the stalks in half before soaking/cooking, or leave them whole?
5) How long should I boil them?Is it a matter of proper texture/feel?- should they be “squishy”???
6) I notice that dried kosari from the market is pretty thin…should I crush the thicker stalks while boiling so they’ll sort of splinter apart?

Any help you can give will be much appreciated.

Thanks, I hope!

Francesca

By: Maangchi

Maangchi — Mon, 22 Aug 2011 00:46:33 +0000

Check out my bibimbap recipe. http://www.maangchi.com/recipe/bibimbap I use gosari in the recipe. You can sautee it by following the direction in the recipe.
“You can buy soaked and cooked “kosari” at a Korean grocery store. Prepare about 2 or 3 cups of kosari for this 4 servings of bibimbap. Cut it into pieces 5-7 cm long and sauté in a heated pan with 1 ts of vegetable oil. Stir and add 1 tbs of soy sauce, 1/2 tbs of sugar, and cook them for 1-2 minutes. Add sesame oil. “

By: sasha

sasha — Sun, 21 Aug 2011 13:31:46 +0000

hi do you know how to make kosari cause here in my place in Philippines korean store is very far..I wonder if i can make kosari out from native fern growing here on my place its called “paco” or “vegetable fern” we used to eat it fresh on salad or sautéed
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diplazium_esculentum
http://homecookingrocks.com/guinataang-paco-vegetable-fern-with-pork-and-coconut-cream/

By: asian206

asian206 — Tue, 07 Dec 2010 07:55:47 +0000

Hi Maangchi,
I was wondering in the bibimbap can i use sweet potato sprout instead of fernbrake, I went to H-mart and they don’t carry fernbrake at all.

By: frankenstein

frankenstein — Sun, 12 Sep 2010 21:14:43 +0000

Dear Maangchi,

All of your recipes that I have tried so far have been fantastic. Thank you very much for posting everything!
I was wondering, though– would one rehydrate the toran in the same way as the kosari?
Thanks in advance,
Ren

By: miss.jane

miss.jane — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 17:12:23 +0000

Thanks! I will keep a closer eye on the clock when boiling next time.

BTW, my bibimbap still turned out fab thanks to your great recipe! Next time I will have to make more as my guests were practically licking their plates!

By: Maangchi

Maangchi — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 12:17:01 +0000

oh,I’m sorry to hear that it turned out mushy! You might have boiled it too long. This is my method of soaking gosari.
1. Place kosari in cold water in a pot. 1 cup of kosari will need
more than 20 cups of water.
2. Boil it for 30 minutes and don’t drain hot water and let it soak. Wait about 6-8 hours.
I usually boil it at night and drain it next morning.
That’s it!