Korean Angelica Tree Sprouts (Eomnamu Sun) Spring Vegetable Dish
Spring’s Delight! A Complete Guide to Blanching and Preparing Korean Angelica Tree Sprouts
Boost your appetite this spring with a healthy and delicious dish of Korean Angelica Tree Sprouts, also known as Eomnamu Sun! More affordable than regular Angelica Tree sprouts (Dureup) yet recognized for their medicinal properties, these are a truly healthy spring delicacy. Their slightly bitter taste is perfect for stimulating appetite during the spring season. While there are many ways to prepare them, the simplest and most delightful method is to lightly blanch them and enjoy with a spicy-sweet gochujang-based dipping sauce (chojang). Today, we’ll walk you through every step, from preparing these fresh spring greens to perfectly blanching them. This detailed guide is designed for beginners, so don’t hesitate to try this healthy and flavorful spring dish!
Main Ingredients- Korean Angelica Tree Sprouts (Eomnamu Sun)
- Vinegar
- Salt
Cooking Instructions
Step 1
1. Preparing the Korean Angelica Tree Sprouts: Start by selecting fresh sprouts. Slightly shorter, young sprouts tend to have more tender leaves and stems, making them ideal for cooking. It’s common for these sprouts to have leaves attached when harvested. To maintain freshness during storage, keep the leaves on, wrap the sprouts in newspaper, and refrigerate. Remove the leaves just before blanching.
Step 2
The leaves are usually easy to peel off, making the preparation process quite simple. Watching a video demonstration can make it even clearer! As you can see, removing the leaves is straightforward, so preparing these spring greens won’t be a challenge at all.
Step 3
Occasionally, you might find sprouts harvested with a piece of the branch attached. In such cases, just as shown in the preparation video, trim off the stem right below the sprout. Ensure they are neatly prepared before cooking.
Step 4
During preparation, remove any leaves that are wilted or have turned brown. This ensures the final dish looks appealing and tastes fresh.
Step 5
Among spring vegetables, Korean Angelica Tree Sprouts are particularly easy to prepare, which I appreciate. If you happen to have sprouts with thorns (not young ones), you can gently scrape them off with a knife, like peeling scales, before blanching to make them tender. The sprouts I’m using were freshly picked from my parents’ home and were already very tender, but this scraping method works well for thornier varieties.
Step 6
2. Blanching the Korean Angelica Tree Sprouts: After preparing the sprouts, give them a quick wash before blanching. Using about 2 tablespoons of vinegar is helpful here.
Step 7
Soak the sprouts in enough water to cover them completely, along with the vinegar, for about 5 minutes. Then, rinse them thoroughly under cold running water. For blanching, simply have some salt ready.
Step 8
Once the water is at a rolling boil, add 1 teaspoon of salt. Submerge the sprouts starting with their stem ends first. Adding them all at once can make the leaf parts too mushy. Blanch the stem ends for about 30 seconds, then add the leaves. Depending on the amount of sprouts and water, blanch for a total of no more than 2 minutes to maintain a pleasant crispness.
Step 9
Immediately after blanching, plunge the sprouts into ice-cold water. This helps to retain their vibrant green color and firm texture. Rinse them in cold water two or three times, then gently squeeze out excess water. Your delicious Korean Angelica Tree Sprouts are ready to be served! Enjoy them with chojang (spicy-sweet dipping sauce) or a doenjang-based seasoning.
