Korean Bomdong Cabbage Salad
In every country, there is a salad that welcomes the season of spring. I remember when my family in Korea would serve spring cabbage salad, it gave me a warm feeling even as a child, signaling that spring had finally arrived.
Spring creates a sense of hope and excitement, especially after a long, dreary winter that made it difficult to play outside.
When the weather would warm up, the girls in our neighborhood would go on expeditions to the famous Nam-mang mount in my hometown of Tong Young. We would search for spring flowers, herbs, and edible plants to take home and surprise our mothers.
In the late 70s, we didn’t have fancy toys like iPods or Nintendos, but we found joy in the beauty of nature. I still believe that nature is the best toy for children today.
In Korea, spring cabbage and wild garlic salad is a popular dish that signifies the arrival of spring. The sweet and tender cabbage balances perfectly with the slightly bitter and peppery wild garlic in a spicy and tangy dressing.
Tasting this salad always takes me back to my childhood and my yearning for the arrival of spring.
What is Bomdong?
Have you ever heard of Bomdong? It’s actually the Korean name for Spring cabbage (봄동), which is a type of cabbage that is short and flat in shape.
If you visit Korean stores from early March through April, you might be lucky enough to find some of this delicious cabbage. Keep in mind that it’s only available during early spring, so be sure not to miss out on the chance to try it!
Korean Wild Garlic
This is the wild garlic (달래, Dal-lae). Thin and tall like I used to be! (?) Jill is peppery and slightly bitter, kinda taste like Arugula. You will only need 1/3 of the bunch in this recipe. She will add nice balance to the salad.
Tear off the leaves from bomdong and wash them clean in running water. Drain and set aside.
Rinse wild garlic in the water to remove any trapped dirts. Rinse and drain well.
Slice bomdong cabbage and wild garlic.
Put them together in a mixing bowl.
Now these guys are for dressing. Plum extract (thick plum syrup. They call it plum tea because you can mix with hot water and drink like tea), Fish sauce, vinegar, sesame seeds(roasted), sesame oil, Korean chili flakes, garlic, ginger, and the red chili (optional). All of them are easily found in Korean stores. If you can’t find the plum extract substitute with honey.
Combine all the ingredients to make the dressing. Mix well. I will add red chili later.
Pour dressing over the salad and add red chili if you like. Mix well with massaging motion gently so the dressing can soak into bomdong and wild garlic.
Taste it first to see if they are well seasoned. You can always adjust the amounts of each dressing ingredients as you like. A little more of this or that!
WARNING : This is a rather spicy salad. So be aware! Adjust the amount of chili flakes as you like.
Have a nice hot, popping rice ready to eat with this salad. You don’t need anything else except a cold glass of water and a few napkins, maybe?
Korean Bomdong Cabbage Salad
Ingredients
- 1 head of Korean spring cabbage
- 1 oz (50 g) Korean wild garlic
- 1 red chili sliced, optional
- 1 tbsp Korean chili flakes (gochugaru)
- 1 tbsp fish sauce
- 1 tbsp plum extract or 2t honey
- 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 1 tsp minced garlic
- 1/4 tsp minced ginger
- 1/2 tbsp sesame oil
- 1/2 tbsp sesame seeds roasted
Instructions
- Tear off the leaves from cabbage discarding any bruised or rough looking ones. clean them in the water. Clean wild garlic in the water. Cut them into desired size and place them in a mixing bowl.
- In a small bowl mix the rest of the ingredients to make dressing.
- Pour dressing over salad and toss well by gently massaging them so the dressing can soak into the cabbage. Adjust the amount of chili flakes as you like
- Serve with hot rice and a glass of cold water just in case your mouth is burning.
Delicious!!!! I’m still looking for the plum tea. I noticed there are a lot of varieties of fruit teas. It’s not really a “tea” but a warm fruit beverage? Can you explain more about these type of teas?
The Korean plum tea I used in this recipe is actually plum extract. It is named as “tea” but it is for to make tea with (to mix with water). It is basically using green plums, which is very sour and almost bitter, fermented with lots of sugar to extract the juice in them. That creates sweet and tangy flavor. Most Koreans make call this “maeshil jjeup”. Most Koreans use homemade kind in their cooking but I have seen this extract in a bottle or in a can at the store. It is not that easy to find in the stores outside of Korea, though. However adding this extract to the dishes makes some difference in overall flavor.
@Anonymous
Hi there,
Sorry for the late reply. I have been traveling so far and doesn't get much access to internet. I am glad that you like the salad. I am not sure what you mean by young dong lettuce.
Is there Korean name for it?
love the dressing recipe. used romaine and nappa cabbage. thanks..do you know the recipe for the young dong lettuce salad dressing? would like to have another variation..pls. reply..thanks again
I finally made this dish this morning. It turned out really tasty. This is the first time I've used the plum tea as a seasoning ingredient. I love it when I discover a secret ingredient. The plum tea lends a sweet, tart, and something 'je ne sais quoi' that vinegar alone would not. It was a pain in the neck to find, though. I scoured both the wanchai and causeway wet market looking for it. People mostly shook their heads when I showed them the chinese characters and one young man actually said 'no' before even looking at the words. I thought that was funny. I got so desperate that I asked my husband to get it for me in Korea while he was there last week. But I finally found it at the Korean store in TST….not sure why I didn't think of that first. Anyway, I guess it's part and parcel to making a great dish.
The Korean store still had the mountain garlic, but not the young cabbage. So, I just substituted iceberg lettuce and it still turned out fine.
Yes, you can get the wild garlic at the Korean store at TST if they still have in stock.I am glad that you got the Santoku knife. It rocks in your hand, isn't it?
Wow! I love dishes like this. Where can I get the Korean wild Garlic? At the Kimberley Korean stores?? BTW, I ended up getting the Dick" Santoku knife at the Pantry Magic and I love using it.