Spicy Asian Bracken Fern Salad

A piquant, moderately spicy dish with roots from Asian cuisine. Popular in the regions of the Far East and wherever the bracken fern grows. Bracken is prepared by strongly salting it, then soaked and prepared for various dishes. It is delicious with potatoes, meat, topped with an egg... and of course in various salads.
cook time: 4h
Nora Vaughn
Spicy Asian Bracken Fern Salad

Nutrition Facts (per serving)

199
Calories
14g
Fat
13g
Carbs
11g
Protein

Ingredients (4 portions)

Basic:

Garlic 3 clove
Salt (if necessary) to taste
Carrot 1 pc
Bulb onions 1 pc
Vegetable oil 5 tbsp
Dry spices (for Korean carrots) 1 tsp
bell pepper 1 pc
Sesame 1 tsp
Soy sauce 3 tbsp
Green cilantro to taste
Bracken Fern (salty) 300 g
Soy asparagus 200 g

Recipe instructions

Step 1

Step 1
How to make salted fern salad? Prepare your food. The salad is prepared quite quickly, but the main ingredient will require preliminary preparation, this is the bracken fern itself. It doesn’t matter whether you salted it yourself or bought salted, you need to soak it. Without such preparation, don’t even try to cook, the salt level goes off scale to the point of bitterness. Dry soy asparagus is also prepared in advance, as I will describe in step 4.

Step 2

Step 2
Place the salted fern in a spacious bowl and cover with cold tap water. The water should cover the greens completely. Soak for 4-6 hours, periodically rinse the fern and fill it with fresh water. Of course, taste it. It took me 4 hours for the salt concentration to suit my taste. I soaked it in the evening and cooked it in the morning. So I drained the water, washed it, and let the water drain. Then I covered the cup with film and put it in the refrigerator.

Step 3

Step 3
Start cooking by chopping vegetables that you wash first. Grate the carrots on a Korean grater. Cut the onion into quarters, not very thin, so as not to burn. Cut the bell pepper into cubes, cut the fern into about 4-5 cm. Peel the garlic, rinse it and leave it whole for now, but have a press ready to have at hand. Wash the greens and chop finely.

Step 4

Step 4
Everything will be prepared quickly, so place all the ingredients in separate cups in advance. I will add soy asparagus to the salad; it was not included in the general photo of the ingredients because it was being prepared. Also soak dry asparagus for 2-3 hours, rinse and cut like a fern. Then boil over low heat, throwing into boiling water for 5-6 minutes. Rinse with cold water and let the water drain as everything will fry.

Step 5

Step 5
Only after preparing all the ingredients do you start frying. Heat the frying pan, pour in 3 tbsp. refined vegetable oil. Over moderately medium heat, fry the onion until translucent. Donʼt forget to stir.

Step 6

Step 6
As soon as the onions start to turn golden, it’s time to add the carrots and let them fry slightly.

Step 7

Step 7
Next, add bell pepper, stir and add seasoning for Korean carrots. If necessary, add more oil; the vegetables should not be dry.

Step 8

Step 8
Add fern. Squeeze the garlic through a press and stir.

Step 9

Step 9
Add the soy asparagus last. Stirring, heat everything for a couple more minutes. Taste it; if you wish, you can add hot pepper and, if necessary, add salt. I guessed right with the soaking of the fern and there was no need to add salt.

Step 10

Step 10
Transfer everything from the hot frying pan to a deep salad bowl. Sprinkle the cooling vegetables with fresh herbs and stir.

Step 11

Step 11
Season with soy sauce and sprinkle with sesame seeds if desired. Serve cooled; the longer it sits in the refrigerator, the tastier it will become. A reasonable limit of up to 2 days is if you prepare for some event in advance. My family usually eats it right away; I let it brew for only 2-3 hours.

Step 12

Step 12
Served as a separate dish or as an addition to dishes of potatoes, pasta, meat, fish...

Additional rubrics

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