You can see that sometimes kosari is brown and sometimes it’s green.
Originally the color of fresh kosari is a little brownish green. In the spring, people gather kosari from mountains. They can either cook or dry it. They blanch the fresh kosari and cook it. When they dry the kosari, its color gets brown and thinner like thread. When you buy dried kosari, you will have to boil and soak it until it’s soft before cooking.
Fresh kosari (green) or dried and soaked kosari (brown) can be used for yuk gae jang or bibimbap.
The fiddlehead ferns collected in Maine (USA) are Ostrich ferns or Cinnamon ferns. I’ve heard warnings of not collecting the new growth of bracken although I think that’s because it looks so much like Sweet Fern, which is not a fern at all & not edible (although wikipedia says it can be smoked :-). So Fiddleheads can actually be several different types of ferns, including bracken. The fresh Maine fiddleheads (Ostrich fern) I’ve had taste a lot like asparagus, after the tannic/bitterish paper is removed. Given the price of fresh fiddleheads in New England asparagus might be a better choice.
I have tried to soak, then cook the dried bracken I bought at a Korean market, but after HOURS of simmering it was still tannic/bitterish & hard. Should I have changed the simmering water several times? Salted it? Done something different? I’m intrigued by the idea of cooking an unfamiliar food – especially a foraged one – but I’m not sure this one is worth trying again. I’ve had bibimbap with a little bracken as a garnish & it was good, but maybe I can substitute soaked wakame or soaked/shredded tree ears. Similar texture & flavor but much easier. ???
Hi Lisbon88. You tried to soak and then cook the kosari?
I always do it other way around.
When i need it the next day, the evening before i:
-Boil it for half an hour.
-Turn off the heat and let it sit as it is on the stove overnight.
-In the morning drain it and put in in the fridge.
-For diner i cook it for my bibimbap
Hope it works!
Hi Maangchi, love this website and all the information!
We recently got a chance to sample this vegetable at a hwan-gap banquet, and I have a bit of a story aboute it. Served as a buffet item, the stems were pickled and gray (probably started like the second, brown picture). Of course we were quite surprised when what looked like handmade noodles turned out to be a vegetable! For the person asking about the flavor – prepared that way, there was not much of a distinct taste beyond the pickling, and it was more about the texture – sort of chewy-tough in a vegetable way, but not stringy om the way other chewy vegetables can be.
Of course, after the banquet, we had to ask a friend “what was that?” When it turned out to be kosari, we got a worried look, with the explanation that it’s ‘not good for men’ and that monks eat it because it’s ‘very calming’ (subtext implied)! No ill effects were noted, despite the admonition. :)
Now, seeing the name spelled out here, I was able to look it up on Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kosari (redirects to ‘Bracken fern’, mentioning kosari as the Korean name), and if the article can be trusted… it might not be the healthiest vegetable for other reasons: possibly linked to stomach cancer; and the reported toxicity to blood cells and presence of an enzyme that destroys vitamin B1 might explain the ‘calming’ reputation – but being ‘calmed’ by anemia or vitamin deficiency wouldn’t be good! [The article doesn't say if any preparation methods are known to reduce the bad compounds; that would be good to research.]
Just being alive is toxic, but having found that caution, I wanted to share it in case anyone is thinking of eating a lot of this as a “health” food.
Anyhow, the article also explains what it is: fern stems and fiddleheads, which are also an American delicacy. I’m going to have to find out if American fiddleheads come from the same ferns and warrant the same caution, but they’re a “rare” seasonal item, so it’d be hard to overdo it (at least in the Northeast, sounds like Northwesterners might want to practice moderation?).
Interesting comments! Thank you for the good information!
I know that some people think Kosari might be unhealthy, but Koreans have been eating it for so long it’s hard to believe.
Here’s another interesting article I found on the subject:
http://www.traderscreek.com/Survival_Guide/Edible_Plants/Bracken_Fern/bracken_fern.asp
In defense of kosari, I bought some recently after noticing that every possible food stand in Tsuruhashi (Osaka’s Koreatown) was selling fresh plastic bagfulls of it. After initially worrying about it because of this warning post and doing some research of my own, I’ve come to the conclusion that as long as you’re not eating the rolled up tips (called fiddleheads) and you’re not eating them RAW, you have very minimal chance of getting stomach cancer from it.
None of the articles regarding the carcinogenic qualities of bracken provide any proof that it’s a direct cause of stomach cancer in humans. They can’t even seem to prove whether or not it may be linked to it. Worst I’ve seen is speculation that it may cause stomach cancer in cows (eaten raw out on the field). Not exactly damning evidence that kosari will kill you and you shouldn’t eat it. ;)
For me personally, the most convincing proof I’ve seen that nothing’s wrong with it is that my Japanese mother-in-law, who has had stomach cancer and is also a nurse, has no problem at all with eating it. Her only advice was to make sure it’s well boiled before eating it. It’s called warabi in Japanese, btw, and folks seem to love it here, too! :)
hmm, you did lots of research! : )
If you want to talk more about this topic, copy your post and paste it on the forum.
http://www.maangchi.com/talk/forum/general-discussion
Thank you very much!
how does it taste like?
difficult question! : )
Hi Maangchi,
I wanted to find out how do I dry Kosari? I can’t remember if I need to blanch them first or just lay them out to dry. I live in Washington State and we can pick it fresh up here but would like to preserve them too. Please let me know what I can do to dry them.
yeah, first blanch it and dry it.
how does kosari taste like. If i can’t find it, any replacement? Thanks
meiling,
What a good deal! I would like to buy some, too! : )
Hi Maangchi, guess what? I managed to buy fresh green kosari from the market, yippee! :) Can’t believe I didn’t notice this vege before. And the price is only 30 cents per bunch (6-7 stalks). I’ll keep u updated on my bibimbap making :)
Hi Maangchi, how does kosari taste like? i’m not sure whether i can get it over here, so can i substitute with another vege (maybe pickled) instead? i’m planning to make bibimbap next week.
Oddly you can pick kosari wild in some of the forests in England. I remember going with my mom on trips with her friends and picking so many garbage bags full.
Chad,
Why don’t you make steamed egg side dish? All Koreans love it and it’s very simple recipe. Check all my recipes and find some that you can make it easily. All the dishes posted on my website are very basic and popular dishes among Koreans.
i live in the USA, South Dakota. anyways i have a Korean Student living here with us for a couple years, i want to prepare some Korean food for him, can you help me with some easy Recipes, some things i cant get here,even at the asian store
thanks
Anonymous,
Yes, I’m sure they sell it. I found good online store where you can get it. Check this out.
http://www.koamart.com/shop/12-1408-dried_food-dried_fernbrake_6oz.asp
Hi, Maangchi!
Um, I was wondering if a Chinese supermarket would sell kosari because the Korean market is so many miles away from my house. Thanks for your help. :D
Tetyana
The same recipe! Boiled fern means it’s ready to be cooked.
Maangchi,
Actually I looked and it says “Boiled Fern”, and it is green color. Could you please tell me how to cook this kind of kosari?
Thank you for your help
Tetyana,
“Cut them 5-7 cm in length and sauté it in a heated pan with 1 ts of vegetable oil. Stir it and add 1 TBS of soy sauce, half TBS of sugar, and cook it for 1-2 minutes and add sesame oil.”
Maangchi,
How do you prepair fresh green kosari? I’ve just bought fresh and dry kosari at the korean market, but don’t know how to use the fresh one, particularly in bibimpap. I am so excited to cook it for my husband as he looooves bibimpap.
And by the way, thank you sooooo much for your site
hahah yes maangchi
i couldnt help but get it right away!!
Jenny, it’s kosari or gosari in Korean. (고사리)
Hi,
I love your website but one question… what is the “Kosari” name in Korean?
mattlai,
$2.99! good deal! : )
for those also confused about other names of this product, Kosari is also called FERN, FERNBRACKEN, DRIED GREENS & WILD GREENS. I went to hmart today and bought a 2LB package of fresh Kosari for 2.99!
Maangchi
Yes it can be stir fried (after washing it a couple times to get the sand out)
My mom usually boils it once drying is done, then she would steam them to eat with warm bowl of rice .. adding the fish sauce and pepper.
Jennifer,
I didn’t know Thai people eat this. : )
I used to go with my mom to pick these.. this is really popular with thai people, they usually soak it in water for awhile and then lay it out in the sun to dry. It is good to eat but so much work trying to pick them!
skip kosari if you can’t find it. It will still be delicious.
? Didn’t you see the photo of dried kosari here?
What does dried kosari look like? Do you have a photo of it?
hi maangchi
do we have to add kosari when cooking bibimbap???
i dun hav it
=( =(
Thank you very much…
Dried kosari
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!
Hi, I bought dried kosari, soaked (6 hrs) and boiled (2 times)before cooking them but I still find some are very hard.
What should I do?
Hi Maangchi
Thanks for sharing your recipes and all the effort.
My daughter just loves Bibimbap. My question is: Can the water that is used to boil & soak the dried kosari be used as cooking stock?
no, don’t use it please. The brownish water is a little bitter and not tasty.
Hi,
what is the proper way to cook kosari…I’d like to make bibimbap..please help me…thanks