Ssukgat Namul (Chrysanthemum Greens)

Start boiling 6 cups of water and 1 tsp salt. Note, you can cook 2-3 times as much ssukat in same amount of water.

Wash and clean Chrysanthemum Greens in water and drain.

Cut the bottom stem part into 2 inch lengths and the upper leafy parts into 4-5 inch lengths. I do this because the leafy parts once blanched reduce a whole lot in volume while the stems still pretty much maitain it's size.

Chop green onions. Prepare ice bath (a bowl of cold water + a bowl of ice) to put the blanched ssukat in to stop it from cooking further.

Once the water starts boiling in the pot, add just the stem parts first and cook for 1 min or so. Then add the rest of the leaves and cook for another 1-2 min until the thickest stems are cooked. You can take one out and do the bend test like so. We don't want to overcook and make it mushy. We want it to be slightly crunchy.

When it's cooked, quickly remove the pot from heat and transfer the cooked chrysanthemum leaves into the ice bath. Let it cool then remove the leaves from the ice bath and put into a colander.

Then take a handful of it between your hands and squeeze out excess water from the cooked greens. Gently squeeze but don't wring it totally out.

In a bowl, add the balls of squeezed greens and loosen them so the leaves are loosly separated. Now, add the green onions and seasonings - Guk Ganjang, sea salt, sesame seeds and sesame oil. Use your hands (use gloves if you want) to gently massage all the seasonings into the greens. Once it's all nicely mixed, taste and adjust if necessary.

Serve at room temperature or cold from the fridge. This Ssukat Namul banchan will go well with any Korean dish or meal.