Mountain Asparagus

There are many vegetables in the supermarkets in Seoul that aren’t found in the United States. It’s my goal to try every one that I find. The method I’ll use consistently to evaluate each new vegetable will be to stir-fry it simply with oil and salt. I want to taste the flavors and nothing else.

Aralia cordata, or mountain asparagus, was my first purchase. I bought it at Lotte Mart over the weekend and stir-fried it this morning (Monday).

Mountain asparagus has spiny or furry leaves which makes eating it an endurance test. Inside the shoots there’s a tree sap residue that sticks to your hand and takes some effort to wash off. The shoots taste like bamboo shoots, and the leaves have a slightly bitter taste. After stir-frying for about 5 minutes, the leaves’ spiny structure gives way and becomes less prickly. The texture of the leaves made eating them a little like eating tender purslane leaves, though they weren’t anywhere near as tart as purslane. Overall, the taste has a mild and pleasant flavor.