Doraji (balloon flower root) ✦

Racine de campanule (doraji)

What it is

Doraji is the root of the balloon flower, dug in autumn, and the subject of Doraji Taryeong, one of the few folk songs still sung on both sides of the border. Its bitterness is saponin — the platycosides that made it a cough remedy long before it was a side dish.

In the kitchen

Split the root into strips, rub it hard with coarse salt, then rinse and soak thirty minutes in cold water, changing it twice; without that the bitterness sits at the back of the tongue. Squeeze it dry before dressing or the seasoning slides straight off.

Goes with

Gochujang Gochugaru Toasted sesame oil Garlic Honey Sesame

In season alongside

Escarole Hunchback cardoon Matsutake Radicchio Treviso tardivo Acorn

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