– a type of maeun-tang (spicy soup), made of freshwater fish such as Amur catfish. In Imsil County, spikenards replace siraegi (dried radish greens) in maeuntang recipes. The stew can be made by boiling fish with big chunks of radish, then adding spikenards, onion, aehobak, Java waterdropwort, oyster mushrooms, red chilli, and spicy sauce. The spicy sauce, usually prepared the day before and left in the fridge overnight, can be made by mixing gochujang (chilli paste), doenjang (bean paste), gochugaru (chilli powder), toasted perilla seeds, minced garlic, and ground ginger. Ttangdureup-muchim – a type of namul, made by blanching the shoots in salted water, seasoning them with soup soy sauce, chopped scallions, minced garlic, sesame oil, and toasted sesame seeds Nutritional information Per 100 grams of raw stem, Aralia cordata contains 220 mg of potassium, 7 mg of calcium, 9 mg of magnesium, 25 mg of phosphorus, 0.2 mg of iron, 0.1 mg of zinc and 4 mg of vitamin C. Economics Aralia cordata is popularly grown in Korea and Japan, and is grown in North America for use in exotic cuisine, and as an ornamental plant. It has a great potential for medicine to reduce fever and symptoms of disease. The root is often used in China as a substitute for ginseng, which is another member of the Araliaceae, or ivy family. Aralia cordata must be cooked, soaked, or peeled to eliminate the resinous taste, which may impede its wider adoption. Notes References Kwon, T. R., Kim, S. K., Min, G. G., Jo, J. H., Lee, S. P., Choi, B. S. (1995). Seed germination of Aralia cordata Thunb. and effect of mulching methods on yield and blanching. Journal of the Korean Society for Horticultural Science 36 (5): 620-627 Weimer, J.L. (1923). Two Diseases of Udo(Aralia cordata Thunb). Journal of agricultural research XXVI (6)271-278. Kim, C. J., Park, T. W., Cho, B. J., Lee, J. Y., Kim, T. D. 2010. The analgesic and anti-inflammatory effects of 7-oxosandaracopimaric acid isolated from the roots of Aralia cordata. Archives of Pharmacal Research 33 (4): 509-514 Hibino, T., Shibata, D., Ito, T., Tsuchiya, D., Higuchi, T., Pollet, B., Lapierre, C. 1994. Chemical properties of lignin from Aralia cordata. Phytochemistry 37 (2): 445–448. Lee, K. S., Lee, J. C., Soh, W.Y. 2002. High frequency plant regeneration from Aralia cordata somatic embryos. Plant Cell, Tissue and Organ Culture 68 (3): 241–246. Kimura, M. 2008. Effects of