It goes without saying that the Napa cabbage (baechu) is perhaps Korea’s most well-known and beloved vegetable. But baechu has a funny-looking cousin that makes its debut in late winter and early spring.
Tagnamul
Naengi: shepherd’s purse shoots
Naengi (냉이, shepherd’s purse) is an unassuming green that’s easy to miss when it first creeps up out of the frozen earth.
Seomcho: sweet winter coastal spinach
Spinach has long been eaten in Korea (some accounts say it came over from China during the Three Kingdoms Period) but it’s first on record in 1577.