page_title: Aralia cordata
section_title: Korea
hierarchical_section_title: Aralia cordata / Culinary use / Korea
caption_attribution_description: English: ttangdureup (Aralia cordata)
context_page_description: Aralia cordata is an upright herbaceous perennial plant growing up to 2 to 3 metres in height, native to Japan, Korea and eastern China. Its common names include spikenard, herbal aralia, udo, Japanese spikenard, and mountain asparagus. It is commonly found on the slopes of wooded embankments. Aralia cordata is a species of Aralia in the family Araliaceae.
  The plant yields new shoots every spring, which are blanched and then eaten as a vegetable. In Korea, the dried root of the plant has been traditionally used as medicine. The young shoots have a strong yet pleasant distinct aromatic flavor. In addition to food and medicinal use, the plant is cultivated as an ornamental.
context_section_description: The plant is called ttangdureup(땅두릅, "land angelica") in Korean. Young shoots of spikenards are harvested during a month, from early April to early May, when they are soft and fragrant. In Korean cuisine, the shoots are commonly eaten blanched as namul, pickled as jangajji, pan-fried as jeon, or grilled as sanjeok. In Imsil County, they are also used for maeuntang (spicy fish stew).
  Dishes
  Ttangdureup-jangajji – a type of jangajji (pickle), made by blanching spikenards and pickling it. The pickling sauce is made by boiling the mixture of soy sauce, water, maesil-cheong (plum syrup), sugar, and vinegar with kelp, then cooling it.
  Ttangdureup-jeon – a type of jeon, made by blanching spikenards, coating them with starch and eggwashing them, then pan-frying them in oil
  Ttangdureup-maeun-tang – a type of maeun-tang (spicy soup), made of freshwater fish such as Amur catfish. In Imsil County, spikenards replace siraegi (dried radish greens) in maeuntang recipes. The stew can be made by boiling fish with big chunks of radish, then adding spikenards, onion, aehobak, Java waterdropwort, oyster mushrooms, red chilli, and spicy sauce. The spicy sauce, usually prepared the day before and left in the fridge overnight, can be made by mixing gochujang (chilli paste), doenjang (bean paste), gochugaru (chilli powder), toasted perilla seeds, minced garlic, and ground ginger.
  Ttangdureup-muchim – a type of namul, made by blanching the shoots in salted water, seasoning them with soup soy sauce, chopped scallions, minced garlic, sesame oil, and toasted sesame seeds
caption: Ttangdureup-sanjeok (beef and spikenard skewers)
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