Korean cooking ingredients

Fernbrake

Gosari 고사리

Dried fernbrake

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Dried fernbrake

Springtime in Korea, people forage gosari from the mountains. At that time it’s green and fresh, so it can be eaten right away. They blanch and cook it, and they dry it until it’s brown and thin as thread, and then store it for a full year until the next spring, when they can gather more.

These days most people buy gosari in grocery stores. You may find it dried, presoaked, or fresh. I always buy dried, because it will keep in my pantry for months if it has to. You’ll have to prepare it a bit before you can cook with it. If you buy vacuum-packed presoaked gosari, it’s ready to use but you need to finish it within a few days once it’s opened.

Preparing dried gosari

1 ounce (about ¼ cup) dried gosari

With a pressure cooker:

  1. Cook the gosari with three times the water for 30 minutes.
  2. Take it out and cut into bite-size pieces.

In a pot on the stove:

  1. In a large saucepan add the gosari to 10 cups of water, bring to a boil over medium-high heat, and boil for 30 minutes. Cover and let stand until cool, about 2 to 3 hours.
  2. Rinse the fernbrake a couple of times, drain and put it in a bowl. Cover with fresh cold water and let soak for at least 8 hours or overnight in a cool place, changing the water 2 or 3 times during the soaking.
  3. Taste the gosari: It should be soft. If it’s tough, boil it again in a fresh pot of water for about 30 minutes and then let it sit, covered, until soft. Drain the fernbrake and cut into bite-size pieces.

gosari

dried fernbrake

dried fernbrake

Dried gosari

gosari

Soaked gosari

gosari

Gosari from North Korea, for sale in Noryangjin market, Seoul

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Recipes that use fernbrake (gosari):

Posted on Friday, February 29th, 2008 at 7:11 pm. Last updated on February 18, 2018.
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61 Comments:

  1. mattlai& has 6 comments
    Posted August 16th, 2008 at 10:07 pm |

    hahah yes maangchi
    i couldnt help but get it right away!!

  2. Maangchi New York City joined 8/08 & has 11,619 comments
    Posted August 16th, 2008 at 8:21 pm |

    Jenny, it’s kosari or gosari in Korean. (고사리)

  3. Jenny& has 2,255 comments
    Posted August 16th, 2008 at 6:12 pm |

    Hi,

    I love your website but one question… what is the “Kosari” name in Korean?

  4. Maangchi New York City joined 8/08 & has 11,619 comments
    Posted August 16th, 2008 at 7:29 am |

    mattlai,

    $2.99! good deal! : )

  5. mattlai& has 6 comments
    Posted August 16th, 2008 at 2:26 am |

    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!

  6. Jennifer& has 20 comments
    Posted August 15th, 2008 at 11:45 pm |

    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.

  7. Maangchi New York City joined 8/08 & has 11,619 comments
    Posted August 15th, 2008 at 8:23 am |

    Jennifer,
    I didn’t know Thai people eat this. : )

  8. Jennifer& has 20 comments
    Posted August 15th, 2008 at 2:49 am |

    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!

  9. Maangchi New York City joined 8/08 & has 11,619 comments
    Posted May 30th, 2008 at 11:29 pm |

    skip kosari if you can’t find it. It will still be delicious.

  10. Maangchi New York City joined 8/08 & has 11,619 comments
    Posted May 30th, 2008 at 11:27 pm |

    ? Didn’t you see the photo of dried kosari here?

  11. Anonymous& has 2,255 comments
    Posted May 30th, 2008 at 1:59 pm |

    What does dried kosari look like? Do you have a photo of it?

  12. Anonymous& has 2,255 comments
    Posted May 30th, 2008 at 6:37 am |

    hi maangchi

    do we have to add kosari when cooking bibimbap???

    i dun hav it
    =( =(

  13. Love Poems& has 2,255 comments
    Posted April 2nd, 2008 at 9:00 pm |

    Thank you very much…

  14. Maangchi New York City joined 8/08 & has 11,619 comments
    Posted April 1st, 2008 at 10:41 pm |

    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!

  15. Love Poems& has 2,255 comments
    Posted April 1st, 2008 at 10:19 am |

    Hi,
    what is the proper way to cook kosari…I’d like to make bibimbap..please help me…thanks

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