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:
- Cook the gosari with three times the water for 30 minutes.
- Take it out and cut into bite-size pieces.
In a pot on the stove:
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
Dried gosari
Soaked gosari
Gosari from North Korea, for sale in Noryangjin market, Seoul
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