Recipe: Bomdong geotjeori (spring cabbage quick kimchi)

Geotjeori is essentially a quick kimchi that doesn’t go through a fermentation process, and it’s one of the most popular ways to eat bomdong. After a long, cold winter eating gimjang kimchi, people are ready for the fresh flavors of spring. Bomdong geotjeori (봄동 겉절이) is a lightly dressed, crunchy and sweet side dish for your meal.

 

ingredients:

1 medium bomdong

1 tbsp gochutgaru (coarse)

1 tbsp maesil (plum) syrup

1 tbsp anchovy fish sauce

1 plump clove of garlic, minced

2 tsp + a little extra ggaesogeum (roasted and lightly crushed sesame seed)

 

1. Flip over the cabbage and remove the core with the tip of your pairing knife.

2. Separate each leaf and thoroughly rinse with cold running water. Keep an eye out for dust and dirt because bomdong tends to pick up a lot of debris between the layers. Drain excess liquid in a seive or salad spinner.

3. Tear the leaves into bite sized pieces. For larger leaves it helps to make a small cut and then tear.

4. To make your dressing, mix the gochutgaru, maesil syrup, anchovy sauce, minced garlic and ggaesogeum (leave a few pinches for garnishing).

5. Pour the dressing over your bomdong leaves and mix thoroughly by hand (a plastic glove is helpful). It might look like you don’t have enough dressing at first, but be patient for few seconds, and you’ll see the leaves getting nicely coated soon enough. Garnish with the last of your ggaesogeum.

6. Serve immediately. This can be made ahead, but freshly dressed geotjeori always tastes so much better, so try to make this à la minute! :).

Bomdong geotjeori can be a nice spring banchan to eat with rice or can even (if dressed lightly) make a great salad to have on its own.