Doraji — Korean Bellflower Root

Doraji (도라지) is the root of the balloon flower — named for the way its buds puff up like small balloons before they open into violet or white stars. In Korea the root is far better known than the flower.

It shows up in three places: on the everyday table as a lightly dressed banchan, on the ancestral table as the white one among the three namul, and in the kitchen cupboard as a thick, dark extract made by steaming and drying the root nine times over.

Four ways to keep it: single-serve pouches, a concentrated jar, pear and quince sticks, and the whole dried root.

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