San-namul (산나물)

Literally: mountain herbs & vegetables. Namul is a type of banchan made from herbs & vegetables. If wild greens are used the banchan becomes san-namul. The vegetables in namul can be fried, sautéed, fermented, dried, or steamed. A namul can also be made from seaweed or mushrooms.

Fresh mountain herbs & vegetables can be dried in summer so they can be consumed in wintertime. It takes quite some effort to make the dried vegetables edible again.

Preparing dried sannamul
Rinse in cold water and boil for one hour in plenty of water. Turn the heat off and let the vegetables sit in the water for another 3 hours. Drain and rinse in cold water. Soak the vegetables overnight and drain. The vegetables are now ready to be used.

Cut in bite sized pieces and mix with soy sauce and perilla seeds oil. Fry in oil until done.

Below are two dried sannamul in bought at the entrance of Taebaeksan National Park (태백산 국립공원). I have used these sannamul as toppings for bibimbap.

On the left: Cirsium setidens, also known as gondre and Korean thistle (곤드레).