KOREA

Korean ssuk is a close relative of mugwort varieties found all over Europe and many other parts of the planet. But its diversity and purported medicinal qualities help this hardy herb stand out among a sea of delectable seasonal greens. Discover why the popularity of this springtime specialty continues to grow—in Korea and beyond.

Writer. Tim Alper

If you are visiting Korea, you may be surprised to see people crouching down on roadsides, mountain slopes and urban riverbanks collecting fistfuls of what looks like weeds. In fact, they are most likely foraging for ssuk, a type of mugwort native to much of East Asia.

Like wild garlic and other edible plants that shoot up in spring, ssuk has a distinct aroma that one can usually detect when approaching the plant. While ssuk is edible even when fully mature, Korean foragers usually like to pick the young shoots and seedlings that appear before the plant begins to flower.

Left to its own devices, ssuk—Latin name: Artemisia princeps—can grow up to 1.2 meters, producing light green, feather-like leaves with furry undersides and small yellow flowers. The mature plant can thrive in a variety of wild conditions, and can pollinate (usually with a little help from the wind) until as late as November.

Ssuk Origins

Nobody knows exactly when Koreans began foraging for ssuk. But there is enough tantalizing historical evidence to suggest that the practice may be very old indeed.

Evidence of ssuk’s ancient significance appears in the Ungnyeo creation myth. In this myth—dating back as early as 3000 BCE—two animals, a bear and a tiger, prayed to a heavenly king to become human. He instructed them to stay in a cave for 100 days, eating nothing but garlic and ssuk. The tiger failed and abandoned the trial, but the bear persevered and was transformed into a woman who later gave birth to the founder of the Korean nation. Although the myth’s exact origins are unclear, records from the 1200s and 1300s attest to its long-standing presence, demonstrating that ssuk was universally recognized as edible and likely a dietary cornerstone long before the story took its final form.

Fast forward to Dano (the fifth day of the fifth lunar month), one of Korea’s most ancient festivals. Ancient Koreans are thought to have created effigies of people and fierce tigers—often crafted from ssuk—and hung them around villages, believing these figures would scare off bad spirits.

For countless generations, Koreans have burned ssuk leaves when moving into a new home, a ritual believed to ward off malevolent spirits. This custom dates back to animist practices long before the arrival of organized religions such as Buddhism and, later, Christianity.

By contrast, over the centuries, ssuk has been used as an ingredient in herbal medicine. Korean traditional medicine practitioners have long believed that ssuk helps improve blood circulation and warms the body by removing excessive moisture and cold.

1. Ssukbeomuri: Steamed rice cakes made by mixing ssuk and rice flour
2. Korea has long enjoyed ssuk desserts—the green-tinted cakes in the photo are ssuk songpyeon (half-moon rice cakes).

Cooking with Ssuk

In modern Korea, ssuk is used in a wide variety of culinary preparations. Perhaps the most common and notable of all is tteok (rice cake). Here, ssuk is often dried and ground into a powder and added to a rice flour mixture, which is then pounded into cakes.

Alternatively, cooks blanch and dry ssuk leaves for use in tteok recipes. Tteok made with ssuk is instantly recognizable due not only to its deep green color, but also its unmistakable aroma and refreshing, if pleasantly bitter, taste.

Ssuk is also used to make all kinds of other preparations, such as soups like the springtime specialty ssukguk (mugwort soup), made with the tenderest shoots. Some people use it to make a soothing tea, which many people think has the power to alleviate the symptoms of colds and fevers.

And others still prefer to enjoy the fullest ssuk flavor of all, blanching shoots in salt water before seasoning with soy sauce and sesame oil to make ssuknamulmuchim, a preparation arguably best enjoyed with steamed rice, kimchi, tofu and other seasonal Korean greens.

1. Ssukjeon: pan-fried pancake with mugwort
2. Ssuk is also added to savory staple dishes like doenjangguk (soybean paste soup).

Ssuk’s Global Voyage

Ssuk has been introduced to a wide range of other countries, including parts of Europe. But what most Europeans call mugwort is not Artemisia princeps, but other edible species closely related to ssuk.

The Latin name mater herbarum (the mother of herbs) is still used in some parts of the continent to refer to Artemisia vulgaris, a close cousin of Korean ssuk. Its moniker speaks of the plant’s supposed medicinal properties and its culinary versatility. Even in pre-Roman Europe, mugwort played an important role in beer brewing, where leaves and seeds were used in place of hops in much of the Celtic and Germanic worlds.

Like some Koreans with their ssuk, some Europeans think that the combination of fresh, mildly bitter mugwort leaves pairs well with meat. Some Europeans use mugwort shoots to flavor their braised pork preparations. Cooks in some parts of the continent also use ssuk to make popular dishes like roast chicken and pasta.

As the popularity of Korean food continues to spread across the globe, ssuk powder is becoming easier to find outside East Asia. Just as Koreans use this incredibly diverse ingredient to make everything from traditional Korean preparations to experimental recipes like ssuk bread and cheesecakes, global chefs are now following suit. Expect to see more ssuk-based recipes cropping up in your favorite restaurants, with daring chefs now using it to make everything from flavored coffee to mouthwatering cookies!