2 Intro

8 Letter from F

12 Origin
Namul seen in the context of Korea’s vegetable culture

16 Namul Tour
Three namul production regions with widely different landscapes, foods, and culture

50 Encyclopedia of Namul
Basic information on how to trim and store all the popular and rare varieties

56 Calendar
A calendar of harvest seasons for a range of namul

58 Academic Manual
History of these greens that are deeply rooted in Korean food culture, along with ways to manage the tastes and flavors of namul

72 F Cut
Humble beauty residing in each and every leaf of namul

82 Interview

82 Joseph Lidgerwood
Joseph Lidgerwood, chef of Evett, introduces free-minded and experimental dishes using Korean food ingredients

88 Taehwan Ryu
Taehwan Ryu, owner-chef of Ryunique and Pigeel, puts his knowledge of local food ingredients acquired through travel to the test in new dishes

92 On the Table
Fine-dining restaurants reinterpret the value of namul with creative recipes

104 One Good Meal
The dining tables of three individuals highlight seeing the value in seasonal foods
110 Interview

110 Haseulram Song
Haseulram Song, owner of Mamaleemarket, treats each Korean side dish as a main dish or tapa

114 Retail
Diversified namul markets from a startup to a traditional market

128 Movement
Small organizations leading new trends in food culture

134 Market
A list of namul products by category

144 References
Books and videos recommended by the experts featured in F

146 Dictionary

147 Index

Namul refers to wild edible plants foraged from fields and mountains or to seasoned herbal dishes.
Although these edible plants are also found in neighboring countries like Japan and China, no place has cooked with namul for as long as Korea.
An excellent side dish to steamed rice, these greens are an exciting addition to stews and even desserts.
The montane Korean terrain naturally gave way to a culture of feasting on namul, with spring namul becoming an iconic Korean vegetable-based food staple that stands second only to kimchi.
Today, local varieties like go-sa-ri bracken from Jeju-do Island, cham-du-reup fatsia shoots and nun-gae-seung-ma goatsbeard from Gangwon-do Province, and bang-pung namul coastal hog fennel from the coastal areas of Uljin, Gyeongsangbuk-do Province, are growing in popularity as a way to explore regional cuisines and bring foraged ingredients to the table.