How to cook fern (bracken) - 11 delicious recipes

Not only in the garden, but also in the forest you can find a real treasure. We are talking about bracken fern, which many have only heard of, but don’t know how to prepare it at home. In our country, the product is considered a delicacy, although there are plenty of regions where the plant grows freely: in forests, in summer cottages. In our country, this is the European part, Siberia, the Far East, where they collect it independently, store it for future use and prepare delicious dishes.

Bracken tastes like mushrooms and is very pleasant. Dishes made from it are easy to prepare. Fern is salted , pickled, including in Korean, fried, used with meat, prepared in salads , and cooked in soups. If you haven’t tried the plant yet, I recommend including it in your menu, adding original dishes to it.

How to properly cook bracken fern so it doesn’t taste bitter

In the Far East, where fern has been in favor for several centuries, they know and know how to properly prepare dishes from fresh bracken arrows. Most often they fry in a frying pan, adding or not other products. During the season, fresh shoots of the plant are used; in winter, dishes are prepared from the dried or salted plant.

To prepare delicious dishes, fresh young shoots with leaves that have not yet fully opened are collected. The stems are broken off near the ground. Tender edibles break easily with a slight crunch. If the bracken bends and does not want to break off, do not take it, it has already become rough and is not suitable for eating.

Useful properties and contraindications

As most likely everyone has already noticed, bracken fern is very useful. This applies to the entire plant. Thus, greens are rich in a whole complex of vitamins, including tocopherol and riboflavin, as well as a wide range of vitamins B, C and E. The stems also contain the pigment carotene and nicotinic acid.

The roots are rich in nitrogen-containing organic compounds - alkaloids, as well as nitrogen-free organic saponins. They also contain hydrocyanic and tannic acid and many beneficial oils and plant pigments of flavonoids.

In general, you can write a whole article on the content of useful substances and components in the plant. But today this is not our task. Therefore, I will only say that among the useful minerals contained in bracken are phosphorus, potassium and calcium, iodine, magnesium and many others.

That is, the plant is saturated with a maximum of useful microelements, minerals, vitamins and beneficial compounds. And therefore it must be collected in the spring and eaten.

If you make it a rule and eat it regularly, you may be surprised to find that your immunity has increased, you get sick less often, and in general, you feel more energetic and wake up better in the morning.

In addition, including the plant in the diet has a beneficial effect on the cardiovascular system and improves blood composition. The beneficial substances found in this forest gift improve the functioning of the thyroid gland and the entire endocrine system. And the constant use of this product will normalize the functioning of the gastrointestinal tract and strengthen bone tissue.

In addition, it removes radiation and toxic substances from the body, so it is often used for treatment in contaminated areas.

Special substances contained in greens slow down the aging of the body, preserve the nervous system and increase the performance of the entire body.

But in every barrel of honey there is a fly in the ointment. Bracken is not recommended for pregnant women and breastfeeding mothers. It is also contraindicated for children and people with so-called individual intolerance to the product.

If you have any chronic diseases, be sure to consult your doctor before eating foods with fern.

It should be remembered that this forest plant is inherently poisonous. Therefore, it is not recommended to consume it raw or in large quantities. Any, even the most useful medicine, turns into poison when overdosed. Everything is good in moderation - don’t forget about it.

But by and large, of course, we are happy to accept all forest gifts with gratitude. Whether it’s mushrooms, berries or such useful plants as bracken, we are happy to collect, eat and store for future use.

How to get rid of bitterness

The product has one significant drawback - it becomes bitter if it is not processed before cooking.

To remove bitterness, soak the workpiece in cold water and leave overnight.
Another way: cover the stems with water and slowly bring to a boil. Drain the liquid and add fresh liquid. Bring to a boil again, cook for 5 minutes in salted water. Do not overdo it, otherwise the plant will become too soft and will no longer have a pleasant crunch.

Dumplings with filling

It would seem that unusual dishes with a rare composition of ingredients should have original names or, at least, look somehow unusual.

But it was not there! The experiments have not been canceled! Dumplings with bracken are an unexpected combination, incredibly tasty and easy to prepare.

For the test we need:

flour – 500 gr
egg – 2 pcs
salt – 0.5 teaspoon
sugar – 1/4 teaspoon
soda – 1/4 teaspoon
cold water – 100 ml
boiling water – 50 ml

For filling:

plant stems – 300 g (salted or boiled)
egg – 1 pc.
potatoes – 6 pcs.
onion – 1 pc.
butter – 50 g
ground black pepper

We will also need vegetable oil for frying onions and boiling dumplings.

Preparation:

1. Potatoes will take the longest to boil, so we’ll start with that. First you need to peel it, then cut it into small pieces and boil in salted water until fully cooked.

2. Chop the onion into small cubes. Cut the bracken into small pieces with a side of about 1 cm.

3. Heat a frying pan over a fire, pour a little oil into it and fry the onion cubes until golden brown. Do not fry too much; it will be enough that it just becomes soft and translucent.

4. When it turns brown and gives off a pleasant aroma, add the chopped stems to it. Add salt and pepper to taste and fry everything together for 2-3 minutes. After frying, and when everything is ready, remove the pan from the heat and let the contents cool completely.

5. Drain the water from the potatoes and mash them with a masher until pureed. Add butter and one egg to it. Allow the finished puree to cool completely.

6. While the filling is cooling, prepare the dough. Sift 500 grams of flour into a deep bowl. Make a dimple at one of the edges and pour boiling water into it. Brew the dough in this way, mixing it only on one side.

7. Make a well in the second half of the flour and pour cold water into it. Add salt, sugar and soda. Send two eggs there and pour in two tablespoons of vegetable oil. Shake everything with a spoon.

8. Mix both kneaded parts into one total mass and knead a stiff, strong dough. When it does not stick to your hands, put it in a bag and let it rest and brew for 20 minutes.

9. While it “reaches”, we finish the filling. In a deep bowl, combine the chopped stems and mashed potatoes. Their ratio should be one to one, that is, equally. Try the filling, and if there is not enough salt, you can add it, just like pepper.

10. Take the dough out of the bag, knead it well and make dumplings. To do this, cut a piece from the circle, roll it into a sausage, and this, in turn, into small circles, similar to flat cakes.

You can watch the whole process of making dumplings in a special article on this topic, there is also a video from our blog. For those who are interested, I will leave a link to the article.

11. Place the filling in the center of each flatbread and make dumplings. It is recommended not to roll out all the cakes at once so that the dough does not dry out.

If you wish, you can mold the edge in the form of such a beautiful braid.

12. Place a pan of water on the fire and wait for it to boil. Don’t forget to salt it to taste, and also add a tablespoon of vegetable oil so that the products do not stick together during cooking.

Place the items in boiling water one at a time, while stirring the water. In this case, they will not only not stick to the bottom, but will also not stick together.

13. After the water boils and all the products rise to the top, you can time it for 3 minutes. During this time, the water should boil continuously, but not boil unnecessarily. And after this time, the dumplings can be taken out!

They are best served with onions fried in a frying pan and seasoned with sour cream. Although they will be wonderful simply with sour cream and fresh herbs. Don't forget the melted butter. All methods are good and tasty, choose any and you won’t go wrong!

Fried fern with potatoes

A universal dish that no one will refuse, it tastes like potatoes with mushrooms.

You will need:

Fern shoots – 300 gr.
Potatoes – 6-8 tubers.
Sunflower oil - to taste.
Salt, if you like a lot of spices, add pepper, mustard seeds, ginger.

How to fry:

Soak or boil fresh shoots and dry.
Place in hot oil. Lightly fry and add chopped potatoes.
Cover with a lid and reduce heat. Fry, stirring occasionally, until the potatoes are done.

Useful information about fern

Shoots of young ferns (of the “bracken” type), 10-15 centimeters long, are suitable for food.
At the same time, the length of the fern shoot should be 17-22 centimeters. It is recommended to collect ferns only in environmentally friendly places. The edible fern is easily broken off, and its tip is twisted with a hook. For ease of subsequent processing, it is recommended to collect ferns in bunches when harvesting. The fern requires very careful handling, since a broken fern deteriorates faster. It is recommended to prepare the fern within the next 1-2 hours after collection. The fern season is from April to June, depending on the weather: after 3-4 weeks of snow melting.

Calorie content

boiled fern - 34 kcal/100 grams.

Fresh fern with meat - a simple recipe

Pork and veal are preferable, the meat of which is more tender than beef. However, if you are sure of the age of the animal, then take beef.

Ingredients:

Fresh shoots - a bunch.
Pork – 300 gr.
Onion – 3 heads.
Pepper, salt, sunflower oil.

Preparation:

Soak the plant in advance. Then drain the water and chop into small pieces.
Finely chop the peeled onions.
Rinse the pork tenderloin, dry it, cut into small pieces. Sprinkle with seasonings and place in hot oil in a frying pan.
Fry for 10 minutes, stirring the contents several times.
Add onion cubes and continue frying, stirring occasionally.
Add the chopped bracken, after a couple of minutes pour in a little water. Stir and taste for salt. Add if needed. Fry for a few more minutes. When you think that the arrows are soft enough, turn off the burner.

Recipe for fern with pork, stewed in sour cream

The recipe is suitable for those who do not accept fried foods, and pig meat stewed in sour cream with bracken shoots is ideal here.

Compound:

Meat – 0.5 kg.
Sour cream – 50 ml.
Bracken shoots – 600 gr.
Soy sauce – 3 tablespoons.
Seasonings, salt, oil.

Cooking:

Cut the shoots soaked for 12 hours into pieces convenient for eating.
Divide the pork into pieces, place in a frying pan, fry a little, add a little water and simmer over low heat.
When the meat is soft and almost edible, add the fern fried in a separate pan.
Add sauce, sour cream. Add water, adjusting the thickness of the gravy. Add seasonings and salt. Let it come to a high boil and remove from the burner.

Soups

Rice with fern

For preparation you will need the following ingredients:

180 grams of salted fern
One liter of broth
A little herbs, garlic and cooking oil
One onion
60 grams of rice

The first step is to bring the broth to a boil, add the washed rice and cook until tender. Five minutes before readiness, add fried fern, spices, and sautéed onions. Add crushed garlic to the prepared soup and sprinkle with herbs.

With potatoes and fern

For preparation we will need the following ingredients:

280 grams of fern
A little onion, table margarine, tomato paste, vegetable oil, leek
50 grams of sour cream
800 grams of water or broth
150 grams of potatoes
40 grams of carrots

The first step is to cut the potatoes into cubes and the vegetables into strips. Sauté carrots and onions in fat, add tomato paste. Fry the fern, put vegetables, onions, and potatoes into the boiling broth, and 10 minutes before readiness add the fried fern, salt and spices.

With bacon and fern

For preparation we will need the following ingredients:

400 grams of fern
100 grams cream or cream
A little premium flour
100 grams of bacon
One onion

The first step is to fry the pieces of bacon with chopped onions, add pieces of fern to them. Simmer for about half an hour, add vegetable or meat broth, and cook for about 20 minutes. Season the soup with sour cream and bring to a boil. Should be served hot.

Fern noodle soup

To prepare one serving we will need the following ingredients:

40 grams of fern
A little fat and salt
20 grams of onions
35 grams wheat flour
40 grams of homemade noodles
¼ egg

Add cold flour, raw egg, salt and mix well. Leave the dough for 10 minutes, then roll out thinly and chop, dry the noodles a little. Place the boiling meat broth over the noodles, and after a couple of minutes add the fried fern with onions.

Casserole with meat and potatoes in the oven

In addition to potatoes, other vegetables are placed in the meat casserole. Try making a layer of fern, you will get an amazing tasting dish.

Take:

Beef meat – 200 gr.
Potatoes – 6 tubers.
Fern – 200 gr.
Eggs - a couple.
Onion head.
Mayonnaise, salt, seasonings, pepper.

How to cook:

Cut the beef into cubes, cut the peeled potatoes into circles. Chop the onion into half rings.
Place a potato layer on the bottom of the oiled pan.
Place the meat on a bed of potatoes. Sprinkle with bracken pieces.
Mix mayonnaise with spices in a bowl and pour over the dish.
Bake at 180 o C for 30 minutes.

How to cook a fern dish in a slow cooker

The multicooker frees up your hands and makes the food taste special, which is noticed by many housewives. The recipe calls for soy sauce, but you can omit it if you don't like spicy foods.

Required:

Pork – 0.5 kg.
Bracken shoots – 1 kg.
Soy sauce - 3 large spoons.
Large onion.
Garlic – 4 cloves.
Seasonings for meat, salt.

Cooking:

Chop the onion into cubes, pour oil into the bowl of the gadget, and saute the slices until transparent.
At the same time, quickly boil the shoots (how to do this, read at the beginning of the article on how to get rid of bitterness).
Chop the meat into strips and add to the onion. Set the multicooker to the “Stew” mode and cook for exactly 1 hour.
After the signal, place the bracken in the bowl and add your favorite seasonings. Set the timer for 40 minutes. Shortly before the end of stewing, open the lid and add the chopped garlic.

This recipe can be used to prepare a dish in a frying pan. How to do this, read in the first recipes.

Preparation and other nuances

Many of us have no idea that ferns are used as food. The beneficial properties of the plant are due to the presence of vitamins, proteins, carbohydrates, and essential oils. The leaves and stems of fern are used medicinally in the treatment of gastric and endocrine diseases. The plant also has anti-radiation properties. In today's article we will touch on another wonderful use of this herb - the use of fern in cooking.

All parts of this oriental herb are used to prepare various dishes. Fern is salted, fried, pickled. However, eating the plant fresh is prohibited due to the dangerous poison it contains, causing severe cases of poisoning that can be fatal.

Among the edible and harmless ferns, two types are known: bracken, which resembles the taste of mushrooms, and ostrich, which is similar in taste to cauliflower. Young cuttings are collected for food consumption.

Unblown fern leaves look like snails; they can be prepared immediately (by boiling them), or they can be stored for future use. To do this, they must be salted or dried, otherwise they will taste bitter and unpleasantly tough.

How to pickle ferns for the winter

Many dishes are prepared from fern that has been salted for the winter. Salted bracken can be used as an appetizer for meat and fish dishes, or as a side dish of potatoes. Remember the proportion of the weight of the plant and salt - 1:4.

We take:

Fresh shoots – 1 kg.
Salt – 250 gr. + 100 gr. for bedding.

Solim:

The shoots are salted whole; if there are a lot of them, then for convenience they are tied in bunches, then they will not fall apart and it will be easier to use them in the future. Many people harvest only bracken buds, then there is no need to tie them. If the shoots are too long, divide them in half - it will become more convenient to work.
Rinse the workpieces and place them in a wide bowl. Sprinkle with salt (250 gr.).
Cover with a plate, set pressure. Move to a cool room.
After a couple of days, the plant will begin to secrete juice. Drain it, salt the workpiece again (100 g).
Press down again and leave for the next two days.
The fact that the fern has been sufficiently salted will be indicated by the changed color of the preparations.
Take tall jars, place salted shoots inside, and fill with the released brine.
Leave the preparation in a cold room for another 3 weeks, and only then the salted bracken is considered ready for use.

Video about how to collect ferns. Its description, properties and application

And in conclusion, let me present you with a video that tells a lot about bracken. After looking at it, you can find out how and when to collect it, how to prepare it and how to use it on the farm.

Be sure to watch the film, it is very informative and educational. You will learn a lot of interesting and useful things.

Dear friends, prepare bracken, prepare various tasty and healthy dishes from it, and eat it for your health.

All the best to you, and we will always be healthy! And useful plants will help us with this!

How to make salted fern salad

This is a warm salad, which is best prepared from fern that has been salted for the winter. If you can’t find it, use a dried product. Chinese noodles are added to the recipe, giving an oriental touch to the snack.

You will need:

Fern – 350 gr.
Bell pepper.
Bulb.
Garlic – a clove.
Soy sauce – 2 large spoons.
Parsley (cilantro) – 3 sprigs.
Chinese rice noodles - packaging.
Chili pepper flakes - small spoon.
Sugar - a small spoon.
Vinegar 6% - the same.
Sunflower oil – 4-5 large spoons.
Salt, coriander.

How to cook:

The salted fern needs to be soaked. To do this, fill it with cold water and leave for at least 12 hours. Then squeeze thoroughly. The dried version must be soaked to swell. The soaking technology is the same.
Break the long noodles into pieces, put them in a bowl, and pour boiling water over them.
Chop the fern stems into 10 cm pieces and steam with boiling water for 3-5 minutes.
Remove the core and seeds from the bell pepper and chop into cubes. Chop the onion into half rings.
Crush the garlic clove with a press. Finely chop the greens.
Heat sunflower oil in a frying pan, add half of the onion slices. Sprinkle with coriander and chilli flakes.
Fry over high heat for a couple of minutes, add the fern stems. Continue cooking for another 2 minutes.
Pour in soy sauce, add sugar, mix well, cook for another minute.
Immediately place the steamed noodles, remaining onions, and garlic into the pan. Stir and sprinkle with parsley.
Pour in vinegar, vigorously stir the contents, turn off the burner. Taste for salt and adjust the amount.

Homemade pickled shoots

But for the winter it is not only salted or dried, but also rolled into jars.

Ingredients:

bracken fern,

Marinade for 1 liter of water:

2 tablespoons salt,
1 tablespoon sugar,
1 teaspoon vinegar essence,
black peppercorns,
sweet pea,
Bay leaf,
garlic,
dill.

We wash the stems under running water. Then cut it into pieces and put it in a container.

Fill the fern with water. It needs to be changed three times a day. This will release possible poisons and bitterness.

Then boil in boiling salted water for five minutes.

The broth must be poured out; it is not suitable for drinking.

We prepare the jars by thoroughly washing and sterilizing them. And tightly place the boiled stems inside.

Then mix the ingredients for the marinade and bring it to a boil. Fill the jar with this boiling mixture and roll up the lid. All is ready.

Fresh bracken salad - a simple recipe

Keep the simplest and most delicious salad, the ingredients for which can be found in every refrigerator.

Take:

Fern stems - a large bunch.
Carrot.
Onion.
Pepper, salt, other seasonings as desired.

How to do:

Chop the stems of the product into pieces about 5 cm long, no less, so as not to get lost in the snack.
Boil water, add the preparations, blanch after boiling for 7-10 minutes. Do not overcook, the pieces must remain firm and crispy, otherwise you will not enjoy it. Throw away the finished bracken and wait for the liquid to drain.
Chop the onion into small cubes. Grate the carrots using a grater suitable for preparing Korean dishes, or with simple coarse shavings.
First fry the onion in hot oil, then add the chopped carrots. Fry until the vegetables are beautifully golden.
Add the fern to the frying pan. Stir the contents, fry for 10 minutes, remembering to stir the vegetables. A few minutes before cooking, season the dish with spices. The salad is served hot.

Cooking recipes

At the second stage, the fern is used to prepare a wide variety of dishes. It can be fried, stewed, used for salads, casseroles, or as a filling for dumplings and pies. In general, fern opens up a vast field for culinary imagination. Here are some of the most traditional recipes, then experiment yourself:

Fried fern.

Place the fern, cut into pieces of the required length (usually 3-5 cm), into a well-heated frying pan with vegetable oil or fat. Fry with the lid slightly open (or without), stirring occasionally to evaporate excess moisture. When the fern stops stewing and begins to fry, add pre-blanched onions and increase the stirring frequency until cooked. The degree of readiness is determined by individual tastes - you can just lightly fry the fern, you can bring it to a crispy state. Try different options. At the end of cooking, you can add finely chopped garlic, and use carrots, bell peppers, tomatoes and other vegetables along with onions. You can also pour egg on the fern or sprinkle with grated cheese. You can use any seasonings to suit your taste, but I would not recommend formulations that include bitter ingredients. You also need to be careful with bay leaves. If you use soaked salted fern for cooking, you need to be more careful with salt and seasonings containing salt. It is better to add salt at the end, after tasting it.

Fern stewed with meat.

To prepare this dish we will need the following ingredients in equal quantitative proportions:

salted or fresh fern

vegetables (onions, carrots, sweet peppers).

Any meat can be used, but in my opinion, pork that is not too fatty is best.

Cut the meat into small pieces, quickly fry in a very hot frying pan with vegetable oil until golden brown, add a little water, cover with a lid and simmer over low heat until cooked. Cut the prepared fern into 4-5 cm pieces, add to the meat, mix thoroughly and simmer for 5-7 minutes, stirring occasionally. Then add to the dish previously separately fried onions with carrots and sweet peppers, spices, a little bay leaf, allspice (peas), mix and simmer for another three minutes. Add finely chopped garlic, stir again, remove from heat, close with a lid and let it brew for a while.

Soy sauce gives the dish a special taste, which is best added in two stages: during the process of stewing the meat and at the time of mixing the fern with vegetables. Considering that soy sauce is a fairly salty product, you should not use regular salt or seasonings containing salt.

You can use any side dish for the dish, it all depends on personal preference. I find that rice works best for this dish.

An important point: when using fresh fern, do not overcook it at the preliminary preparation stage. It is best to soak it thoroughly and just simmer it in boiling water. Otherwise, you will end up with an unattractive-looking mess.

The most interesting topic for culinary masterpieces is the fact that each region has its own culinary preferences, the basis for which is the local vegetation. One of the favorite dishes of local residents is fried fern with meat.

. There are different variations in its preparation, but the principle is always the same. Today I will tell you about it in this recipe.

For food they use fern of the “Common bracken” variety.

In the spring, its shoots are collected - dense stems with a twisted crown and are immediately salted and sometimes dried. In the photo below you can see what it looks like. Fresh is practically not used for cooking, as it has a bitter taste. That is why we will prepare our dish from.

How to cook fern in Korean

I have already introduced you to the features of preparing a spicy snack, you can find out here . I advise you to prepare at least a jar for preserving for the winter, picnics (an appetizer for barbecue, and very good with a glass). Here I give the most common version of preparing Korean bracken.

Necessary:

Arrows – 300 gr.
Carrot.
Onion - head.
Soy sauce – 4 tablespoons.
Olive oil – 3 tablespoons.
Sesame seeds - 2 tablespoons.
Sesame oil - spoon.
Hot chili - spoon.
Coriander, garlic, turmeric, salt, pepper.

Preparation:

Chop the carrots into Korean slices and divide the onion into half rings. Sauté in well-heated oil until golden brown.
Then pour sesame oil, add seeds. Reduce heat to moderate. Simmer slowly for a few minutes. Vegetables should be stewed, not fried.
Cut the bracken stems into pieces, 3-4 cm long, and place in a frying pan. Sprinkle with the seasonings listed in the recipe list and stir. Pour in soy sauce.
Simmer for a couple of minutes, remove from heat, let cool and set for at least an hour. Bon appetit!